How To Deal With Picky Eaters
Picky eaters. So many of us have them — and so few of us know just how to handle them. That's where our top 100 food bloggers step in. Whether they take the "good cop" or "bad cop" route, these moms share their best tips and tricks for getting a picky eater to eat something (anything!) other than butter and pasta.
— Babble Editors, Babble
1. Name Meals After Them
"Sometimes for fun I name certain meals after my kids, like with these sloppy Sammies. We also play a color game at the table where we each call out a color that we have to find on our plate and eat. For some reason, it works every time."
2. Play Make Believe
"When my kids were little, it was hard to get them to each vegetables. We used to call broccoli 'trees,' and mashed potatoes were 'clouds.' The kids were the 'giants' and devoured the trees and clouds in the make-believe forest. My kids are a lot older now, but they still remember eating trees!"
3. Stop Pressuring
"My daughter is the pickiest eater I have ever met. I've tried everything that I can think of to get her to try new foods — none of them have worked. After a long talk with her doctor, he encouraged me to stop pressuring her to eat more. You know what? She is just fine. She is growing, and the fights over food have stopped. She will not be like this forever; I know that she will not go to college only eating white foods. So my best advice is to not worry about it so much. If you think of what your child eats over the course of a week, instead of a day, or even a meal, you'll see they generally get everything they need."
4. Let Them Choose the Ingredients
"My best tip for picky eaters is to get them involved in the cooking process. Having them choose ingredients and help cook makes them feel more connected to the food — which usually makes them more willing to try the food."
5. Put a Spin on the Classics
"Unexpected preparations can coax even the pickiest eater into trying something new. Homemade quick pickles are a great way to put a new spin on familiar vegetables or fruits. Quick pickled carrots, onions, cherries, and grapes are favorites in our house."
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