How to Introduce New Foods to a Toddler

Get him to cook with you. Pick a fruit or veggie at the farmers market or grocery and come up with something to make together. Make a game out of it. I make collard green juice (aka super juice) and my son freaks for it. Popsicles with fresh fruits, smoothies and more. He'll have a blast and it will open him to new things that he made and can be proud of.- www.weelicious.com

I have 2.5 yo twins who are actually (thankfully!) pretty willing to eat new things but I've found that having them help pick out at the store &/or prepare things makes them much more likely to eat them. Lately, I've been making mini "pizzas" with them on little sandwich rounds (although tortillas, english muffins, anything would work) I give them a few options (veggies, leftover chicken or whatever I have around, etc.) and then they spread some sauce on, put some toppings on, put some cheese on top and I stick them in the toaster oven for a few minutes & they have eaten a lot of vegetables that way that I don't think they would have been as keen on trying in other ways! Also, not sure if he likes eggs but I've used this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/mi...
for breakfast, lunch or dinner... I put veggies or turkey & cheese or whatever I have on hand or want them to try diced up in the mixture instead and let the boys mix it up before cooking. Sorry this became so long! The only other suggestion I've found works is to catch them when they're pretty hungry, feed them something they like and combine it with something they're trying for the first time - like putting it into a pasta dish they're used to or chopping it up w/ other things they like.
Good luck!

J.,

With my 3YO I pick a new food and I pair it with things he will eat for a whole week. So if I'm introducing a new veggie that previously was rejected, I do it with something like a hot dog or chicken nuggets. By the end of the week he's pecking at what's there to see what it is and try it. I've been successful with avacados, broccoli, asapargus and different kinds of sandwiches and sauces.

It's all about repitition and exposure, and not making the food an issue. Food issues can start as young as infancy and are with us throughout our lives. I don't struggle or battle my son on how much he eats or if he eats. But, I also don't force him to eat things he won't eat and usually he's very good about trying new things if we give it time.

One thing that seems to make a big difference is if my son sees me eating the same thing on his plate, so I try to cook things in a way everyone will enjoy. Just remember to make meal time relaxing and fun and enjoy your family.

Good luck.

With my first daughter, I catered to her (same as you) and gave her foods that she would eat, making sure we hit all of the food groups every day. Then she went to a preschool where food was part of the tuition. I told the director of my daughter's "special needs" and she advised me to just let her try the foods that they all ate. Well, guess what - she ate whatever they served! It took about a week, but she did, and she followed the rules, like: you must eat the skin of the apple if you want another piece.

Well, now at 7 yrs old, she still complains when I tell her "what's for dinner" but she does a pretty good job eating it, because my favorite saying is "this is dinner, next meal is breakfast!" My four year old is a little bit more open to new foods, because I guess I started earlier with the hard line stance on short order cooking. I do, however, make at least one thing that I KNOW they will eat. (usually a favorite vegetable!:)

I guess what I'm saying is that I think we all think that our kid is unique in their stubbornness, but they just know how to push our buttons. Food is one of those things that we feel like we NEED to provide or else we are bad moms. He knows you will eventually give in. At my daughter's preschool, the option of chicken nuggets was removed, and she had to eat the bean and cheese burritos. IF you remove that option from your kitchen, he might just start eating!

(as a side note, I usually have at least one or 2 of the neighborhood kids eating dinner with us on any given night - they eat the food, too!)

Tis' normal and toddlers (even older kids) do this.
They won't starve.

