Children are not born with an inherent desire to eat all the food on the table.Parents will try everything to win over a picky eater children.Begging ,bribing,tricking or even sneaking foods into their diet in hopes that the kids will eat the prepared meal..
There are simple ways to raise them as an adventurous rather than a picky eater.
1. Start Young
Let your child see you ans others trying new food.Give your child a small portion of vegetables on the plate .It doesn't have to be much .Just let them have a bite just to taste it .
2.Try new recipe
Improve your child's taste buds by cooking new recipe's that are not familiar to their tongue.Your child will learn that it is normal and fun to try new foods.They like to eat mom's cooking and and ones they have tasted something mom has cooked for them this is what they usually eat in the restaurant or in any gatherings.
3. Introduced them to foreign foods
Ask yor children to taste a new food but never force them to eat it.We don't have to settle for the staple food or same filipino meal in the table .Explore other cuisine.A twist from a compfortable kid-favorite to an exotic flavors.By familiarizing the kids tastes buds to different flavors you slowly teach them to open up for new food.
4.Have a "one bite" rule in your home.
Kids don't need to eat the whole thing on his plate.To get a child try a new food ,promise him he can have the last bite of your dessert if he tries a first bite of a new food.He may not like the food on his plate but who knows? not until he tries.
5.Avoid excessive spices.
Kids have sensitive palates and it's important not to put too much spices on your way to introducing them to new flavors. But that doesn't mean food should be boring. A splash of soy sauce, a little bit of vinegar,salt and peper could be the difference between instant rejection and love at first bite.
6.Serve finger foods.
Foods cut into smaller pieces such as fruit chunks ,cheese cubes and vegetable sticks are easier to handle and encourages childern to eat more.
Parents should have a positive attitude toward foods that may influence kids to try the new meal.Remember to make a comfortable mealtime by allowing kids to talk with others.Most important of all is not to bribe or reward the kids for eating foods.This only reinforces that certain foods are not worthy to eat .Respect refusals because there are really certain foods that are not desirable to your kids palate.
There are simple ways to raise them as an adventurous rather than a picky eater.
1. Start Young
Let your child see you ans others trying new food.Give your child a small portion of vegetables on the plate .It doesn't have to be much .Just let them have a bite just to taste it .
2.Try new recipe
Improve your child's taste buds by cooking new recipe's that are not familiar to their tongue.Your child will learn that it is normal and fun to try new foods.They like to eat mom's cooking and and ones they have tasted something mom has cooked for them this is what they usually eat in the restaurant or in any gatherings.
3. Introduced them to foreign foods
Ask yor children to taste a new food but never force them to eat it.We don't have to settle for the staple food or same filipino meal in the table .Explore other cuisine.A twist from a compfortable kid-favorite to an exotic flavors.By familiarizing the kids tastes buds to different flavors you slowly teach them to open up for new food.
4.Have a "one bite" rule in your home.
Kids don't need to eat the whole thing on his plate.To get a child try a new food ,promise him he can have the last bite of your dessert if he tries a first bite of a new food.He may not like the food on his plate but who knows? not until he tries.
5.Avoid excessive spices.
Kids have sensitive palates and it's important not to put too much spices on your way to introducing them to new flavors. But that doesn't mean food should be boring. A splash of soy sauce, a little bit of vinegar,salt and peper could be the difference between instant rejection and love at first bite.
6.Serve finger foods.
Foods cut into smaller pieces such as fruit chunks ,cheese cubes and vegetable sticks are easier to handle and encourages childern to eat more.
Parents should have a positive attitude toward foods that may influence kids to try the new meal.Remember to make a comfortable mealtime by allowing kids to talk with others.Most important of all is not to bribe or reward the kids for eating foods.This only reinforces that certain foods are not worthy to eat .Respect refusals because there are really certain foods that are not desirable to your kids palate.
This is a very helpful post, my cousin kids are also picky eater, maybe its okay if what they eat is vegetables but they are stuck in eating canned sardines., Lol!
ReplyDeleteGreat recommendations! I love #4.
ReplyDeleteSome great ideas! I like the idea of the one bite rule. That's what I tell my kids too. I just want them to try it! Sometimes they get surprised and actually like it!
ReplyDeleteI think children are born open to try anything. Why else would they put everything in their mouths? How would they know they do not like something they had never seen before?
ReplyDeleteFood should be being introduced widely in the toddler stage long before they are proficient enough to actually start differentiating much.
