Help! Day 2 and Our 3 Yr Old Son Won't Try New Food!

Having a new baby in the family has probably been a big change for him so now may not be the best time to make such a drastic change to his diet. I would love it if my little one only ate healthy foods, but a smart lady once told me that what a child eats is one of the few things in his/her life that they can actually control. Pretty much everything else is decided for them and if you push to hard it will become a constant power struggle. Keep offering him healthy options, but for the time being I wouldn't take away the food he has been used to eating.

He won't starve to death. Just keep offering a variety. He'll find some new things he likes. My youngest was very limited until age 2, but he eats an amazing variety at preschool, and I've found if left alone long enough with some foods, he'll finally eat them. If we're all eating it, he usually gives in at some point and at least tries it.

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Wow! Some authoritative being has decided you're eating liver and onions. How would you react?

S l o w l y introduce new foods one food at a time. Meaning for a week or two add ww toast. He's made a good start there. He ate the crust. Hooray! Keep giving him the toast. Praise him, quietly, for eating it. But also give him foods that he's used to.

You have to gradually introduce new food. You need to sympathize with him when he's frustrated with your choices. Hold him, tell him you understand it's hard to change and you're going to help him gradually get used to new foods as you continue to give him small servings of foods he likes.

Be calm, be consistent, be sympathetic. He doesn't have to CIO and you don't have to give in. Hold him, divert his attention to something else. Meal time is over. Start him playing with a toy. Read him a story. Make the transition pleasant.

Sound like you're all very stressed by this situation! Don't forget or underestimate the effect a new baby has on the entire family. I think right now you all should be as kind and good to each other as possible. And I think this means your son should be allowed to eat the foods he likes while you continue to introduce -- as little pressure as possible-- new foods.
I understand it's frustrating. Look at your son now. You say he's only been eating these unhealthy foods? For how long? Does he look unhealthy? Is he overweight? Is he constipated? Does he have sleeping problems or chronic colds/ear infections? If yes, then maybe you need to be a little more aggressive/creative about getting some healthy foods into that little boy. If not, go really really slowly and let him make the choices off his plate.
You might try to find healthier versions of the foods he does like-- whole grain crackers, cinnamon toast cereal without so much sugar, lowfat milk, whole grain pancakes, reduced fat fish sticks, etc...

A tip I was once given for toddler eating battles: you provide the "what" and the "where." They decide how much.

Good luck and don't let it stress you out too much.

Maybe you are going about this too fast. I wouldn't do a complete diet overhaul just yet -- just introduce one healthy new food at a time to replace one of his unhealthy favorites.

If you are now serving him whole grains and more raw vegetables and fruits (when you weren't so much before), I would definitely caution you not to give him too much at once. It can screw up his digestive system and cause him to be constipated. Give him small servings at first, once or twice a day, and then just add on another serving or gradually increase the portion size maybe every 2 or 3 days or so.

As for getting him used to drinking water instead of juice, I would not take the juice away completely but would gradually add more and more water to it so that it eventually becomes more water than juice, and then just water.

One trick I used to get my son to try new foods when he was that young (he had a lot of food aversions) was the "smell, kiss, bite trick". It goes like this:

* Put a little bit of the food on a fork and request that your son to smell it and make sure that you are using your fun, playful voice when you do this. My son always said, "yucky!" after he smelled the offending food.

* Next, tell him to kiss it. This will give him a chance to get a sense of the texture and taste of the food on his lips. My son always said, "yucky!" after this step as well.

* Next up, you then tell him to taste the food. Just a tiny bite will do. At this point, my son would usually exclaim, "Mmmmm... that's delicious!" before devouring the new food item. If he does give me a third and final "yucky!" instead, then he is off the hook for having to eat the new food item for that meal and that meal only.

It takes a number of different tries until children become accustomed to new food tastes -- can be anywhere between 9 or 12 times. Don't give up but don't push too hard and make it into a food war either. Small changes over several weeks time is better than a full-on total change in his diet. Not only is that chaotic and confusing to him but it can cause him a lot of gastrointestinal distress if you don't time things right.

I hope this helps. I think it's great that you want to teach your son good healthy eating habits. He'll be so much better off for it.

I wish you well.

I think you're starting a battle with him, and you might try to give him somethings that he will eat and also new things. Don't force him or else he will battle you and never get to choose for himself. Find some fruits and veg that he will accept, and make them available. You shouldn't be mad at him because he's eating 'bad food', since you two have given it to him. Besides, not everything you listed is 'bad food'. Seriously, you are going to entrench him and he'll really never try anything if you are yelling and forcing and making him cry. Kids go through phases and you have to let him be in control of what he puts in his mouth. You're in control of what he is offered. Give him a break and let there always be something that he accepts on the table. Let him choose foods in a family stye way. Then he's in control. Don't pressure him!
Good luck.

