I think that I speak for almost all parents when I say that we want to avoid raising a picky eater. A picky eater can be very difficult for a mother to deal with. You always have to think about what you can get them to eat and how to keep your cupboard stocked just for them. It can cause a lot of aggravation and trouble. Your child can also limit the amount of good nutrition that they are getting, so it’s that much more important to avoid raising a picky eater.
One of the best things to help you avoid raising a picky eater is to expose them to a wide variety of food. Don’t serve them the same foods over and over. Of course, you want to introduce them to new foods slowly when they are a baby. But once you are past that phase, give them a wide variety to try. This can be a great help in making sure they aren’t picky.
Don’t be ready to rake your child’s plate into the garbage if they don’t seem to love their food right away. Give them time to give it a true try. Ignore their negative faces or what they are saying. They just may surprise themselves and you if you give them a chance. This has happened to almost every parent and child from time to time.
Don’t anticipate a negative reaction from your child. Expect them to like it. Even if you secretly know that a new food may not go over well, don’t show that. Make every effort to make an outward expectation that they will like it. This may just encourage them into giving it a chance.
It is very, very tempting to cater to a picky eater. Of course, you do want to make sure that you serve a food that they do like. For example, if you know they will eat chicken, fix that. But also fix some sides that the rest of the family can enjoy. Don’t get yourself in the habit of fixing two separate meals for your picky child.
Fun food is more fun to eat, wouldn’t you agree? Do your best to make food appetizing and fun for them. Maybe you can make banana boats to serve yogurt in. You might make snowman shaped pancakes. Whatever you can do to add some fun is the goal. It is very possible that it will encourage them into giving the food a try just because it is fun.
We tend to want to sample something that we helped to prepare. We want to know how our hard work tastes. Let your child get involved with food preparation. If they do the buttering of the bread, they may be more likely to try it. Think of a job that they can do at their age level. Not only can it help them to not be picky, but it is a good way to make memories together.
Your child may hate cooked broccoli but love it raw. Don’t count a food out just because they didn’t like it one certain way. Try it prepared a different way. There are a lot of things that you can do to fix food differently. You might also tempt your child to try a food by something as simple as adding a dip.
These tips can give you a lot of different inspiration on how to avoid raising a picky eater. Have you had a child that was a picky eater? How did you help them overcome that?