Our top 5 strategies to help your picky eater eat.

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If your kid doesn't like to eat a particular food, keep trying. Perseverance is your best bet. 

I have a lot of experience with getting my 4 kids to try new foods. In fact, one of my kids was tube-fed for several years and had to be re-taught to eat from scratch, a process that took several years, what felt like a zillion tries, and a whole lot of help.

So, based on a lot of experience, are my top 5 ways to get your picky eater to eat a broader range of foods.

1 - OFFER CHOICES

  • I don't like everything there is, so odds are, my kids are going to have preferences too. In our house, not eating a vegetable isn't an option, but you can sometimes have a say in which vegetable you'd prefer to eat. Kids who have a stake in the decision making process are more likely to comply with the choice! 

2 - REQUIRE ONE TOUCH OR TASTE

  • When introducing new foods, or foods that have been met with disapproval, take it one step at a time. On the first try, they have to touch it. On the second try, they have to taste it, even if it means just touching it to their tongue. On the third attempt, they have to try just one bite.

3 - STICK TO LIKE TEXTURES

  • If your child likes steamed carrots, try steamed broccoli, don't jump to raw broccoli. Or if your child likes chicken, try a similarly textured fish. Try a different food with a similar texture and you might have better success than if you were to try something that feels totally unfamiliar in their mouth.

4 - PLAY HIDE AND SEEK

  • Slowly reveal what's hiding. If you have a child that likes dips, you can slather a new food in the dip. Or if your child likes a particular baked good, you can include a finely chopped new food in the batter. We've hidden tiny pieces of chicken (a once gross food) in hummus. Now chicken is a favorite. We've also included kale in a frittata. The bigger the pieces of kale, the less likely they are to eat it. But if it's finely chopped, it's no biggie.

5 - TRY, TRY, TRY AGAIN

  • There's no easy fix. I recall reading that it can take up to 14 tries to like something. This might take years, or even decades! I didn't like avocados or coffee until I was 35. There's always room for something new, especially when you least expect it!