Practical Tips From Parents of Picky Eaters

Have your kids look at cook books or online recipes, write grocery lists, go shopping with you, let them pick out any produce item that they want to try. When kids are involved they are more apt to eat!

I don’t have the time or energy to make extra meals so if they don’t like what I make, my kids have a choice to have peanut butter on bread (PB is a complete protein) so at least it’s something! They are asked to sit at the table with the meal I’ve prepped. Sometimes, their curiosity gets to them and they end up trying (and liking) what I’ve made 🙌🏻

Try making "build your own" meals. Put out a bunch of components and let each person pick and choose what they want. You're only making one meal, but it's customized for each person. We do build your own salads (greens and veggies, beans, chicken, cheese, croutons) or rice bowls (protein, rice, cheese, salsa, avocado, beans, mango) and these go over really well with my kids and their different food preferences. Picky eaters can enjoy their dinner "deconstructed" if they don't want their food touching.

One of my kids is vegetarian. We have a meal box subscription (HungryRoot) that has a lot of vegetarian options. I let me child scroll through the list of ingredients and pictures and choose three things they'll eat. When the box comes, we unpack it together and my child decides what order we have those meals. All of the meals are simple to make, so when we find ones we like, we'll often buy the ingredients on our own and they become part of our regular routine. The meal plan allows us to skip boxes, so we only get it when we know we'll have a busy week or are out of ideas.

When it comes to picky eaters I try to veer away from making multiple meals only because I want my children to actually try something before just deciding "they just don't like" something. I have also found different ways to make meals and hide certain ingredients/foods they may not like and it definitely works. There are also times when I decide to "cave in" and just give that specific meal just to assure my picky eater is actually eating. Either way I'm learning to just be patient because children's appetites or what they may like changes as they grow.

We have their favorite brand of chicken nuggets and fish sticks on hand for whenever they refuse to eat what the rest of the family is eating.

Keep offering new foods (or foods your picky eater has turned down before), because they might decide to try them eventually. Sometimes it takes several times trying something before they develop a taste for it. Food preferences also change over time, but I have found that this goes both ways! Sometimes my kids will decide that they don't like something they've always liked in the past. Either way, keep offering new and different foods in a no-pressure way and you might be surprised by what they end up liking.

I always made more types of vegetables than they needed and they could choose one NOT to eat.

There are a handful of meals that our picky eaters will eat pretty consistently, so we always plan to make 2-3 of those in a week, so we know they will eat something. Making enough to have leftovers is helpful, too (if your picky eater will eat leftovers!), so they have another option when they inevitably refuse to eat some of our other meals.

I never had an extreme picky eater, but when I feel like my kids are going through a picky phase or I know that they're going to turn their nose up at most of what I'm making for dinner, I'll set out a raw veggie assortment with dip while I'm preparing dinner. As they're getting hungry, they'll come into the kitchen to snack on it, and I feel good that they got some nutrition in even if they're not going to do a great job on dinner.