It’s no secret that fussy eating can be one of the most difficult challenges for parents of toddlers.

From worrying about your child not getting enough nutrition to trying to encourage them to try new foods, it can feel like a never-ending battle, but with some patience and creativity, you can overcome these challenges and turn mealtimes into an enjoyable experience for both you and your little one.

In this article, you’ll find tips on how to support fussy eaters, including strategies for introducing new foods, ways to make meals fun and also when to be concerned when it comes to fussy eating.

Where to start

Firstly, trying to remain calm and understanding why your toddler may be refusing the food is important, remember your toddler is developing really quickly and the world around them is exciting; sitting down to eat can be boring as it stops them exploring or playing, also their food preferences may change over time, just like ours do.

Below are some tips that may just help to support:

Make mealtimes fun

Making mealtimes fun is a great way to make sure both you and your toddler enjoy it. You can try putting some music on that relates to the meal that you are eating; think Indian music with curry, Mexican with fajitas or Greek music with Greek kebabs.

Try having a picnic in your living room, make a den and all sit together.

Try messy play with foods

Messy play with foods can help your toddler explore different textures, colours and shapes away from their mealtimes. You could try:

• Making faces with foods – using lettuce or spaghetti for hair, beans for eyes or mushrooms for noses.
• Counting with pasta or canned beans such as chickpeas.
• Using their toys and making road with noodles or banana or apple slices
• Make a bath for toys in beans or spaghetti – get messy

When doing messy play it is also important that you get involved so that your toddler knows that it’s safe to do.

Let them cook with you

Getting your toddler involved in the cooking can help with sensory exploration of foods. They can see the difference between the carrots when they are raw to cooked and how food such as mashed potato and eggs change shape.

Check their snacks & milk intake

Make sure your toddler isn’t having too many snacks or drinking too much milk as this can impact on their food intake.

An appropriate intake for milk for a toddler is 1-2 cups per day and healthy balanced snacks are recommended twice per day in between meals.

Don’t offer foods that are high salt

Giving your toddler too much salt can be bad for their health but also it can affect their taste buds. You may find that they won’t accept foods that don’t have salt added. Toddlers are advised to not exceed 2g of salt per day.

Instead of adding salt to season, try herbs and spices. Try adding mixed herbs into spaghetti bolognese or cumin or paprika to mashed potato.

Eat with your toddler

You may not want to have your evening meal as early as your toddler but you must try to eat with them as often as possible and also try to eat the same meal. Your toddler can eat the same foods as you as long as it isn’t too high in salt or sugar. Seeing you eat the meal will encourage them and they will likely mirror your behaviour.

Don’t bribe or coerce them to eat a food

Briberry doesn’t work to develop healthy eating habits. It just makes your toddler want to make you happy by eating the food you want them to. Similarly, don’t use food as a reward. For example, don’t say, ‘eat this broccoli and then you can have some chocolate’. This is likely to make your toddler only want to eat the broccoli in order to get the chocolate and doesn’t set healthy mealtime habits.

Stay calm

If your toddler misbehaves at mealtimes try to remain calm, If they become upset, let them leave the table or take them out of the high chair and move away. Always try to provide reassurance and try again once they have settled.

Mealtimes shouldn’t be prolonged and a maximum of 30 minutes is enough time for a toddler to eat their meal.

Don’t offer food alternatives

As tempting as it can be, try to not offer food alternatives that you know your toddler will eat. This can mean that your toddler will learn if they ‘kick up a fuss’ that you will give them the food they want and they will unlikely try different or new food.

When to be concerned about fussy eating

Fussy eating or food neophobia can be a normal thing that many parents experience and some of the tips above may help. However, what if you find these aren’t working and your toddler is starting to limit the amount of foods that they eat?

Some toddlers can have a sensory aversion to certain food where no matter how hard you try each mealtime can be a very stressful experience. You feel deflated that your toddler will only eat foods a certain colour, shape, texture or brand.

If this is you, and you are concerned that your toddler may be at the risk of nutritional deficiency or their growth is becoming impacted then it is important to speak with a GP or dietitian for some support.

Conclusion

As a parent, you may feel overwhelmed when faced with mealtime struggles with a fussy eater. Take it one meal at a time and remember that it is all part of the process of development. When introducing new foods to toddlers it is important from the start to explore different textures, tastes, colours, and smells of foods as this can help them to develop a positive relationship with foods.

These strategies can be used to make mealtimes a little less stressful, but try not to get discouraged if things aren’t working out perfectly right away, be consistent over time so that your little one gets comfortable enough to enjoy different foods.

Don’t forget that they will model your behaviour, so eat the same meal with them when you can, provide a range of meal options and try not to stick with the same meal you know your toddler will eat.

Finally, don’t give up!

It’s possible to redirect your toddler’s picky eating habits with persistence, patience and a dash of creativity! With these tips in mind, you can support yourself and your little eater in developing ways of enjoying food together!

If you are concerned with your toddlers eating behaviour it is important to seek advice from a registered health professional such as a GP or dietitian