How to Handle a Picky Eater
Starting at age 1 or 2, many kids become pickier about what they eat due to an independent streak, a desire for "sameness" or a need for control. Ellyn Satter, a pediatric feeding expert, advices parents to realize that their job is not to make their child eat healthy foods. The parent's job is to provide healthy foods for the child; the child's job is to decide which foods he will eat and how much of each food. Avoiding power struggles while making new foods more palatable can go a long way toward mellowing a picky eater.
Instructions
Create a routine, and stick to it. Offer your child three meals with two small snacks interspersed between them. Remember: don't sabotage your efforts by letting your child fill up on juice or milk between meals. Be patient with your child. It can take up to 15 attempts at offering a new food before your child finally accepts it. Continue offering it so it becomes familiar to your child, without any of the pressure that usually starts off a power struggle. If your child wants to touch it, suck on it or cut it up into tiny pieces, take a deep breath and don't respond. You'll have a better chance of your child accepting it eventually if you allow her to do it on her own terms. Introduce new foods slowly. If your child has never seen beets, meatloaf, or wild rice before, you wouldn't want to introduce all three of them in one meal. Instead, try adding the beets as a side dish alongside foods you know your child will eat. Do the same thing with the rice, and offer the meatloaf together with leftovers of an accepted dinner from the night before. Your child's curiosity just might get the better of him -- and, again, you'll be avoiding a power struggle. Talk about food. Rather than focusing purely on the taste, talk about the color, texture or crunchiness. Talking about foods with different textures can also help children who prefer easier-to-eat foods, which are usually carbohydrates. Pediatric Psychologist Kay Toomey suggests talking about how carrots are hard and need to be chewed well, whereas yogurt is smooth and liquid-like and can be "sucked down." Make eating healthy foods fun. Grow a garden with your child, and eat the produce. Go grocery shopping with your child, or let your child create a menu with you. Cooking together with your child can also make your child more excited to eat the foods you've made together. You can give foods funny names or cut them into fun shapes with cookie cutters in order to make them more exciting for your child to try.
