Parenting Tips: Three Ways to Handle a Picky Eater

Does your child have a long list of foods they absolutely will not eat, and a short list of foods they will?

If so, you have a picky eater on your hands. And many of the foods on their "will eat" list probably aren't the healthiest things in your kitchen.

It's hard not to worry when your child is a picky eater. Mostly because it's hard to imagine a steady diet of bananas, macaroni and cheese, and their favorite cereal will provide your child's body with the vitamins and minerals it needs to stay healthy.

But it seems like your child won't eat anything but the foods on their "will eat" list. And you'd rather they eat something than nothing at all.

Luckily, there are ways to help a picky eater develop healthy eating habits.

Don't Prepare Special Meals for Picky Eaters

In most cases, its not that a picky eater wouldn't like some of the foods on their "won't eat" list. They've just gotten used to only having to eat the foods they like most. And they have convinced their parents they would choose to starve over eating anything else.

If you've gotten into the habit of preparing separate meals for your picky eater, it's a habit you should break. Instead, give them the same foods you give everyone else.

Your child might resist at first, not eating much of what's on their plate. But, eventually, they'll understand that they are expected to eat the same thing as everyone else, and they will begin eating, and even enjoying, those meals.

Let Your Child Help with Meals

Your child might be more likely to eat the foods on their "won't eat" list if they helped to prepare the meal. Children are often more eager to eat foods they helped to make.

How much your child actually helps will depend on their age. With older children, you can let them use a plastic butter knife to spread peanut butter on the bread for their lunchtime sandwiches. Or you can let them tear the lettuce for the dinner salad.

With younger children, simply letting them choose between chicken and spaghetti, or ham sandwiches and tuna salad sandwiches, can be enough for them to feel like they helped prepare the meal.

Make Food More Interesting

Sometimes, a finicky eater will decide they don't like something before they've even tried it.

Make trying new foods into an adventure. Is there any new food you've thought about trying, like some of the unusual or exotic fruits you've seen at the grocery store? You and your child can try it together. Your enthusiasm to try something new will rub off on them, and make them more open to trying some of the foods on their "will not eat" list.

You can also try dressing up foods for your child. Maybe your child doesn't usually eat carrots. But they might want to try a carrot that has been dressed to look like a little man. Or cut up to look like French fries. (You can use a thick, red variety of salad dressing for the "ketchup." You can even buy small lunch bags to place the carrots in.)

While it might take time, patience, and creativity, helping your picky eater develop healthier eating habits is well worth the effort.