I agree with the moms that suggested giving him different foods to try over time. I just went to a nutrition class for toddlers at my son's preschool and the dietician said it takes something like 10-15 times of offering to even get the toddler to try it. We also should be mindful of the servings...I was expecting my son to eat bigger portions but really their stomachs are the sizes of their fists (ours too!) and their servings at about 1 tablespoon per year of eating. So your son should have 3 tablespoons of whatever. She also reiterated many times, they WILL NOT starve themselves. Good luck! :)

I think I would offer up more variety and dont include things like "crackers" that have no nutritional value. Put a plate of cut up fresh veggies, lots of colorful ones like carrots, bell peppers, radishes, celery and something to dip them in. My kids loved p-nut butter on celery, that's a decent thing to feed him. You are only giving him one choice, he probably needs more. They will stick with the breads and crackers if thats what you offer, so I would eliminate those since they are non nutritional fillers and nothing more.
A plate of fruits and cheese, some yogurt. Pick things you can make a "tray" of for your entire family and you and hubby will eat from it too. Variety is the spice of life. If he chooses to eat only ONE thing from the tray, make sure it's something good for him, not crackers or bread...

I would suggest introducing new foods slowly and along side foods he already knows and likes. That way it won't be such a shock to him. Children are creatures of habit, so big changes can cause anxiety. Just be patient and go slow.

Just curious....why the sudden change in his food? What was he eating before?

i would give him some of the things that he likes along with one new food every time he eats. offer a smaller portion of what you know that he likes and a small portion of what is new. tell him before he leaves the table he has to at least try a bite of the new food. that is what i do with my boy. he's very picky. he eats only raisins and grapes, whole apples no applesauce. and only mandarin oranges. no veggies. along with all the junk.

you are creating a battle that he will likely win. Let him eat what he will, cereal is no better than toast, chicken soup & crackers has little nutritional value.. juice isnt going to "hurt" him & tastes better than water. Expand on what he does like, and stop the war. There is nothing good coming from a child being forced to eat, crying at the table. He will eat what & when he likes, let him... He should definately NOT be left with nothing to eat if he refuses what YOU think he should eat. He has formed his choices based on what YOU feed him, so just expand on what he likes.

I would think that by now, you've gotten plenty of answers since you've asked this same question about 5 times.

Here's my honest opinion:
You made him this way. You let him get away with crappy food, even though you know it's bad for him. Now it's time for a little tough love. Give him the food. If he doesn't want it, fine. No snacks in between meals. He whines cause he's hungry? Tough! Eat the food I gave you, if not, then you're not that hungry. He whines again? Throws a tantrum? Tough! Eat the food I gave you.
You HAVE to be the parent. You HAVE to set a good example. You HAVE to get him to eat foods that are healthier. STOP GIVING HIM JUNK FOOD!

Since you mention trying the multi-grain cereal, have you tried the kind that has the little dried fruits in it? The kids around our house ask for the "strawberry cereal" all the time. The fruits are good for them and if it gets him to try the cereal that's all the better.

I'm pretty much with the other moms. Maybe try adding new foods to the ones he likes - yogurt with fruit for dipping toast in, sweet potato fries or mashed potatoes instead of regular fries, sprinkle crushed up crackers on the soup, top pancakes and French toast with applesauce instead of syrup, make fish without breading, steamed vegetables with a little bit of ranch dressing dip, etc.

I'm not sure I understand how you are trying to introduce new foods. Are you trying to radically change his diet all at once? If so, that is kind of guaranteed not to work. It will work a lot better if you slowly introduce new foods in addition to what he currently eats, one at a time. And you have to be patient with that. It often takes exposing a child to a new food 10 times or more for them to try it, much less start to enjoy it. But really, do it one food at a time... otherwise it is confusing and overwhelming for the child.

I also think it's important to consider how your child got to the point where all he will eat is "bad food." At some point, you must have introduced and allowed him to eat these foods. So I am wondering if you and your husband need to rethink your own diets. If you are expecting your child to eat a certain way and you are not doing the same, it's not fair.

The other thing I am wondering is... why are you attacking this particular battle now? You have written that you have PPD, and a newborn. Do you really want this stress right now? Consider that this might not be the time for this change, for your own sanity.

Good luck.

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