Convincing a picky eater to eat can be a challenge for parents. It is natural that between the ages of about 2 and 5 (although, my son is still quite picky, and he is well past 5!) it’s natural for children to become mighty fussy about what they will and will not eat.
Try the following tips to keep your sanity and the peace at mealtime, while feeding your child a balanced diet.
Keep it Healthy for Your Picky Eater:
View the Bigger Picture
Evaluate whether your child is eating a healthy diet over the course of a full week. Children may have individual days when they’ll eat nothing but noodles, but that’s okay if it balances out in the long run.
Gradually Introduce New Foods
As your child gets more mobile, they’re designed to test whether the new things they encounter are safe to eat. You’ll often get the best results if you present a new food every day for about 1 to 2 weeks.
Make Smaller Portions
Small children need small portions. They’ll ask for more if they’re still hungry. Encourage them to try one bite at a time. Limit meal times to a maximum of about 30 minutes. Serve smaller and more frequent meals if possible. Sticking to a regular schedule may also get good results.
Try Some New and Creative Recipes
A little creativity can work wonders for getting your child to eat their vegetables and other wholesome fare. Grate carrots into pancake batter. Bake spinach lasagna. Munch on leftover chicken in the morning and serve waffles and other breakfast items for dinner.
Keep Nutrient Rich Food On Hand
There may be times when your child doesn’t have much of an appetite. Make every calorie count with powerhouse foods like yogurt, beans, and peanut butter.
Keep Your Cool
Emotional health is also important to your family’s well being. Talk about pleasant things while you eat to avoid making your child’s dining habits the center of attention. Indulge their preferences within reason. Above all, take heart that this fussiness is a passing stage.
Make it Fun for Your Picky Eater:
Bring Your Child Shopping With You
Use grocery shopping as an opportunity to discuss good nutrition and admire attractive displays of food. Let your child pick out fruits and vegetables. Welcome their suggestions for planning your weekly menu.
Grow a Garden With Your Child
Children will be more interested in food if they help to grow it. Make it merry by planting a pizza garden or giving children their own colorful watering can. If the weather turns cold, cultivate easy indoor herbs like mint and chives. We have recently purchased an Aero Garden, and the kids love taking part in growing greens indoors!
Allow Your Child to Help You in the Kitchen
Involve your child in preparing meals and snacks. Even small children can use cookie cutters to turn bread into unusual shapes or help arrange vegetables into funny faces.
Turn Eating Into a Social Event
Schedule a lunch date with other children and adults who can serve as good role models for eating well. Pack up a picnic lunch or visit a family friendly restaurant.
Embrace the Messy
Kids love to get a little wild. Make a game out of dipping baby carrots in yogurt or smearing toast with peanut butter. Give ordinary dishes gross names like olive eyeballs.
Try Using Some Fun Props
Presentation is the key. Look for cups and plates with your child’s favorite cartoon character or zoo animals. Wear funny hats. We have some fun shaped cookie cutters that we use for shaping sandwiches (this also works great for trimming away crust for picky eaters!) Develop a ritual to celebrate eating together including your own theme songs.
Take a Trip Around the World!
I’ve put together a fun little list of ideas for enjoying some worldly meals with your little ones.
Traditional meals are a staple in every culture, and food is used in so many wonderful and unique ways as a gateway to warm family gatherings, celebrations, and life landmarks. I have always enjoyed exploring ethnic foods, and one of the first things I do when I travel is frequent the local restaurants in order to get a taste for the flair of the country.
In doing so, I have found that it is much easier to fall into step with the rhythm of a new place once I have experienced their traditional flavors and, preparation methods and meal timings. As often as possible, I try to introduce my children to foods that are new to them, but with a wordly inspiration and taste.
So far, some of their favorites have been meals inspired by the foods from Ireland, Mexico, Greece and India. Below is a compilation of traditional feasts from some countries around the world:
Iran
Nowruz, the Persian New Year, takes place in March and is a celebration of the first day of spring. The foods eaten during Nowruz are specifically chosen to evoke spring and renewal and welcome the coming year. One of the more meaningful dishes is Ash-e reshteh, a noodle soup made with spinach and green herbs. Untangling the noodles as you eat is thought to bring good fortune in the coming year.
