New Food. Shmew Food. Get Your Child to Eat with these Tips.

I have news for all of you trying to get your “picky eater” to try a new food.

Well, more like a secret to share…

…or maybe just a pet peeve…

I am so tired of reading “how to” parenting posts on getting “your picky eater to eat”.

You know, what? Sometimes the issue is a lot more then being “picky”. In fact, most often your picky eater has a lot more going on in his brain development that makes these “how to” posts kind of a waste of time. The messages my son's brain receives when he puts a piece of steak in his mouth are remarkably different than the messages my brain receives when I bite into a piece of steak.

His obstacles are more than a behavioral quick.

As my oldest child (at six) begins his journey in Feeding Therapy {due to his sensory processing make up and subsequent food aversions}, I have discovered and read loads of research that I look forward to sharing with you!

My first post on Feeding Therapy – What I Learned at our First Feeding Therapy Session – gives an overview of a What to Expect, Steps to Take, and Resources to review. This post offers an alternative approach to encouraging your child to try a new food.

I read an article that offered a different way to approach the “No Thank You Bite” or the “Just Try It” command. I truly appreciated the perspective the author introduces to the reader. The author offers an alternative approach to getting children to try new/non-preferred foods. She has many great points in the article Re-Define “Try It”.

I especially like her point about breaking down the approach to food into many steps, and then celebrating each step (no matter how small or big) the child takes towards taking a bite and swallowing the food. I felt refreshed after reading this article. I feel motivated and excited, rather than overwhelmed by my son's food aversions. I hope you can take a bit of that emotion with you, too.

How to Encourage Your Child to Try a New Food

25+ ways to help kids try new foods without commanding them to do so

Take a walk through a market or grocery store. Talk about the food.
Examine the new food
Research the new food
Create art with food (Seed Mosaics are a fun example. Create a “Parts of the Plant We Eat” exercise.)
Learn with food (Cracking nuts or crushing cloves as a Practical Life work, for example)
Play with food (Many adults have a tough one with this one but your child's brain will devour it.)
Model eating the new food
Model eating A new food
New food in the same room
New food on the dining table
New food in a serving dish near the child's table
Have new food in a special bowl but not on the child's plate
Have the new food on the same plate as the meal, but use plate with dividers
New food on the child's plate
Smell the food
Touch the food with a fork
Touch the food with a napkin
The child passes the food to another family member
The child serves the food to other table members
The child feeds parents, sibling, friend, pet
Remove the food from the plate or from touching the familiar food
Use regular plate and allow new food to stay there
Kiss food
Lick food
Put food in mouth and take it out, appropriately
Put food in mouth and eat it

For loads more detail and background on thinking about alternatives to “Just Try It”, please read this article Re-Define “Try It” by Marsha Dunn Klein, MEd, OTR/L. I am a parent and a teacher who reads a ton about this topic. I am not a professional in this field. I offer some knowledge from what I have gathered from th experts in the field.

Thank you! Marnie