Does your little one love trying new foods? Yeah, mine doesn’t either.
When he he was first starting out with solids, though, he surprised us with his openness to new foods. Since moving fully into toddlerhood, he has developed some preferences, that’s for sure.
There are nights I end up making multiple dinners in an attempt to just get food in his belly. That isn’t exactly a good financial move.
I decided to dive into finding a way to curate the best dinner experience possible to get my little guy to take those bites – hopefully from the first dinner I’ve prepared!
Staying Focused
The first idea I had was that maybe he wasn’t eating because he was distracted or wanted to be doing something else, not trying a new food.
When I did a bit of research, I found that keeping distractions to a minimum and making sure to eat together at the table is a great first step.
Safe Foods
When attempting to introduce a new food to your little one, it’s helpful to pair it with two other ‘safe foods’ that you know your kiddo will be excited about or at least comfortable with.
You also can give your little one some control by offering options for what one of the safe foods will be. That way, your child definitely will get a portion of something that is well liked. This can make getting them seated at the table a little less chaotic.
That first time they try a new food that is completely unknown and strange, it can help to keep the portion size small so that it will seem less overwhelming at first glance. And by pairing it with those safe foods, it doesn’t feel totally unknown.
Model Behavior
Another way to get your child interested in a new food is to model the behavior for them. It can be encouraging to our little ones when we show that we are open to trying new things and we talk positively about the new food.
Getting your kiddo involved in the meal preparation helps, too. When my son helps with chopping the veggies, stirring them around the pan or adding seasoning, he is much more apt to at least try the new food. These phrases might help build confidence:
- “You did such a great job cooking dinner.”
- “Do you want to see how good it tastes?”
- “ I couldn’t have done it without you!”
Make It Fun
Try using cookie cutters to create fun shapes, encouraging or modeling playing with the food, making funny faces and sounds. Make it as fun as possible.
Another tactic is to offer a “no, thank you” bite. This is when the little one has to try a little taste before they can say no to the food.
Try, Try Again
I’m not going to sugar coat it. This is a process. Even if you incorporate all of these ideas, your kiddo may still refuse the food or say “no more” after one small taste. Don’t get discouraged! It’s all about repeated exposure.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, it can take upwards of 10 times of trying a new food before a child begins to like it.
Ten times? You got this!
Sophie Hamel is a freelance writer and works in advocacy for victims of interpersonal violence. Her son is two-and-a-half years old.
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