Another traditional Nowruz dish, (sabzi pollo mahi), places fish alongside a bed of herb-coated rice. The fish represents “abundance” and the herby, green rice mirrors the greenness of nature in the spring. Other dishes served at Nowruz include lamb and rice-stuffed grape leaves (dolmeh barg) and a green herb-filled omelet (kookoo sabzi).
The United Kingdom
Though he lived over 200 years ago, Robert “Bobby” Burns is a Scottish poet so beloved in the United Kingdom that every year his birthday is celebrated as “Burns Night.” Around January 25th, people across the United Kingdom gather for “Burns suppers” to read Burns’ poetry aloud and feast on the Scottish dish haggis, which was one of Burns’ favorite foods.
Haggis is chopped sheep heart, lungs, liver, oatmeal, onion, and spices stuffed and cooked in a sheep’s stomach! Burns thought haggis was so delicious, he wrote an entire poem about it called “Address to a Haggis.”
Sweden/Denmark/Finland
Quickly becoming the most celebrated holiday outside New Year and Christmas for Sweden, Midsummer’s Eve is the time when Scandinavians celebrate the longest day of the year. Midsummer’s Eve takes place during the summer solstice, which is around June 21st.
On this holiday, traditional songs are sung, people dance around a decorated pole called the “midsommarstang,” and everyone feasts. One of the most popular Midsummer’s Eve foods is a kind of fish, called herring, that is pickled with mustard and onions and served with boiled new potatoes, sour cream, dill, and chopped boiled eggs.
Swedish meatballs, sausage, grilled meats, strawberries and cheese pie are also traditional dishes to eat on Midsummer’s Eve.
Korea
The harvest festival Chuseok is the largest and most important holiday in Korea. This year, starting on September 18th, Chuseok celebrations take place over three days and involve visiting with extended family, giving thanks to ancestors, and dancing.
Braised beef shortribs (Galbi jjim), a savory pancake (jeon), and a sweet potato noodle dish (japchae) are foods commonly seen during Chuseok, but because rice is one of the crops celebrated during the harvest festival, the rice cake songpyeon is the defining food of Chueseok.
Songpyeon is made from kneaded rice flour and stuffed with chestnuts, red beans, or sesame seeds before being steamed over pine needles. Korean families gather to make songpyeon together and see who can make the prettiest shape.
Greece
On the Greek island of Cyprus, preparation for Lent takes place over two weeks of feasting. Because people abstain from meat during Lent, one whole week before Lent is dedicated to eating great amounts of meat and another to eating cheese.
The week of meat is known as “Kreatini” and traditional Kreatini dishes are pork stew (afelia), marinated and grilled lamb skewers (souvlaki) and a dish of baked lamb, tomatoes, onions, and potatoes (tavva). During Tyrini, the week of cheese, people eat various kinds of sweet and savory cheese-filled pastries (bourekia), cheese cookies topped with herbs, bread filled with Halloumi cheese, and ravioli stuffed with local, fresh cheese.
It’s exciting to watch your toddler grow and master new skills even when you need some extra patience at meal times. Learn to please your picky eater so your whole family can eat a balanced diet and enjoy these years together!
Ave says
It’s interesting to learn about other cultures! I really love Swedish meatballs and often buy them from Ikea 😀
Dannie says
Oh my gosh, it’s been so long since I’ve taken a proper trip to Ikea… I am well overdue, it’s like therapy! 😉
Jessica Harlow says
This is a great list of different cultures and foods! My Mom used to mix it up at Thanksgiving and we always chose a different country to celebrate. We tried everything from Greek Dolmats to Borscht to lasagna, and more! It was a great way to “feast” and learn about other cultures!
Brittnei says
This is one thing I love about other cultures, trying the food! Is that baklava in that picture? I had ome from this Greek restaurant and I’ve never tasted someone else’s that’s been quite like it. It was amazing! I was just talking to a friend in Iran who is from there and she was talking about food from there but she didn’t know how to say the names in English. 🙂
Dannie says
Indeed, that is Baklava… one of the most divine desserts in existence! 😉