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Picky eating is a struggle for many parents, especially during the toddler years. That can be very frustrating as it creates a lot of tension and strains the mother-child relationship.
Parents can follow some tips to make that phase easier to handle, and help the transition into childhood with no residual poor eating habits:
- Give your toddler lots of opportunities to smell, touch, feel, and taste different kinds of foods. Have them try foods with different textures, shapes, and sizes early on so they can accept different foods.1
- Let your toddler eat at their own speed. Sit them at the dining table, at specified mealtimes, without distractions like phone, tablet, etc. Don’t show your toddler that you are too rushed or too stressed, as that would transfer negative feelings around food and set you up for failure. 1,2
- Offer your toddler a new food along with something they already like and don’t give up too easily. It might take a child 12–30 times to accept new food. 1
- Involve your toddler in planning and preparing meals and snacks. Children are usually happy eating food they chose at the store or helped prepare with Mom. Have them go to the Supermarket and choose fruits and vegetables of different colors, shapes and textures. That will give them a feeling of choice and control over what they eat. 1,2
- Use positive language. Avoid calling your toddler: picky, stubborn, difficult, etc. They might accept that as a fact and be unmotivated to change. Use terms like:
- We always try at least two bites
- We always try everything on the plate
- We always try the new colorful veggie 2
Offer encouragement and avoid negative remarks as difficult as that might be at times.
- Model healthy eating habits. Don’t keep sugary snacks and drinks in your pantry and fridge. If your toddler sees them constantly, it might be difficult for them to understand that they are not part of a healthy diet. In addition, if your toddler snacks on high calorie items like chips and cookies, it will encourage their sweet tooth and fill them up and leave no room for mealtime. Use only 2 healthy snacks/day like fresh fruit, yogurt, veggie sticks, etc. and allow 2–3 hours between snacks and meals.
- Avoid mealtime battles, don’t resort to pleading, bargaining, bribing, etc. , that would create more stress and is of no value. It will make your toddler pickier and controlling. Mealtimes should be fun, pleasant, and should create fun and warm happy memories. 2,3
- Make your battles a win-win situation. Parents decide what meals to serve, where and when and children decide what and how much to eat of their plate. That gives them control, melts the tension, and makes them more likely to eat. 3,4
- Kids in general tend to get the proper amount of nutrients for growth if offered a healthy range of items.
- Finally, think of your toddler’s nutrition on a long-term basis. Their diet will balance itself over a week, they don’t have to eat all they need in one day. Relax, enjoy mealtime with your toddler, make it fun, pleasant, and remember they will not be picky forever.
Dr. Rima Halat
MD Pediatrician
