We began experiencing picky eating in Scarlett when we started to move from puree to regular solids in her diet. Suddenly she was turning her head away, even trying to throw her dishes on the floor. It all felt very sudden, because initially she seemed very open to most flavors and then we were struggling through entire days just to find something she would eat. Not only was baby girl was fussy and hungry often, but we were producing a lot of food waste. After weeks of meals becoming monotonous because there was so little she would actually eat, I started doing more google, pinterest, and instagram searches looking for answers. Some of the most valuable resources I have used over the last few months are from Instagram: snackswithjax; family.snack.nutrionist; feedinglittles.

Recently, Scarlett’s diet has been growing to include more food weekly. With no pressure to eat, she no longer tries to throw her entire plate on the floor either. Here I have compiled the best tactics we implemented during mealtime to help ease the anxieties food was causing our little one.

(The tips we found to be the most helpful are underlined!)

1. She needs an average of 30 minutes to an hour and a half to eat.

There’s a long period of play first. She needs time for exposure to new foods with no pressure. When she first moved from purees to more solid foods, I was not giving her enough time to experience the food before taking it away, because I thought her playing with the food meant she didn’t want to eat it. They are simply curious and familiarizing themselves with the new textures and smells you’ve just introduced them to.

2. More comfortable with foods that appear and taste uniform.

For example, goldfish are Scarlett’s favorite! Things like muffins need to be given to her with the baking cup folded down but still visible so that she associates muffins with cupcakes. She isn’t always keen on chicken unless it’s a shape she recognizes, like dino nuggets. She also really likes fried fish, again because they appear uniform.

3. Always include something she likes on the plate!!!

Here we have fideo-something she had never tried at this point, grilled chicken- something she sometime eats, and finally, something I know she likes, guacamole!

4. Helps to see parents take a bite off her plate first.

5. Fruit smoothies!

Fruit still seems to be a little too inconsistent for her, but she LOVES smoothies.

6. Veggie fries.

Great way to get her to eat some broccoli! These are one of her favorite foods and she hardly touches regular broccoli.

7. Accept that her hunger varies.

Sometimes toddlers with their tiny tummies aren’t hungry. Pressure over meals never needs to happen.

8. Sitting and eating with the family.

She eats a lot better if she can see that we are eating the same thing at the same time as her. Proximity helps also. The TV can be a distraction.

9. Great to see friends eating fruits and veggies.

She saw her friend, Eva, eating an apple once, and for the first time, she wanted to try one too.

10. Discard bowl.

Provide your little one with an empty bowl for them to place the pieces of food that they deem too icky or strange to eat instead of dropping them on the floor.

11. Visit a buffet.

Since buffets are very low stakes and she can choose whatever she wants to eat, I found that Scarlett not only ate foods she wouldn’t normally try, but she ate more in that one sitting than I think ever before. She kept wanting to go back to the buffet and choose more! Normally she is not very interested in eating, so this was such a good experience for her.

12. Let her see me plate everyone’s meal.

That way she knows we are all eating the same thing. Also let her see me actually cut a slice from an apple, etc.

13. Accept that she might eat something happily one day and not even try it the next.

Exposure is key! If I never put carrots on her plate, she can’t get used to the look and texture enough to actually taste them.

14. Deconstructing/separating food.

For example, instead of giving her full-on tacos, separate the meat, cheese, beans, tomatoes, so that the meal isn’t as bizarre and intimidating in appearance.

15. NO PRESSURE.

SO IMPORTANT: Don’t ever say things like, “Just one bite.” Or “Just try it.” No pressure at all over food.

 

Hopefully some of these tips help your family during mealtimes; good luck with your little picky eaters!

-Katy