How do you help encourage a child to try different foods?

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   milleramanda53posted 11 years ago

   How do you help encourage a child to try different foods?

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   brittvan22posted 11 years ago

   I would advice the monkey see monkey do method. I noticed my daughter liked to eat out of my plate and it didn't matter what I was eating. I remember saying, "Maria we have the same thing and she said, "But I want some of yours Mommy." That would work for toddlers, but infants you mix a little of what they like in with the new stuff. Hope this helps! Remember each child is different and what works for some might not work for others. Trial and error. Good luck!

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      milleramanda53posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      My daughter is 4 and refuses to eat any kind of starchy foods like rice, pasta, ect. and will only eat fresh fruits and vegetable, she has eczema and severe asthama so it makes it difficult to give her the things she really loves.

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      brittvan22posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I would try her on vegetable lasagna for example so she can have the best of both worlds. I see ur dilemma.  Most doctors will tell you not to force them, but work with their palet and introduce a bit by bit. Kids that age are picky eaters.

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      milleramanda53posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you

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      brittvan22posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Your welcome, I dropped you an inbox with my suggestion. Happy hubbing!

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   win-winresourcesposted 11 years ago

   Hi Miller-
   
   I would start by not making it a war of wills.  Eating should be fun and stress free. Hungry children will eat.  If a balanced diet is maintained, then why make a big deal of it.
   
   As children grow older and see their friends eating a wider variety, they will probably experiment and find additional foods that they like.
   
   Setting a good example yourself couldn't hurt.
   
   -DW

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   Lisa HWposted 11 years ago

   A lot of people may disagree with me, but I'm not a big fan of trying to get children to try different foods.  Children have limited food preferences by nature.  With my own kids, as long as I knew they were getting a balanced diet (and the way to do that was to serve them that balanced diet in the form of foods they enjoyed and would eat), I didn't care if they tried new foods.  I'm not someone who particularly thinks it's important to try new foods if the "old" foods do the nutrition job.
   
   I saw my job as trying to work within the limits of what young children (and my individual children) preferred to eat while they were at that stage when they had such limited food preferences.  With two sons and daughter, I found that each child developed more interest in different foods (on their own) at around six (although my sons were more interested in food in general than my daughter was as a child, which is how I was as well).
   
   All three grew up knowing good eating habits.  All three grew up trying all kinds of foods (with two of them, as long as those foods aren't meat; because they have, or border of on having, a vegetarian diet).
   
   I've just always figured that because I offered a decent diet, made my kids aware of what is healthy and what isn't; and didn't turn the very personal matter of eating into a power struggle (or my over-stepping my bounds by expecting them to eat what they weren't ready to try), they just naturally grew up to be people who were happy to try different foods but also who pay attention to which foods are healthy and which aren't.
   
   True, it's a little challenging (a lot challenging sometimes) to get a young child to have a well balanced diet, but it can most often be done by knowing which foods offer which nutrients and are liked by the child; and working with that until the child is past the stage of having such limited preferences.

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      brittvan22posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Aww thanks, I'm honored! I would like to thank my four year that made this answer possible, lol.

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      milleramanda53posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Well it helped a lot Thanks

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   AustralianNappiesposted 11 years ago

   My daughter won't always try new foods with her meals, just on the look of them! But she will try them if I leave her alone with them.  What I do is make up a bento box of a variety of foods and leave it on her side board table in her play room.  I fill the bento with a variety of healthy options - different fruits, vegetables, even pasta and sometimes plain biscuites for a treat.  I only put on a few mouthfuls of each and cut the peices up very small so that there is no choking hazards.  It's essentially a colourful arrangement of little finger foods.  As she is playing, she will pick at this food.  This question has inspired me to make a Hub about this and share my experience with others, thanks! http://australiannappies.hubpages.com/h … y-Of-Foods

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