The Best Advice on Feeding a Picky Eater

picky eaters

Feeding a picky eater can be one of the most challenging experiences faced as a parent.  There is nothing more frustrating than a child that refuses to eat anything healthy or that you’ve prepared for the rest of the family. It leaves you feeling like a failure. What do you do? Do you make a special meal for your picky eater? You worry that your little one will embarrass you in public by making rude comments about the food cooked by other people; you always stress about picky eaters. These tips are going to help you deal with this small parenting problem.

Serve Age-Appropriate Portions

Sometimes kids are picky because they are faced with a plate that’s got too much food on it. The best way to handle this issue is to serve your kids the correct amount, which is about a quarter of the serving size that’s appropriate for adults. When it’s served in the correct size, kids aren’t as intimidated by the food in front of them.

Try New Things

When you offer new things, kids are more likely to try them in hopes that they like them. The key is to serve things that look good – not bland. Mix them up in their favorite meals and kids are far more likely to ditch their picky ways and eat up.

Serve Dessert

A small dessert after dinner, even if it’s just something like chocolate covered strawberries, is going to entice kids to eat. Even if by entice we really mean bribe. Kids will see the dessert just waiting on them and want it. If they don’t eat the food you prepare, they don’t get it.

Do Not Punish Kids

Do not use food as a way of punishing your children. Children do not need to see food as a punishment. For example, if your kids hear you tell them that you’ll make them eat two helpings of broccoli if they don’t behave, they’ll dislike broccoli even more because they see it in a negative light.

Do Not Prepare Separate Meals

It’s tempting to want to make a second meal for your picky eater, but you cannot do this. You cannot do this because it’s never going to allow your picky eater to learn to like other foods. Picky eaters need to know that they eat what’s in front of them or they do not eat at all.

(Photo by Joe Raedle/ Getty Images)

Comments

Leave a Reply

Loading…

0