This week my toddler decided that he no longer likes peaches or corn. Unfortunately, the rest of us did not get the memo in time to eat up his leftovers.
How I Minimize Food Waste with my Finicky Toddler:
1. I give him small servings initially and then follow up with seconds and thirds. It is a certainty that if I cut up a whole plate of spaghetti, he will refuse to even taste it!
2. I don’t buy any of his foods in bulk. No matter how much he likes them or how good the sale is. The best way to guarantee that he will never eat pears again is to buy a case!
3. I serve his food in a divided plate. If juice from mandarin oranges touches bread it renders it inedible!
4. If he doesn’t show interest in his food I cover it, put it in the refrigerator, and try again in 30 minutes. The food is not going to become more appetizing if I make him sit at the table and stare at it!
How I Get my Picky Eater to Eat Food:
1. Rename it. Lasagna sounds much more appetizing to a picky toddler if you call it pizza noodles!
2. Let them eat the food somewhere other than the table. I probably should not admit this, but I have been known to let my child pretend that he was a dog and serve cereal in a bowl on the floor along with a bowl of water. This has the added advantage of absolutely freaking out my mother-in-law, the bacteriologist. 🙂
3. Serve as a royal taste tester. I let Rew feed me a couple of bites of a food that he is unsure of, and quite vociferously express how delicious I find the item.
4. Share my food. Rew is much more interested in “grown up” food. If I sit down with a apple and start cutting pieces to eat, he will make his way over and ask if he can “take a eat”.
Do you have a picky eater at your house? Do you have any tricks for getting them to eat?
This post has been linked to Food Waste Friday.
kim says
Hi
Enjoyed your article and your website. My son was NEVER a picky eater thank God. However my husband(only married 5yrs)is the WORST picky eater i’ve ever seen. Seriously do you have tips for me? We rarely eat the same meal together because of this and I know it costs us money and he is the only one working now(low income too) but still wont budge his ways. He will not eat ‘ground’ meat or even shredded. He will not eat beef he is a hunter and prefers venison. He says he is allergic to dairy but MUST have fudsicles every shopping trip. He also doesnt like chocolate? He refuses to eat the heels of the bread. He doesnt like dark poultry meat but will grudgingly eat legs. He detests ‘left overs”. He is a meat at every dinner man and not just one but two serv(tho he is very fit). Soup for dinner -NOPE–unless it is ‘his’ chicken spinach soup or veg BEEF stew. Even stuffed peppers i make FOR him w chick HAS to use 2 chick br or there isnt enough chick and he will notice and will ask. You see what i am dealing with and now Im sick w a chronic condition and have long since given up on dealing with his nonsense. On the flipside i try to eat gluten free and low starch. Most of the good use up recipes involve pasta or cheese or such. I just dont know anymore…we are hurting. He is a good man and i love him but it is pretty ridiculous.
Struggler says
I've no first-hand experience of this, but your tips did make me laugh. I particularly loved the dog on the floor trick. After all, what doesn't kill 'em makes 'em stronger!!
compactbydesign says
Ha ha ha!! May be using those ideas myself. And I don't think my MIL will like "dog food" much either!!
I have given up on counting Toddler L's uneaten food as food waste. The only alternative is to eat it myself and that's just not a habit I'm going to start!
Sandy says
You have no clue how much I appreciate the tips on feeding a picky toddler!!!!!
I'm going through this drama as we speak! ugh! What's worse, is that it's a totally random thing! She just decided to be picky two weeks ago…
for heaven's sake…she LOVED broccoli and now won't even taste it!!!
🙂
Porch Days says
It sounds like you are an expert on how to deal with a picky eater. Thank goodness I didn't have this problem.
The Thrifty Countrywoman says
Guess I was pretty lucky. None of my kids were picky eaters. Although now that they are grown up, that's another story! LOL!
Jane
Rae says
OMG – the dog thing is brilliant! I have bought 2 really expensive cereal bar type things from the health food shop – DD's request. They have all sorts of superfoods and stuff packed into them – I guess they are a raw meal in a bar. Well, guess what? She doesn't like them.
She asked me to try and make something with it to make it edible. I think dog biscuits are on the menu this weekend!
Genius – thanks for the idea (and the laugh out loud moment!)
Alea says
Bellen, Thanks for the tips! I am going to try cutting meat into shapes for lunch today.
Rebecca says
Sure enough, buy in bulk and they'll never eat it again. Thanks for admitting that you let him eat like a dog. We did that once and it's a treasured memory for the kids. They can describe every detail of what was served and how they ate it.
Bellen says
To encourage my kids, when they were little, I'd serve them meals on 'special' plates – odd saucers or luncheon plates anything different than the rest of us.
Also would cut the food into different shapes than the rest of us – fingers of meatloaf instead of slice, triangles of meat, carrot coins instead of sticks.
And on days that had been particularly difficult we ate by candlelight – votive candles in front of Mom & Dad. Somehow eating in semi-darkness made the food taste better.
Vickie's Michigan Garden (my backyard) says
Great tips! Wish I had them when the girls were little. It's true everytime you catch a sale for something they love -they decide they are tired of it. Sometimes that's true of big kids too.
vickie