Sometimes kids can fixate on a certain meal and then not want to try new things as they will just want to have the thing they like. Trying new foods that may be just as interesting for adults as it can be for youngsters because the world of food is broad and engaging. Looking beyond your typical diet is a terrific idea – the world is full of recipes waiting to be discovered! You can also then help them to eat more healthily too.
Prepare meals together with your children
Get your child involved in the cooking process so they can touch and smell the food without much assistance from you. While moving along, you can still play around and promote sampling of anything that is safe to eat.
Make Food More Fun
Food play isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Foods that are colourful, cut into enjoyable shapes, or served with a dip are more likely to be consumed by children. Of course, this frequently entails extra work for the parents, but if you’re anxious to give your child some diversity, it can be worthwhile. Purchase cookie cutters so you can cut sandwiches into amusing shapes, or make ants on a log out of celery, peanut butter, and raisins. Alternatively, try making a rainbow out of colourful fruits and veggies.
Never make a child eat something through coercion or force
The mood at the dinner table needs to be informal and engaging if you want good results. Don’t make them eat anything they don’t like or use food as a punishment for unpleasant behaviours; doing so will simply make them more resistant to trying new foods in the future.
Try Out Smaller Portions To Start
I’m referring to 2 peas, 1 apple slice, and 1 scoop of yoghurt. Introducing our children to new foods can be intimidating or overwhelming, especially if there are many different items on the plate. However, providing extremely few samples reduces fear. They enjoy oatmeal with raisins, right? Consider substituting fresh blueberries or dried cranberries. Does she enjoy peas in her pasta? Next time, try broccoli. Offering familiarity and variation can be quite beneficial.
Don’t make them eat every bite
Cleaning your plate is overrated. While it’s true that you don’t want to promote food waste, pressuring kids to complete a snack or meal teaches them to reject their internal “full” signal and may cause them to link a negative memory or emotion with that food. Offer seconds after the initial little servings.
Explore lots of different meals as a family
When you have children who are picky eaters, it is also important to see if you are particularly picky with your food. Sometimes they can pick up habits from you and you don’t even realize it. You could dedicate one day a week to trying a new dish whether that’s a curry, a stew, risotto or even something like sous vide chicken thighs with garlic to add a bit of something new mixed with something they would already like.
Speak to a Professional
If you are really struggling to get your kids to eat new foods, and nothing seems to be working, then it might be time to seek out some help from a professional. You can look at something like aba feeding intervention, you can take them to a nutritionist, or you can look at whatever other help is available to you. We know that your kid not eating can be really hard and stressful for you, so it’s just a case of getting the right help and support to get through this.
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