How to Get Your Child To Eat If They Are A Picky Eater

If your child is a picky eater, here are a few things you can try to get them to expand their food options.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Patience
• Creativity

1. 
    
   Eat Early

   Serve Dinner Early.
   
   Most children really are hungry at around 3:00 when they get home from school. This may be the best time to feed them their evening meal and then simply give them a light snack later. This is especially true if your child is not big on eating their lunches in school. Try to avoid giving them after-school snacks which will make them less hungry at dinnertime and may cause them to act pickier than usual.

2. 
    
   Peanut Butter and Jelly

   Try Half And Half
   
   Offer the child some of what you are eating and some of what they like to eat. It is absolutely fine to serve them some chicken alongside a half peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Tell them they can have the half a sandwich after they eat their chicken and before you know it, their plate will be clean.

3. 
    
   Smaller Portions

   Serve Smaller Portions
   
   Quite often we all put a little more food on our plates than we really need to eat. But with children who are picky eaters, this can be especially intimidating. Start by giving smaller portions on a smaller plate so it doesn’t make them feel like they are facing this monumental meal that will be a fight for them to finish.

4. 
    
   Just A Little

   Introduce A Little At a Time
   
   Sometimes children truly don’t like what is being offered, and sometimes they are simply being stubborn in not wanting to try something new. If you are introducing a new food, simply give them one or two pieces of it and tell them they must as least try it. If they don’t want anymore for that evening it is fine, but tell them the next time they are going to have to eat two string beans or two pieces of broccoli instead of just one.

5. 
    
   Get Out Of Dinner Pass

   Allow a Once A Week Pass
   
   Give your child the option to skip one meal they don’t want a week and tell them they can replace it with a sandwich, toast or a bowl of cereal for that one night only. Give them a special pass they can use and then let them decide which meal they will use it for. This will make them feel more involved in the decision making process and will give you a break from hearing how they do not want what is being served night after night. You must be vigilant in enforcing this rule, however. This way they will eat the macaroni tonight without complaint, because they know they will not have to eat the meat loaf tomorrow.

6. 
    
   Play a Game

   Make It A Game
   
   Most children love games so try and play a game with them at dinnertime (depending on their age of course). Have an imaginary food race. Look at another adult at the table or another child and say “Wow, I wonder which food is going to come in first place tonight on Sara’s plate. The chicken, the potatoes, or the peas?” After they have gobbled down one of the items say “Wow, who do you think is going to come in second place?” At the very least you should see two of the items devoured by the end of the meal. And you know what they say, “two out of three ain’t bad.”

7. 
    
   Hanging Tough

   Tough Love
   
   While this is probably the hardest of all the options, sometimes a parent is given no choice. Most of our parents did it to us and we didn’t come out any the worse for it. Simply state that they have to eat what is being served for dinner or they can leave the table without eating at all. (Be sure however to put some aside for them on a small plate, so when they come back in an hour starving, it will be ready for them.) While some children are more stubborn than others and they might truly decide to eat nothing at all that first night, chances are they will eat what you serve the next evening when they see that you mean business.