Hello!
I am the publisher of Macaroni Kid, but I am also a Pediatric Speech Pathologist. As a Speech Pathologist I treat feeding and swallowing disorders every day. I also have my own picky eaters at home. I know the stress of trying to get your children to eat healthier and to explore more flavors and textures. If your little one is picky or getting picky here are my top tips to reduce mealtime stress:
1. Cut the snacks! Snacking was invented by the food industry. We don't actually need to snack between meals. For those toddler aged children, they may prefer more frequent and smaller meals, but all those snack foods are not necessary! Increasing hunger is the best way to encourage kids to eat more, and snacks diminish that hunger considerably. This is also true of milk. All those milk guzzling toddlers will definitely refuse meals. We need an empty stomach for an open mind when it comes to meals!
2. Model, model, model. Sitting down as a family for dinner is a research proven way to get kids to consume more fruits and vegetables. You need to be eating the foods you want them to eat, and modeling how to use your fork, how to chew and showing them how yummy those foods are.
3. Offer a variety of foods even if they refused it before. Kids need to be offered a food on average 7 times before they will try it. Put a small amount of your target foods on their plate every day. This help expose them to new smells, and textures via touching even if they don't taste it.
4. If they can't touch it, they won't be able to eat it. The sensory feedback from our fingers helps our brains predict how the food will feel in our mouths. If your child hates the way it feels in their hands, they likely won't like how it feels in their mouth. To work on this, do lots of sensory play. You can paint with raw broccoli, make pictures out of berries, spaghetti and peppers. Even play doh and slime play can desensitize those sensory inputs!
5. Touch it, pick it up, kiss it, lick it, taste it, eat it. Picky eaters usually have some fear associated with new foods. Work slowly on trying new foods by reinforcing behaviors starting with just touching it and moving all the way up to biting and chewing. If your child is willing to touch the new food, praise them and move on for the day! Keep all attempts to interact with new foods fun, light and positive.
Remember consistency is king! Anything you decide to try, just keep at it! Let me know if any of these tips helped!
