We’ve all been there, mama. Breathe. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but I’ll say it again: your child will not starve to death.
I’m lucky to say that *most* of the time my kids are good eaters. That’s not to say we don’t go through phases where she just wants a “piece-a choc” (Hershey Kiss) or “pastaaaa.” To save you (and your little babe) the time and frustration, I’ve made a list of some tried and true tricks to make your stubborn child eat.
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1. Offer Choices
Toddlers are allllllllllabout seeking autonomy and finding ways to assert themselves. This is great! But also super frustrating! Sometimes I find my day turning into a power struggle, and then I think, what’s the point of this? Once I give my daughter a little bit of “power” (or at least the illusion of power), our day is back on track and everyone’s happy.
Do you want your apple cut into slices or whole? Would you like your dinner on the red or blue plate? Would you like to dip in ketchup or ranch dressing? My daughter responds extremely well to being offered choices, and she is only 2 years old!
This trick to this is to only offer choices that are acceptable to you. Don’t offer apple or chocolate if you don’t want your child to pick chocolate.
2. Offer the “Healthy” Option of Their Favorite Foods
My 2 year old would LIVE on pasta and potatoes, she is a total carb-lover. I started giving her steamed vegetable pasta, and vegetable tots and she is a HUGE fan. She went from eating boxed mac and cheese (with no nutritional value) to a pasta loaded with vegetables, nutrients and fiber. It may not be *as* healthy as the actual vegetable, but its a step in the right direction!
Our favorites are Birdseye SteamFresh 100% vegetable pasta and Dr. Praeger’s Broccoli Littles, but there are tons of sneaky products to try!
3. Give Access to Healthy Snacks
This goes back to having “control.” If at all possible, designate a low cupboard in your house to healthy snacks. We use the corner cabinet, and fill it with snacks she is allowed to have whenever she’s hungry. I usually place a couple of apples, a few yogurt pouches, vegetable straws, granola bars, and a few snack traps filled with raisins or crackers . We also put all of my daughter’s bowls, plates and cups in this cabinet. At mealtime, we ask her to go get whichever bowl or plate she wants to eat off of. Just another way to let her exercise her autonomy!
It may seem simple, but just having the option to get a snack whenever desired may change their will to eat.
4. Dip
Ok, ok…I get teased frequently for my daughter’s LOVE of dip. Ranch, ketchup, BBQ sauce, maple syrup…she would eat the dip alone with a spoon if I let her! But HEY, I’ve seen girlfriend eat a WHOLE plate of broccoli with just a tablespoon of dip. And it’s OK to allow weird dip/food combos. If your child wants to dip their scrambled eggs in blue cheese dressing (she does this on the reg), so be it.
My husband is huge on condiments, so I’m sure that’s where she gets her love of condiments from. But it gets her veggies in, so I’ll let it slide!
I am not recommending you cover their entire meal with condiments. Start with a small amount of their dip of choice, and you can always add more if requested. That way you reduce the amount of sugar/salt they are eating, and you’re showing them the appropriate serving size.
5. Fun Plates, Bowls and Utensils
Does your kid love dinosaurs? Minnie Mouse? Monster trucks?
Mine, too. And she gets really, really excited when I say, “DO YOU WANT TO EAT THIS SANDWICH OFF YOUR UNICORN PLATE?!”
On your next Target run, take your kids up and down the aisles and let them pick a few special items to eat with. It makes mealtime seem fun and exciting (not stressful and frustrating!)
6. Fruit and Veggie Pouches
I have no idea why, but eating your food out of a pouch is wayyyyyy more exciting. We love the Earth’s Best Organics Yogurt Smoothies, and a huge reason why is the Sesame Street characters on the front. My daughter will also eat the pouches with fun designs on the front, such as the Sprout Organics baby food pouches. Its an easy, no-prep way to get some fruits and veggies into their little bodies!
7. Take Your Kids Shopping With You
If you read this and thought, “nooooooooo! As if grocery shopping could be any more painful!” I hear you, friend. And I’m here to say that I totally understand.
