Despite your best efforts, you just can’t seem to get your child to eat many foods. It’s becoming clear: you’re dealing with a picky eater.
The issue with this, unfortunately, is that children’s nutrition is hugely important. Kids have to eat certain foods in order to develop properly. As such, you can’t just let it slide.
But how do you get a picky eater to . . . well . . . eat? There are ways to work with a picky child, and we’re going to discuss them below.
Serve Foods Separately
Picky eaters often become picky eaters because they’re overwhelmed by the foods that they’re trying. As such, they often have a hard time with mixed foods (ie. lasagna, casseroles, etc.).
For this reason, when introducing new foods to your picky eater, you should serve those foods separately. Instead of serving a full lasagna, start with saucy pasta, for instance.
This will enable the child to ramp up his or her interest in the food. As time passes, you can introduce new foods. And then, one day, he or she might just give the lasagna as a whole.
Serve Important Foods Consistently
Just because your picky eater isn’t eating a certain food right now doesn’t mean that he or she won’t eat that food in the future. To help facilitate that, you should serve important foods on a consistent basis.
These include necessities like fruits, vegetables, and the like. Give them to your child every day. They might not eat them now, but they could very well make the leap at a future date.
Try New Foods in a Private Setting
One of the biggest mistakes you can make with a picky eater is to bring shame to him or her by having him or her try new foods in a group setting. Doing this effectively turns the child into a spectacle, which can then lead the child to associate the offered food with a negative thought.
In short, this hurts the child. It doesn’t help.
As such, when having your child try new foods, you need to do it in a private setting. Keep it as low-key as possible, prevent yourself from making any disparaging comments, and let the child engage with the food naturally.
Don’t Push It
It’s important to understand the mindset of the picky eater. Most aren’t being picky out of spite or to be difficult or even because they’re not trying. The vast majority have a psychological repulsion toward (what they deem to be) strange tastes and textures.
For this reason, when trying to feed your picky child, you need to be careful not to push it. Introducing too many new foods too quickly can subject the child to substantial stress, causing him or her even more anxiety with those foods in the future.
Try to introduce 1 new food every week; no more and no less. Set your child up in an Abiie Beyond Wooden High Chair, get him or her comfortable, and approach each meal with an open and calm mind.
Children’s Nutrition Is of Utmost Importance
Children’s nutrition is of utmost importance. That’s why, if your child is dealing with picky eating, you must use the tips discussed above. They could make all the difference in the world.
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