3 Tips to Get Your Child to Try New Foods
Parenting should have a manual for feeding your little ones. Every day I cook three meals and every day my two-year-old and six-year-old fight me tooth and nail to eat anything different! They don't want to eat vegetables, fruit, meats that don't look like chicken nuggets or anything green.
Lillian (the six-year-old) won't even try chocolate pudding....
I've tried everything that other parents suggest -
Colorful foods with food coloring
Cookie cutter sandwiches - Hearts, stars and dinosaurs
Telling them it's candy or just chocolate
Eating some myself in front of them to see if they will want it just because I have it.
Sitting them at the table and explaining they don't get dessert until they finish they're food.
Nothing works. They will sit at the table for hours either starting at or playing with the food they refuse to eat.
For a very long time, I felt like my children were destined to eat snack food and candy for the entirety of their lives.
However, I realized that there are ways to get my children to eat nutritious food without the fight and fuss.
Here are some of the things I have found that worked for me:
Make it a game: Show the kids a prize before dinner. Tell them that anyone who cleans their plate gets a prize. If one also takes the initiative to put their plate in the sink after they're done... they get an extra prize, they didn't know about.
Weekly Chart: Each night a child finishes their plate, they get a star. If they get a whole week of stars - we will make an outing that weekend of the child's choice. - This one is one of the kid's favorites!
Positive Reactions: Even if they only finish part of the food they do not normally eat, make sure you provide positive reactions. Smile, clap or yell 'Yay!". Let them know you're proud of them for trying something new.
I thought these things wouldn't work when I first heard of them either. I thought, like everything else, we would start it and forget about it a week later. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
Give it a try! Maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised too!
🧡 Shine Bright, Kayla