When I take my kids shopping, I spend a lot of time. But its truly an experience my daughter loves. I let her pick which avocados to add to the cart, wear the stickers off of the bananas, and I give her a choice of which berries she’d like to eat this week (spoiler alert: its always blackberries).
The whole time, we’re talking about all of the yummy things we’re going to eat. “Look at all this chicken! We need a pack of chicken to make salsa chicken tonight. We’re having quesadillas! Should we get the flour or corn tortillas? Yum!”
When we get home, she helps me put the groceries away, and that leads me to the next segment….
8. Let Your Kids Help You Cook
UGH. I know. More time-consuming things. But it’s also a chance for you to spend some real one-on-one time with your toddler, and your toddler wants to do whatever you’re doing, anyways.
Just like when I’m shopping, I’m conscious to talk the whole time about what I’m doing. “Can you help me beat the eggs? I’m going to mix the eggs up really well, so it will look like one big bowl of yellow liquid. Then, I’ll pour the eggs into the hot pan and keep stirring them around so that they cook! Do you see how it went from a liquid to being like scrambled eggs? Now let’s add cheese!”
To your kid, this interaction is the COOLEST science experiment. I always finish with “how does it taste? Did we do a good job?”
When your child is invested in their meal, they’re more likely to enjoy it.
9. Make Mealtime Fun
I will warn you, any time I’m at the stove now I hear a little voice say, “see mama cooking?” and I have a mini chef by my side.
Spinach in your smoothie? PSSSHHHHHHH!! That’s monster juice, and it gives you BIG muscles like the Hulk!
Peas in my pasta? NO SIR-EE! Those are fairy beads, and they make you have super cool dance skills!
Maybe you’ll be more creative than I am, but you get the idea. Act excited and amazed by the food, and offer TONS of encouragement for trying them!
10. Eat Together
This one is hard for me to preach, because most nights my kids are ready to eat by 5 and my husband is working until 6. But if I am able, I grab a snack and sit down at the table.
Eating is a social experience in our culture, and our kids want to join in on the same experience! Plus, if your child sees you eating, they may be inclined to do so as well.
11. Role Play Mealtime
This one is huge in our house. We are a house full of dollies. I often joke that I run an orphanage out of our living room. It’s not uncommon to see 5 or 6 baby dolls lined up on the living room floor.
And just like us human-folk, these babies are hungry. I let my daughter get out bowls and spoons and put her babies in the high chairs to feed them. I stand nearby and say, “are you feeding her bananas or apples? She looks like she loves it! Great job trying new foods, baby!”
This is fun for her, and models good behaviors. You can change the dialogue to fit whatever mealtime issues you’re having.
12. Don’t Make a Fuss
If you’ve made it this far, you’re awesome, and you really care about your babe’s nutrition. So this point may come as a surprise….DON’T MAKE A FUSS!
Mealtime should be filled with praise and encouragement when your child tries something new. When my daughter tries something she doesn’t like, I say, “you did a really nice job trying something new. You can eat the other items on your plate if that’s not something you like.”
Oftentimes we find ourselves saying, “don’t do that! stop with that! no!”
It doesn’t have to be that way!
A friend the other day told me how frustrating it was to see her son dip his carrots in ketchup. I said, “did he eat the carrots? Sounds like a win!”
Last week my daughter wanted to eat chicken with a spoon. I said, “it may not work very well, but you can try!”
Wouldn’t you know my tiny, stubborn beauty ate every. last. bite.
There’s no sense in fussing over a toddler’s etiquette. There are many, many years for them to learn what acceptable food combinations are, or what utensil works best.
The goal is that your child eats. Who cares about the rest!
13. Put It on Your Plate
Am I the only one? No?
I can make the same meal for everyone, but the meal on my plate looks better. No, I kid, I kid…I can share. But if all else fails, I just need to sit down to “eat.”
I hope these tips and tricks work for you, too! Have any others to add in? Comment below!
