Tips on How to Get Your Child to Try New Things

I am a new mother, and my daughter is one. As any parent will tell you, children can be very picky eaters. My daughter is definitely no exception to this rule. She definitely has her "favorite" foods. I am sharing a few of the tricks I have found that work with her, but every child is different. Sometimes you will find that the trick works one day and the next day it's like your child caught on other tricks work everytime.

1. If I am feeding my daughter something from a bowl, I will spoon feed her, but also give her her own spoon to experiment with. This way while she is "playing" I can sneak a few good bites in.

2. The old "airplane" trick works wonders. Sometimes I have to beep at the "hangar", but she's usually pretty good about it.

3. We eat together. If she sees me eating something, she automatically wants it and I don't mind sharing. Sometimes she tries it and just spits it right back out, and that's alright as long as she tries it.

4. I put a mixture of foods in front of her. If we make something like rice and beans I spoon feed her the rice but put the beans, pepper, and ham in front of her and let her feed them to herself. It's not the neatest, but she does well.

5. I just keep trying. I read somewhere that it takes a child somewhere between 10-15 times to try something before they decide that they like it. It's not easy, especially when your child is screaming, but it will happen.

6. Keep the food that you know they like away until the end of the meal. My daughter loves fruit and if she sees it, that's all she wants and will not eat anything else. I love feeding her fruit, but I want her to eat her "main" meal first. So, I have prepared her fruit, but left it in the other room until she was done eating her food.

Just remember, your child will eat when they are hungry. They typically will not starve themselves. Be patient and just keep trying. Their taste buds are forever changing.