Train Your Children: Teaching Picky Eaters to Eat Yucky Foods

Training children requires the same patience it takes to train pets or spouses. It is not difficult, it simply requires patience. There is a method that takes time and routine when training a dog to go outside. There is also a method that takes time and routine when training picky children to eat foods they do not like.

The first important rule when training children is to stand your ground. Do not be flexible!

If a dog leaves a puddle on the kitchen floor, you do not pat it on the head and say "That's ok. Maybe next time..." and if a child refuses to eat their spinach, you do not pat them on their head and say "That's ok. You don't have to."

The second important rule when training a picky eater is somewhat contradictory to the first. You must be fair about your expectations.

If the 'yucky' food in question is a healthful vegetable or side dish, it is okay to train your children. The bottom line is they can complain all they want but it won't do them any good. Give them smaller portions than everyone else, and tell them to eat the 'yucky food' first.

Children will often save the 'yucky food' and eat everything else first, offering the "I'm full" excuse to avoid food they dislike eating. Therefore, their spinach should be eaten before their chicken, and the "my tummy hurts" won't be available as an option.

The third important rule when training a picky child to eat 'yucky foods', is to never use dessert as a bribe!

Dessert should be part of the meal, and something tasty yet partly healthful. It is okay to offer chocolate cake or brownies occasionally, but fruit pies or shortcakes should be served more often as dessert. Even oatmeal raisin cookies are a better option, and it is okay for your child to eat dessert with every meal. It is not okay for your child to have the option of sacrificing something desirable to avoid something unpleasant.

Remember that you are the parent, and you do not use bribes with properly trained children. You offer rewards for positive attitudes and actions. Children, just like pets and spouses, respond better to rewards for good behavior than punishments for bad behavior.

The fourth important rule for training a picky child to eat yucky foods is to allow them to be picky about some things.

Never make meals around your child's preferences. If they do not like onions, you don't have to skip out on putting onions in your pasta sauce. Most times, children will not even know they are eating onions but if they do happen to notice then allow them to pick out the onions out of their pasta.

Remember that there may be some foods you don't like. You may not cook liver for your family because you don't like liver. Since you are the one doing the cooking, your children have to eat what you are cooking. We have all been children and thought "that's not fair". It is very easy to forget how unfair the world really is for children.

However, it is fair to allow your child to pick out onions and to have smaller portions of spinach. Even if they do not see things that way, you can not let your children have their way.

The final important rule when training picky eaters is to let them help make dinner!

Choose age appropriate tasks for children to help with constructing meals. Instead of not allowing children in the kitchen so they don't see what's going into dinner, let them help. No matter how much your child hates tomatoes (that may never change and it is okay) they will eat them more willingly if you allow them to cut the tomatoes.

This hands-on approach helps your children develop a sense of self achievement and confidence, and will sometimes make them more curious about the different tastes of the yucky food in question.