How Do I Get My Four Year Old to Eat New Foods?

What I have done with my kids sounds really mean but it works. I stop giving them what they want at every meal. If they get hungry enough they eat what I offer and they always end up liking it. I tell them I am not a short order cook so I'll only cook one meal. If you stop catering to him he'll adjust. I've never heard of a kid starving because mom refused to make a special meal for him. There were many nights that they refused to eat at dinner time but always ended up eating what I fixed right before bed. The key is to only offer the meal. Do not offer snacks or other food before bed. Pull out the plate from dinner. If you stick to it even through the tempers it will work and he'll start eating more foods.

Oh how I understand what you are dealing with!! My four year old son sounds just like your son. Chicken nuggets, spaghetti, cheese, peanut butter toast or peanut butter and jelly. But he is not a junk food kid either. He has never liked ice cream, cake or chocolate anything. He loves fruit snacks and Skittles but other than that he does not eat junk food. It is almost like a texture thing. I have talked to his doctor about this and she suggest making him take a "no thank you helping". The idea is that he would have to take one bite and if he did not like it, he could say no thank you. She even tried to explain this to him one day in her office. It worked great for about two nights. After that if we forced him to eat it he will just gag and throw it back up. This is one battle I have decided to lose. He would just sit at the table and cry which only made it worse. The funny thing that I have found out is that he will try different things at preschool or his day care. So I make a point every so often to ask his preschool and day care if he has tried anything new lately and then we try it at home. I am hoping that he will turn out to be like his older brother who now is 16 and eats anything that is not nailed down LOL. Hang in there and good luck.

A.,

I was told to try introducing foods at least 15 times before your discontinue the effort. It has worked for myself and other moms. Also another form which may be seen as mean but also works is whatever's on the plate you eat. If they choose not to eat it. Place it back in the fridge and regardless if it's breakfast lunch or dinner. Pull that same plate back out and place it in front of them. Eventually they'll get hungry and eat it. They will also realize that the rest of the family is eating something different and want to enjoy that same freedom. I know sounds harsh...but works. Several moms and dads have recommended that to me.

K. Jackson
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My daughter, who was a terrific eater, turned into a picky eater around 4 years old. She even began rejecting things she used to eat. What has worked for us is to enforce the rule that she must try a bite of everyhing served at dinner. Then if she doesn't like them, she doesn't have to eat them. At first she rejected almost everything and it was pretty frustrating. But we stuck with it and she's beginning to try new foods and even likes some. She's even beginning to tell us that she should always try something before she says she doesn't like it. Also, I let her make choices at lunch time. She chooses her main item, fruit and veggie. And she eats what she chooses! Desert is always reserved as a reward for eating her healthy food. A constant mantra of "always try one bite" and "healthy food first" has lead to a kiddo who has tried AND LIKED a lot of new foods. She's still picky but is a much more responsible eater these days.

There is a lot of good advice here, and the trick is finding what works best for you and your little ones. I have 3 children, 6 – 10 yr. old and they all were and 2 still are fussy eaters.

What works here is really a few things. Like Connie we encourage, but do not force to try a bite. Letting them know yes when mommy was little I hated it too, but look now I like it. And they will try it, and either hate or love it.

Also my husband and I do not believe in forcing them to eat what is on the plate, however, if they do not eat what is made for dinner they have to stay at the table until the family is finished and then they get NO snack or anything for the rest of the night. And believe me they are sad when snack comes around and they can not have some. But I will offer them their dinner they did not eat. Sometimes it works; sometimes their will is strong lol.

We also try to fill the cupboard and fridge with good healthy choices, fruits, crackers, yogurt, and cheese, so that I know they are getting the nutrition they need.

Meals should not be a battlefield; a child will not starve themselves. Just keep offering, give great praise when they try something, even if they don’t like it focus on the fact that they tried something new. My oldest around the age 9 all of a sudden just began to eat and try new things on his own, yay!

Good luck and don’t be discouraged. :)

I wish I could help you more but I can't. My son who also just turned 4 will not try anything new. I have been struggling with him since he could eat solid food. I think he had a a texture problem and it led to very picky eating. The only thing that he would eat was chicken nuggets and fries. Now he has a little larger variety but still very picky. He like macaroni and cheese, spaggetti, rice, onion rings, fries, cheese and onlt certain kinds, and chicken nuggets. He will eat yogurt but it also has to be a certain kind. He will not eat any type of fruit or vegetable. It does help to include him in on the preparation. Thats how I got him to eat the macaroni and cheese. Sorry I can't be much help but it is very enlightening to know that I am not the only one that struggles with this issue.

Here are some suggestions that worked for us.

1. Keep serving foods he has refused previously. Sometimes a child needs to see a food multiple times before it is common enough to try it.
2. When old enough (your call) one bite of new things needed. We always would matter of factly explain, you are growing new taste buds every day. Yeah, you didn't like it before, but you may have grown a new taste bud since then. (While I don't think it is actually taste buds that grow, tastes do change as we grow) Often they would try something and say... hey I like this now... and we would say cool, you are getting so Big!!! Sometimes, if one of my kids liked something that I didn't care for as a child I would say... WOW, I didn't grow that taste bud until I was in High School!

My kids are all teens now and enjoy trying new foods. I hear them using this technique on kids who visit with us who are picky.

Lastly, Have fun at the dinner table. Try not to make it a battle ground! Laugh when someone doesn't like something yet... Oh, I guess you don't have that taste bud yet!!! We would say fun graces with music and motions... (talk to people who have worked at summer camps)

Hi A.,
My youngest was a vegetarian for his first 2.5 years of life. On top of that he refused all brands of baby food and would only eat organic. Now I can't get him to even look at a green bean (unless it were dipped in chocolate). And he's nearly 13.
I have to suggest that you do not make him anything special, he'll come to expect it and when you do put your foot down you'll have a whole other mess.
Dev refused everything new, I'm not sure what happened but he suddenly wouldn't eat his veggies and fruits. He has his favorites and that's that. If he doesn't agree with what we are having I let him know that he is more then welcome to fix his own dinner. He'll eat, but man...
I've tried differnt variations with veggies (a carrot soufle not sure on the spelling, was a HIT, it was sweet like sweet potatoes), some he likes, some heck most he doesn't. I didn't give into him and there were many nights that boy went to bed hungry because I refused to cave. Yeah I felt horrible, but he has learned and he wasn't hurt by it.
One thing I did and still do, is let him know that he has to try one bite, one bite will not hurt him and I haven't poisened him yet. If he doesn't like it he doesn't have to eat it.
Dev did the gag and throw up thing too, I finally realized that he liked certain veggies cooked a certain way. However I remained firm on not making him a seperate dish altogether. I wasn't and still do not run a restaraunt.
In the mantime give your son a Flintstones vitamin.
God Bless
W.