Got a picky eater on your hands or hoping to build good eating habits to prevent a potential picky eater? Keep reading for some tips and tricks!
• Get your kids involved with meal prep and allow them to get familiar with foods they might not have tried before. Let them join you in the kitchen as you cook or on a trip to the grocery store to pick out ingredients!
• Make food fun! Creative presentation with fun shapes and arrangements, finger foods, and dips - these are just a few ways to keep your littles engaged with their food during mealtime.
• Include variety. Make sure that your kids' foods have different shapes, textures, and flavors.
• Don't stop trying. Kids' palates are constantly evolving and just because they don't like a food the first time they try it (or even the 5th time!) doesn't mean they won't later change their minds.
• Don't punish or pressure your kids. Don't get too upset if your little refuses to try or eat a certain food; you can always try again later. They might begin to associate negative feelings with it in the future!
• Don't bribe your kids. Bribing your kids simply makes the prize more appealing and the food itself seem like a chore or obstacle in the way of the prize.
• Use a "food bridge." A "food bridge" is a food that your toddler already knows and loves and can be used as a way to help introduce new foods.
• Eat with the family. Make one meal for the entire family rather than cater to your toddler's picky eating. This can help discourage their habit of requesting specific meals and will also allow them to follow the examples of everyone else eating the meal.
