Four Creative Tricks for Getting Picky Eaters to Eat
Get Picky Eaters to Eat: Get Saucy
My son suddenly decided he didn't like chicken nuggets. He had been eating them all his life, but now suddenly, he hated them. My son is such a picky eater, but his sudden hatred for chicken nuggets did not make sense to me.
I tried everything and what finally worked was changing the dipping sauce. I put out little samples of barbecue sauce, sweet n' sour sauce, ranch salad dressing, steak sauce, Miracle Whip, tarter sauce, honey mustard sauce, and ketchup, and let him dunk and taste. He discovered he liked the way the ranch tasted, and now I don't have to fight with him to eat his chicken nuggets. This way he also had some control over his food.
Get Picky Eaters to Eat: Call It Chicken
My three-year-old daughter does not know the difference between pork chops, tuna, and chicken. She loves chicken, but she won't even try a pork chop if I call it a pork chop. But if I call it chicken, my picky eater will eat it happily and ask for more 'chicken'.
This won't always work, and generally it only works on the younger crowd of picky eaters. When they get older and they know it's not chicken, give picky eaters different sauces to dunk it in!
Get Picky Eaters to Eat: Use the Gross-Out Factor
This trick works well with the boys. If your son is a picky eater, try to find a way to get him to try it. For example, my son would not eat beans until I told him they would make him fart! This really does work for getting picky eaters to eat broccoli, beans, and most other gas-producing food.
When my son suffered a bout of constipation, I got him to drink prune juice by calling it 'pooping juice'. Yes, I know it is gross, but if it gets your picky eater to eat, it is worth it!
Get Picky Eaters to Eat: Tasting Spot
This is a picky eater trick I stole from my daughter's preschool. They have a spot on the plate called the 'tasting spot'. When there is a food the picky eater claims not to like, it still goes on the plate on the tasting spot. The rule of the tasting spot is the picky eater has to at least try a little. If they like it, they can finish it. But if they don't, the picky eater knows she doesn't have to finish it. This method works because it takes the stress out of trying new foods.
Published by Heather K. Adams
Heather K. Adams is an award-winning journalist with the North Dakota Newspaper Association. While she can write on many topics, she specializes in personalized national and state news reports, music, and pa... View profile
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- Get gross with your picky eater. Tell him beans will make him fart!
- Let your young picky eater call her pork chops 'chicken'.
- Add a tasting spot to your picky eater's plate.
11 Comments
Post a CommentGreat article. I have a blog that is similar to this article. It's pickyeatersolutions.blogspot.com. Check it out and become a follower.
Good tips! "Pooping juice"--ha! Why didn't I think of that?
Top notch read!!!
I loved this- I have often used alternative tricks for getting my daughter to eat- I will have to keep some of these in mind for the future!!!!
What ever happened to prying their ungrateful little mouths open & stuffing the food in?
the tasting spot is a new one for me .. and a good one.
BEST ARTICLE I'VE EVER READ! MAY I INTERVIEW YOU? :-) My daughter is a VERY picky eater, and unfortunately these tricks wouldn't fly with her. My only hope is that she's like me and eventually grows out of it.
Very good tips that many parents will be thankful for!
Wow, some very creative and humorous techniques here. My parents got me to eat zucchini by insisting it was forbidden to children and only adults could eat it and....no,no!..I was never, ever to dare try a bite. It worked. I tried it.
I had fun reading this - real humor growing out of real situations.