Food Suggestions for Parents of Kids Who Are Picky Eaters

Raising kids can be challenging enough, but throw in a kid who is a picky eater and the job just got that much more complicated. Trying to find foods to feed a kid who is a really picky eater can be frustrating and exhausting. The sooner you can find foods that your picky eater will eat without prodding or argument, the better. Being the sister, godmother and mother to some very picky eaters, I've learned quite a bit about feeding these kids through the years. If you are trying to find foods that your picky eater will eat without a fuss, you may want to try the following suggestions!

Keep things dry -Picky eaters generally do not like wet foods, or anything that seems to moisten their food in any way. Forget mayonnaise, salad dressing, ketchup, and spaghetti sauce. Offer sandwiches dry, such as just deli sliced turkey on plain sandwich bread. Pasta can be a huge hit if you just mix in a little butter and grated parmesan cheese. Often cream cheese will be rejected by picky eaters, but you can offer dry bagels instead. Many picky eaters will not tolerate even butter on toast, but you might be able to get away with putting jam on instead. If your picky eater will not eat cereal in a bowl with milk, offer dry cereal in one cup, and milk in another. Other foods that might be well tolerated that you may not have already tried include tamales, scones, waffles, and grilled steak seasoned with a dry rub.

An apple a day - Of all the picky eaters in my life, every last one is willing to eat apples. Fruit can be a tough thing to feed to a picky eater, because so many fruits have textures that picky eaters will not tolerate. Don't assume that your picky eater doesn't like apples simply because they won't eat applesauce, as it may just be the texture they don't like. I peel and slice 3 apples every day, just to make sure my picky eater is getting enough fruit. My brother, a notoriously picky eater, will eat apples and nothing else for days at a time sometimes. Another good fruit to try with your picky eater is watermelon.

Serve cheese cold and separate from other food items - Some picky eaters reject nearly all dairy items, but some will eat cheese as long as it is offered separately from other foods, and not melted. Slice pieces of cheddar to place on a plate next to a dry turkey sandwich, rather than putting it in the sandwich.

Make an attempt to offer seafood items - For some reason that I have never been able to figure out, the picky eaters that I know all love seafood. My son won't touch mayonnaise, spaghetti sauce, or strawberries, but he will eat clams, shrimp, and fish. Here's a kid who won't eat cheese on a taco, but he'll take his Omega-3 supplement, which happens to be a packet of cod liver oil, without flinching. In fact, he likes it. While the rest of us are gagging it down even though it's mixed into strawberry yogurt to hide the hideous taste, my picky eater eats the stuff straight out of its packaging, licking his lips all the while! The other picky eaters I know well all love fish, oysters, and lobster. So, don't rule out seafood when it comes to your picky eater. After all, considering all of the foods that he or she refuses, getting enough Omega-3 into their diet is that much more important.