At that stage they will try what is put in front of them. As they reach pre school age they can help shop and be in the kitchen when food is being prepared.
Being able to see parents cooking and sample new items will keep them involved and aware about foods.
Thank you for the encouragement tips mommy tess, Get well soon, we missed you.
ReplyDeleteWe are both in Authentic Blogger on Facebook. I followed one of your posts in the group to here Consider creating a Squidoo lens for this post? (Click on my name to follow link to my lenses.) It's a free and fun publishing platform. Earnings can go to a charity of your choice or you can earn extra income for yourself.
ReplyDeletei love your post. my son is picky eater so i always beg and bribe him just to eat. =)
ReplyDeleteI do it by showing him that I eat what I'm asking him to eat ... hence, he doesn't eat eggplant haha.
ReplyDeleteThank you for these mam. As a single papa, I find it hard to make my kids eat vegies:( so I rely mainly on milk.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas! Thanks for sharing. I'll have to bookmark this page and go back when I become a mom. :D
ReplyDeleteI'm very lucky with my daughter because she is not a fussy eater. Well, I start to feed her at 4 months and she start eating steam vegetables and fish at six months. It was too early really. What can I do she is hungry baby? She knows when its time to eat at home. Once she heard the plate with fork and knives making noises on the table, she start crying. Though I still do breast-feeding till 9 months. She just love eating! Which is good she eat organic and healthy food. She is full of goodness! :) Cheers for your tips!
ReplyDeleteGreat recommendations! Ipapabasa ko po to sa sis in law ko.. Nagiging pihikan na masyado ang mga pamangkin ko eh. :p
ReplyDeletemy mom should have read this post 38 years ago haha coz i am a very picky eater. i have sampling today of how hard it is to feed me - ask my sister in law who prepares my food (i bet she didn't like me to work from home like today since my driver went to DFA)! but now that i have all these good advice before i even get married should ensure that my kiddos will not follow my bad footsteps on eating haha. thank you for this post Tess.!
ReplyDeletenumber 1 is the bomb. kasi ayaw ng auntie ko ng itlog, she never fed me eggs. ayun, lumaki akong nandidiri sa egg. @_@
ReplyDeleteThere is a saying that the person's personality is a true reflection of the foods he likes and how he eats them. Nevertheless the 6 practical ways on encouraging the children to try new foods. They're supposed to be well-recommended to all the mothers, especially with choosy kids.
ReplyDeleteI was a picky eater when I was a little girl. Or maybe I still am sometimes hehe This was very informative! Future parents should read about this :-)
ReplyDeleteGood suggestions. #4 I had it the other way. Now I see to it that my son gets it easier.
ReplyDeleteThis post is really timely as we always try to give our daughter different kinds of food so that she won't be a picky eater as she grows. ^_^
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice post, Miss Tess. I have a two-year old niece named Sophia. She's very vocal about her food preferences. If we give her something she does not like, she exclaims "Ayaw! Ayaw!" Persuading her to eat becomes all the more important some of the medicines she needs cannot be taken with an empty stomach.
ReplyDeleteMy son is too picky also , I can use some of your advice
ReplyDeleteI usually have my nephews pretend that the food in the spoon is a spaceship that's about to land in their mount.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually both glad and relieved that my 5-year old niece likes to eat vegetables (even the bitter and yucky ones). Unfortunately, she has a skin allergy that is usually triggered by anything that has chicken and fish in the dish. :(
ReplyDeleteI remember myself being picky to foods, especially vegetables. (That was when I was a kid.) And my parents got never tired of trying new things just for me to eat them. I've already missed the cook of my mom....
ReplyDeleteAgreeing on every tip in this post, Ma'am! :) My cousin stayed here and he's 2.. His mom did almost all of the tips here so I'm pretty sure they work well. :D
ReplyDeleteGreat tips! If my parents did these, I probably would be a less picky eater. hehe
ReplyDeleteThanks for these! Mejo pihikan talaga ang mga bata when it comes to food.
ReplyDeleteall above is true! my daughter eats all kind of veggies! but whenever i cook something simply plike fried chicken or hotdogs or even simple spagetti i would always give her broccoli and carrots! must have veggies always!
ReplyDeleteReading this post makes me reflect on my own childhood. I didn't grow up being fed eggs kasi my tita never liked them, so it wasn't cooked. So lumaki akong nandidiri din ako sa itlog. Buti nalang we figured that I'm also allergic to it. Pero statement #1. Start Young. I really have to agree. It builds a habit too.
ReplyDelete