My son is picky too.
What I have found works is:

- he likes soups... I cook it from scratch, chop the veggies & meats real small, and cook it nice and long to soften everything up. Then, I give him a STRAW to 'eat' it with and he finds it so fun! I also add curly pasta to it, and he likes that.
- He likes smoothies. I make my up my own combination of fruits in it.
- if I put a whole bunch of food on his plate, (ie: too much food), he gets overwhelmed by it (visually) and won't eat. SO... I cut up the foods real small... and put it in small servings on his plate (a 'serving size' for a toddler is only in terms of TABLESPOONS), THEN he will eat it.
- my son likes finger foods... so this is what I feed him. Stuff he can eat with his fingers. But yes, he knows how to eat with a fork/spoon/and can cut up his food on his own.
- my son likes sauces... so I let him dip his food into sauces and its fine. Even his asparagus he will dip into ketchup. I don't mind, he eats it that way.

Next, kids go through all kinds of food likes & dislikes. Normal. My daughter LOVED cherry tomatoes, then she hated it, then she loved it, then she hated it, then she loved it, then she hated it, then she loved it, then she hated it... and now she LOVES it. AGAIN.

Just don't force it or turn it into a battle... otherwise he will disdain and hate any mealtime. Period. He will 'learn' to hate it because it will be a unpleasant occasion.

ALL kids go through this. Its okay He won't starve. Kids don't have to like what we like. But, sure, serve whatever you cook. In kid portions, in kid size bites, make the food into a funny face on his plate. Teach him that mealtime is also FUN.. and a time where you all hang out and talk story as a family... less focused on food or getting him to eat. If he just nibbles, then that's it. Then fine. Appetites ebbs and flows everyday, just like an adult.

He is taking vitamins so that's good.
Keep in mind, not even adults "eat balanced" either. Many don't. So, a child is certainly not going to be perfect about it either. For me, I have to remind my Husband to eat his veggies too! Ha, ha. And, eating habits changes ALL the time per age stages.... even for teens/college kids/adults/elderly. It CONSTANTLY changes.

A kid will not eat if forced. Neither will an adult. Like adults, it takes time to try new and "exotic" foods.
At this age as well... their "taste buds" are STILL developing... what they like now... will not necessarily be a "favorite" next year, or 2 years from now. Nor 20 years from now.
I would just watch the sweet stuff. Its empty calories and gets them 'full.'

All the best,
Susan

Hi J.,

From what I've read, most "experts" suggest that you serve a couple of things on his plate that you know he will eat and a little bit of the new item along side those items. You don't want to overwhelm him with a giant helping of something he's not familiar with. You can encourage him to try it to see if he'd like it. Maybe take just one little bite? He may not eat it for the first 10 or 15 times that he sees it there but eventually his curiosity will get him to try it. It also helps if he sees mommy and daddy eating the same thing and remarking on how good it tastes. My 2-1/2-year-old son just tried baked potato and broccoli for the first time tonight. He balked a bit at the broccoli and spit it out, but the thing was that he was willing to put it in his mouth before he decided he didn't want it. For him it's more of a texture thing than anything else. Good luck!

Something happens neurologically with nearly all children...from about age 2-6 they get a "poison-yuck-spit -it-out" response to any food that they haven't already tasted/eaten in quantity.

There are obvious evolutionary advantages to this...at about age 2 toddlers get more mobile...and having them spit out any thing that they're not consistantly fed, tends to keep them from eating poisonous things and dieing.

The unfortunate bit, is that many people give their wee ones pretty bland diets until after the age of two...which means that you're "stuck" with that diet until they're 6ish. Unfortunately again, with most people, that "yuck" response lasts for 10-20 years once they've acquired it.

You can try and "cheat" ...introducing new foods MIXED with foods that their body recognizes. This sometimes works and sometimes backfires (they start having the "yuck" response to the food that they used to love).

The best way to try and cheat is to do it reeeeeeeeaally gradually. Like adding a few drops of pineapple juice to cottage cheese one week, then a few tiny tiny minced pieces...rather than just mixing big pineapple chunks into cottage cheese. For SOME kids, you can just mix chunks of x into y and have them be fine...for others they'll out and out reject x, for others they'll then reject both x AND y. Ugh. So it's better to get just a few molecules mixed in, so they can't even taste it (but they bodies start recognize even what they can't "taste"...and slowly work into actually tasting, and then noticing texture.

