Getting Your Child to Try New Food

I think my daughter may be the pickiest eater on the planet. It didn't start of this way. When she was a baby and a very small toddler, she ate what we gave her. And then, somewhere along the line, things changed. I can't really pinpoint a specific time where she stopped eating everything but peanut butter, but I can say I must not have enforced food rules very well.

So, for the last year or so, she has existed primarily off peanut butter, milk and cereal. I guess the combination could be worse, but I finally realized I needed to change it, and I needed to start now. So, I started making my daughter eat one new food a night. I let her choose which food it was going to be, and she could eat it on her 'terms', meaning she could eat it right away, or after she finished the other stuff on her plate first.

Believe it or not, this actually worked without much trouble. Or, not much trouble until we got to the point one evening where there was no new food she wanted to try. So I suggested she eat one bite quickly and chase it down with a drink or her water. Or chew really fast with her nose plugged. Nothing seemed like a good compromise, so I finally told her to just do it, that she didn't have a choice.

So, she put the offending carrot (yes, a plain old carrot piece) in her mouth, and I thought she was literally going to vomit right there. Either she is one superior actress, or she absolutely hated that carrot. Eventually, after tears and screaming, we got the carrot bite down, and the evening rolled on. And I learned a valuable lesson. Don't back down, and make sure to have a back up jar of peanut butter so my kid doesn't starve.