Top 12 Tips For Coping With Fussy Eaters

WHAT’S THE FUSS?

Anyone with children will know that when it comes to eating, fuss is often high on the menu.

It’s not surprising then that we can lose heart when our children turn their noses up at anything with green bits, or when they will only allow plain pasta with grated cheese to pass their lips! But rest assured, you’re not alone. In fact, research suggests that approximately 10% to 35% of toddlers are identified as “picky eaters” by their parents, while broader studies indicate that 90% of children go through at least one lengthy stage of food refusal.

In their first year babies grow more rapidly than at any other time in their life, so it’s relatively easy to get them to eat new foods. But by the second year your child is becoming his own person who’ll soon figure out that refusing food is a great way of getting attention. The good news is that nearly all children who have previously been ‘good eaters’ do go back to eating well. The bad news, though, is that this usually happens on their terms – and on their timescale.

When you have picky eaters you might feel you have to cook something special for everyone, but the best thing is to make DIY meals, where everyone can build their own. You set out all the components of the meal and let everyone choose what they like. We have several DIY meals on our Fresh Families healthy meal plan, our answer to picky eaters of all ages.  Our meal plan ensures you have easy to cook dinners every night of the week all planned ahead for stress free dinner time. Plus the app allows you to choose and adjust the meals to the recipes you and your family like most.

Here are 12 tips to help you cope with your child’s fussy eating habits.

1. BE POSITIVE

Try and make mealtimes a really positive experience. One of the most important things is to try and hide your frustration. Praise your child excessively when he eats well or tries something new. You may need to ignore some bad eating behavior to refocus attention on good behavior. This may make mealtimes less stressful for you too.

2. DISGUISE

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Disguise vegetables by blending them into a tomato sauce and serve with pasta. You can double bluff by leaving a few chunky vegetables in the sauce for your child to pick out, then she’ll never suspect that there are still some there…

3. KIDS IN THE KITCHEN

Most children adore cooking and tasks like squeezing fresh orange juice or cracking eggs are well within the capabilities of a young child. It’s amazing how being involved in the planning and preparation of a meal can stimulate a child’s appetite.

4. MAKE FOOD ATTRACTIVE AND FUN

Offer small portions, it isn’t good to overload your child’s plate. Also, children generally prefer smaller pieces of food so it’s a good idea to make foods like mini burgers with new potatoes, small broccoli florets and mini carrots. They also like eating from small containers, so use ramekins to prepare individual portions of foods like fish pie or shepherd’s pie. You can also make a batch and freeze them.

5. HEALTHY JUNK FOOD

Create your own ‘Healthy Junk Food’. Make pizza bases using mini English muffins, foccacia or pita and let your child choose his favorite toppings. Make burgers using good quality lean beef. I have my own delicious version of chicken nuggets that is sure to please: toss cut chicken breasts in seasoned flour, dip in beaten egg and then coat in crushed cornflakes; pan fry until cooked.

6. BLIND MAN’S GRUB

If you have a little ‘junk food junkie’ who refuses to try anything new, play a game where you blindfold your child and give him several foods to taste, some old favorites and some new, and see if he can identify what they are!

7. START AS YOU MEAN TO CONTINUE

Start your baby off on fresh baby food rather than jars of processed food with a shelf life of two years. If they are used to a variety of fresh flavors early on, children are much less likely to become fussy eaters when you try to integrate them into family meals.

8. DON’T MAKE A FUSS

If your child refuses to eat anything other than junk food, chill out. He will soon find there isn’t much point making a fuss if you don’t react.

9. REWARD SCHEMES

Sticker charts usually work best from around 2 years. Keep portions absolutely miniscule and at first give a sticker for just trying the food. The treats for completing a sticker chart should not be food based (e.g chocolate) as this gives the wrong message. Ideally, rewards should be small and affordable (you may be doing sticker charts for quite a long time!). The reward could be staying up later than usual to watch their favorite TV show or a trip to watch their favorite team play baseball.

10. ORIENT EXPRESS

I make lots of ethnic foods like quesadillas, teriyaki salmon, Thai-style chicken curry and all manner of stir fries.  Chinese- and Japanese-style foods are very popular and they are even more appealing if you serve them with child friendly chopsticks that are joined at the top. You can buy these or make your own from ordinary chopsticks by rolling up a piece of paper and wedging it between the two sticks secured by an elastic band.

11. EAT TOGETHER

Eating with the whole family whenever possible can make a real difference. Personally, I think that taking the focus off your child’s eating and having lots of social chat at the table is helpful.

Don’t be afraid to make basic changes to recipes to match your taste. If your kids don’t like tomato chunks mixed into a dish, use crushed tomatoes instead of diced in a recipe. If you are the only one that likes eggplant in your family, sub portobellos or zucchini. If no one likes zucchini, use broccoli and if no one likes quinoa, try bulgur. 

12. HEALTHY SNACKS

After school is a great time to get your child to eat something healthy as they generally come home starving. The trouble is that most children will grab a cookie or some potato chips. Try to have something ready prepared on the table. Even if it’s just cut up fruit on a plate rather than whole fruit in a bowl or carrot and cucumber sticks with a dip. It’s quick and easy to make delicious wraps, pita pockets or pasta salads and it’s a good idea to have a low shelf in the fridge from which children can help themselves to tasty healthy snacks.

Make meal time great again when you plan ahead with healthy dinners every night and our easy to use recipe app, Sign Up Here. 

In the meantime for some family friendly, picky eater approved meal ideas check these out.