For getting veggies into his diet,

a) start with "worthless" ones first...aka ones that have nearly no nutritional value (like iceberg lettuce)...or ones that have had everything cooked out of them. The more water/less nutritional value (like chopped celery in chicken noodle soup)...the fewer chemicals there are for the body to reject. Fortunately most plants that we eat have the no-nutrition cousins in the same chemical family as the high nutrition ones. So you can start out with a teaspoon of minced iceberg in a chopped chicken or turkey sandwich and work your way up to actually having lettuce on it, and then work your way up the lettuce family until you are getting ones with vitamins/nutrients in them.

b) Do the "fat" trick. Any veggie that's been steeped in fats is FAR more attractive to our bodies than one that's steamed/raw. Evolution again. So the carrots in Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup...will be FAR more attractive to little mouths/brains (not mental, remembe, but neurological) than raw carrots. Cabbage that's been boiled with corned beef for several hours and then ALSO sauteed in butter will be more attractive than coleslaw. ANYTHING cooked in bacon grease, or with bacon. A recomendation for any starchy food, btw, is to add chicken stock. So for potatoes, mash them up with chicken stock and butter. You can work your way from steeped in fats, to merely dipped, to on their own. Again. It takes a great deal of time and patience.

The fortunate thing about adding fats to veggies, is that most YOUNG kids don't get enough fats in their diets, because we're all trying to keep our fats down as adults.

ALSO

Something that's worked wonders in our house is having our son not only help cook but to help assemble.

So if I make a salad that has

- lettuce
- chicken
- salami
- cheese
- green onions
- tomatoes
- garbanzo beans
- basil
- dressing

Instead of JUST having him help tear, chop, mix, etc...We put each ingredient in a small bowl and everyone gets to make their own salad with the proportions/additions/deletions how they like. Ditto large dishes...everyone gets to help serve themselves. And yes. My son HAS from time to time served himself a MOUNTAIN of potatoes. If he doesn't eat them all...they go into a container in the fridge and he can have left overs.

Good Luck!

PS...you know...just having read through the other responses I just wanted to add 2cents:

We have a standing house rule: If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it. But I'm not going to be cooking anything else. So ANYONE at any time can have cereal, a sandwich, chef boyardee, a can of soup, etc. (I'm an adventurous cooker, so sometimes ALL of us actually break into the shrine'o'chef boyardee). In my -not so humble- opinion the nutrition is more important than where it came from. Sure skipping a meal never killed anyone...but WHY turn eating into a punishment? We don't not feed our dogs if they misbehave. Why do so many people do it with their kids? If I made a butter chicken masala...and my son would rather have chicken noodle soup...um...chicken, veggies, & starch are in both. What's the problem? MY ego? Ummmm....

Growing up we HAD to eat what my mum cooked (and like it). Dinnertime (or breakfast for that matter) could be a hideously ugly affair. If we didn't eat or act like we liked it she got horrifically offended & angry. Children starving in africa. There are sooo many problems with that. It's like telling Americans that Europeans walk everywhere so we should junk our cars. Ummmmm...In Europe I walk. In the US I drive. Sure if there was nuclear halocaust and there was only something my son hated to eat, he'd eat it or go hungry. If I have a whole pantry full of food he'd eat...why would he go hungry?

Anyhow...like I said...my 2cents

Hi J.- Im not sure what the others have responded, but one word that you wrote was: he sits there until I give in". If he knows you will give in, then thats what he will do. He is getting paid off for his actions if he waits long enough. It will be a stuggle and some nights he may go a little hungry, but if you want him to eat other food, you have to stand your ground. If he is hungry enough he will eat something. He will find there are other things to eat.
Good luck!!

my tip (that may seem harsh) is to not give in. my daughter is 28 months and she will eat what i give her. just introduce a new food every week. my daughter knows that she has to eat what we eat or go hungry and yes she has gone to bed or a nap with out food. heres what my daughter eats.
any and all fruit
veggies - green beens, onions, olives, corn, carrots, peas.
meats- chicken, turkey, steak, hamberger, and sometimes fish.
drinks- milk, water, juice, low salt v8, and also a nutrition drink because we are going to cut the v8 out.
she also eats - eggs, bacon, potatoes, cereal, yogurt, cheese, pizza, quesadilla, mac and cheese, pastas (just about everything really.

