Explore New Foods and Tastes
If you’re experiencing picky eating in toddlers, one of the best things you can do is continue to explore new foods and tastes. Just because your toddler doesn’t particularly enjoy the crunch of apples, doesn’t mean he or she will be opposed to all fruit. Try something different. Maybe berries become their new best friend, or something like fresh figs! If you explore new foods and tastes (and resist becoming upset when one doesn’t quite work out) you’ll eventually find what your toddler enjoys—and on the flip side, doesn’t enjoy. This is one of our simpler picky eater toddler tips, but it’s a crucial one!Avoid Restricting Foods
So often parents restrict certain foods like ice cream or chips, things that children are naturally curious to try. Instead of restricting these foods, offer to make them homemade with your toddler. Homemade potato chips like these Baked Potato Chips from The Spruce Eats offer a more nutritious version of your favorite salty and crunchy snack, and this recipe for The Ultimate Healthy Chocolate Ice Cream from Amy’s Healthy Baking satisfies that sweet tooth without giving your toddler an unnecessary sugar high. Another important part about restricting foods with your picky eater is to avoid making certain foods a reward. “If you eat these green veggies, you’ll get dessert.” This puts certain foods on a pedestal over other foods, which naturally, will make your toddler say no thank you to whatever it is you want them to truly eat.Pick a Hero and Let it Shine
If you try to get all of the food groups into one single plate, you might wind up with an unhappy picky eater. Sometimes, mealtime needs a hero! With kids, it’s fun to work together to pick a hero and let it shine. Maybe on Monday night, it’s broccoli, and you’re working extra hard to come up with a creative recipe to let that hero steal the show. Perhaps on Friday, the star is cheese, and you’re whipping up an old family recipe for a simple cheese pizza with homemade dough. When you pick a hero, it gives kids something to focus on and get excited about. When dinner is served, they’ll know they did their part to help the hero shine!
Say No to the Power Struggle
When it comes to picky eater toddler tips, one of the best is to say no to the power struggle. Toddlers are developing their own personalities and paving the way into becoming a more grown-up version of themselves. When food and power become intertwined, this leaves both parents and children feeling exhausted. If your toddler says they aren’t hungry, don’t force it. Allow them to become mindful of their own eating patterns rather than looking at mealtime as a struggle between something they should and should not do. It’s good for children, especially if they are a somewhat picky eater, to recognize when they are hungry or full.Make Mealtime Fun
Even as adults, we get bored if mealtime is repetitive and seemingly boring. With kids, it’s important to make mealtime extra fun! Get creative with your presentation and recipes. Explore different shapes and sauces. Take your ravioli to the next level by cutting it in heart shapes or make a sandwich fun by putting a special sauce on it. Picky eating in toddlers doesn’t last forever, so if you allow them to explore tastes, textures and shapes, they’ll be more intrigued with the end result. We learn by exploration, which means setting up a space where toddlers can get messy and allowing them to literally “play with their food” is sometimes necessary. We’ve seen many toddlers pick up their spaghetti noodles with their fingers, touch it, smell it then eat it—happily.Focus on the Sharing of Food
When you’re about to embark on one of your picky eater toddler meals, cut out the distractions. This means eliminating the TV, the iPad and the phone. Focus on the gift at hand, which is sharing a meal together as a family. If you have one available to you, set the dining table, get your toddler in a seat they’re comfortable in and relish in the art of mealtime. Talk to your picky eater about what they’re eating. What do they like about it? What don’t they like about it? What does it make them think of? If you focus on sharing food as a family and talking about what the meal means to each of you, you’ll be surprised how engaged your toddler might become.
Make Healthy Eating Ordinary
If you want to get your picky eater to eat healthy and wholesome meals, you have to start with yourself first! Little ones learn by observing the behavior of others. If they see mom, dad and their families eating healthy meals, they’ll want to eat healthy meals, too. When we make healthy eating ordinary rather than a big deal, it becomes second nature. Having greens with dinner shouldn’t be a fight or a battle. It should be a part of the routine, like putting on shoes and socks before going outside to play. Once healthy eating becomes ordinary, the struggle diminishes and the art of enjoying a beautiful meal together begins.Get Kids Involved
Some of the best picky eater toddler meals are ones they create themselves! Say farewell to picky eaters by getting them involved in the meal planning, shopping, cooking and prepping. Enlist the help of your toddlers to create a grocery list. Bring them along to the farmers’ market or the store—not as a chore, but as a fun activity that the family gets to do together. When you get home, have them help rinse, chop and sauté. Even the littlest hands can help prep meals for the upcoming family dinner. When kids get involved, they’ll be proud to share all the little details they helped with that brought the meal to life!Be Patient
As a kid, it’s more than likely there were things you didn’t like. Maybe you weren’t a fan of dairy, but you came from a family who loves cheese. Perhaps you didn’t care for cooked broccoli, but you loved eating it raw and dipping it in ranch dressing. When you’re exploring foods with young kids, one of the most important picky eater toddler tips is to be patient. If you get frustrated, chances are your kiddos will get frustrated, too. Alleviate the tension and be thankful to be on the food journey together!
Pay Attention
Picky eating in toddlers isn’t unusual. In fact, it’s incredibly normal and it’s easy for parents to get flustered and stop paying attention. When you pay attention to the ins and outs of mealtime, you’ll notice what sort of flavors and textures your picky eater loves. Maybe they lean toward sweet things. Perfect! Add a hint of maple syrup or honey to their roasted veggies. Maybe it’s all things crunchy they’re after. That’s fine, too! Forego the baked veggies and opt for all things raw instead. If you pay attention to the tiny details (you can even jot notes if you need to) you’ll become more acquainted with their own specific tastes. Just like we, as adults, prefer some flavors and textures to others, kids do, too!Recipes for Picky Eaters
If you have a picky eater on your hands and are looking for fun recipes, give a few of these a try! From fritters to pancakes, kids will love helping to create these in the kitchen and helping to eat them in the dining room!- 5 Ingredient Zucchini Fritters
- Healthy Chocolate Protein Pancakes
- Blueberry Barley Pinwheel Scones
- Savory Butternut Tart
- Baked Lemon Blueberry Donuts
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Oatmeal
- Carrot Cake Pancakes
- 5 Ingredient Almond Chicken Tenders
