My Top 5 Tips On How To Deal With Picky Eaters

When my daughter was a little girl we used to have mealtime struggles on getting her to eat healthy nutritious foods. I would often hear "Mom, I don't like that, I won't eat that, I would rather starve" when it came to dinnertime. Over the years I learned that it was better to not fight and argue with her on her food choices, but to instead focus on what I had in my house. You know the old saying, 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind" came in to play.

Today I would like to share a few tips with all of the mother's out that who deal with picky eaters. When I started the 'change' here in our home, I did it gradually so that she wasn't really aware of what I was doing...I guess you could call me a 'sneaky mom', but it did work!

Here are my top 5 tips!

1. If the child wants junk food 24 hours a day, just don't buy it or just buy it in moderation. There is nothing wrong with giving them an occasional treat, but it certainly should not be on a daily basis. If you are buying junk food and giving it to them occasionally, keep it hidden and out of sight.

2. Twice a week hold a family 'new recipe' taste testing night. Find a few healthy recipes that your child has never tried before and make them. Ask the child for his or her feedback. If they liked it, add it to your normal evening meal rotation. If they didn't like it, toss it and find a new recipe to replace it. These family 'taste testing' evenings should be a fun family time, so hype it up and plan it out accordingly.

3. Let your child help you in the kitchen with the food preparation. Even young children can help stir ingredients together or toss a healthy salad. Getting them involved in the food preparation helps them to 'feel' like they are part of the decision process when it comes to preparing family dinners.

4. Keep healthy snacking foods available at all times! When you purchase those fresh vegetables, wash them right away and chop them into bite sized pieces. Refrigerate them accordingly so that they can get into the refrigerator and eat them whenever they choose to have a snack. As the first few weeks go by, they might not bother with the fresh vegetable sticks too often...but, if there is no junk food in sight and they are hungry, they will eventually snack on it. One way I was able to turn our daughter onto snacking on veggie sticks was for me to prepare homemade healthy dips to go with them. This replaced the potato chips and dips in our home.

5. Finally my most important tip! Children typically follow in their parents 'food eating' footsteps so if you are a picky eater who consumes unhealthy food...your children are more like to adopt that same bad eating habit. You need to make the change right along with your children and be a good food eating role model for them.

There are additional things that you can do to turn your picky little eater into a good healthy eater but I think these 5 tips will get you on the road to solving the problem. Just remember, it is your job as the parent to set the example in your household and you make the final decisions on what you prepare and feed to your children. If in doubt on what to do or if these tips don't work for you, I suggest you talk to your physician or licensed nutritionist for additional suggestions.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in Pennsylvania who enjoys cooking and baking a variety of healthy foods for her family. You can visit Shelly's online foodie blog at wahmshelly.blogspot.com for free menu ideas, cooking tips and free recipes.

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