My previously not picker eater became a picky eater for while when he was about three and a half...you have to just not give in.

I make one meal at dinner time and if he doesn't eat, that's it. We remind him that this is it, the kitchen is closed and there will be nothing later if he's hungry. It only took a few days before he got the message.

Every once and a while now we have to remind him, but I've stopped getting the complaint that he just doesn't like it or whatever. He eats what he wants and no matter what, we require him to finish him glass of milk. That one isn't an option. But, if he doesn't finish what's on his plate, that's his decision and he'll have to deal with the consequences.

BTW, I do occasionally make concessions if I'm making something spicy. He legitimately just doesn't like spicy stuff and I feel bad not offering him something else in that case, but that's the one thing I concede on.

Good luck!

-M

Hi! My son got suddenly picky at age 3, too. Isn't that weird? I blame preschool -- I swear, there must've been one kid who didn't want crust on his sandwiches, my kid came home suddenly demanding no-crust sandwiches and it's been all downhill since then! (I'm kidding. Sort of.) Anyway, this is typical toddler behavior but I write often about food and feeding a picky eater. See my articles at Examiner.com for more, but especially these (links below -- I don't think the Mamasource site lets them go live so you have to cut and paste the URL into your browser to connect to the articles):

http://www.examiner.com/x-5093-San-Diego-Healthy-Food-Exa...

http://www.examiner.com/x-5093-San-Diego-Healthy-Food-Exa...

http://www.examiner.com/x-5093-San-Diego-Healthy-Food-Exa...

http://www.examiner.com/x-5093-San-Diego-Healthy-Food-Exa...

Good luck! -- M..

The most important thing to remember is that children need to be exposed to a particular food for up to 15 times! So if your sone doesn't like something, don't give up and be persistent at sharing a new food with him. Dr. Fuhrman has the best book out there on childhood nutrition, "Disease-Proof Your Children; Feeding Kids Right". If more parents read this book we wouldn't have an health issues with our children. He states that the first 7 years of a child life is the most critical and we can either set them up for good health or disease.

I have a natural parenting store in Fullerton, Belly Sprout, and one of the things I tell my parents is to try to have the WHOLE family eat whole, fresh and organic. It is important for children to see their parents eating a healthy and varied diet. If mom is eating fast food, the child will also want that. If mom eats a plate of beans, rice and veggies, the child will want that!

Dr. Fuhrman also says to have healthy snacks readily available and don't have options for junk. Our children will eat when they are hungry but if we give in to their desires for unhealthy treats, then they will only ask for those foods. I have a 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 year old and I take our food everywhere with us so that I can feed them healthy. We eat a diet that is primarily vegetarian with organic chicken and meat once or twice a week. Hummus and veggies are a great snack and childrne love to dip their foods. I make sure we always have fresh fruit to snack on and a couple of times a week I juice fresh fruits and veggies for the family.

I have a workshop coming up, The First 7 Years" on Saturday August 22nd whcih will cover all of this and food ideas for our little ones. You can go to the website and by saturday the new ccalendar should be up; www.bellysprout.com. Going into Fall we will be offering even more classes geared around food and health!

You are what you eat, so make sure its healthy and fun!

Good luck,
C. Funk
www.bellysprout.com

If this is a battle you want to take on-you can not offer other foods. He gets what is for dinner, if he doesn't want it, he doesn't eat. He wont starve. If you don't care about his limited diet then dont put up a battle. It is all or nothing.