How Can I Get My 5 and 3 Year Old to Try New Foods?

Hello J. i have an 5yrsold son and he did'nt like veggies either so one day my stepdaugther had cook some broccli and girl he went down town on it that's all he will eat. it was told to me that if you get the frozen kind put some butter and om them or some chesse they might eat them. Jut let them know that you aren't try to killed them they need this to grow.

well I have 6 kids and for the most part my son eats hot dogs but I have found that if you take fluff and cream cheese
and a few different fruits on a platter they will try it. now as for the dinners, try to make a theme and we go through a lot of bbq sauce and ketchup. hope that helps.

S.

I understand that you want your kids to eat something at meal time but why would they try anything new if they know they are going to get what they want if they complain and cry? Sit them down and make it clear that you are preparing dinner and this is what is being served tonight. Don't make a meal for them. They will NOT starve. Don't try to force them to eat and don't get into bribing them. They sit at the table until meal time is over and if they don't eat anything that's fine!!! No snacks, no other meals cooked especially for them. You are NOT a short order cook! I'm sorry, I just feel very strongly about this. Your kids are in control, not you. They are playing you like a violin and you are letting them.

I have two boys who eat just about everything and my 4 yr. old says all the time that you should try new things.

Good luck.

i know that all kids are differant, but my experience is that we have a 4 yr old... when we offer her food, we never say " oh you might not like it" or have any opinion one way or another" .

i will say i am lucky, my girl eats almost everything.. mussels, shrimp, even a liver or two.

but i also i only have 1 kid and i was advised very early on, only make one meal... if they dont eat it, oh well... now if i am making something "differant" or maybe a little spicey, i will give her a back up. but only one (usually mac and cheese, )

i was told, and i can see how it would easily happen if i let it, but if you give the option of other things, then they will always think they have that option and refuse to eat what they dont know or maybe not what they are in the mood for.

now sometimes, if she comes home and says she wants breakfast for dinner or something i didnt plan, i will put away what i was going to make and have a "treat" and she knows that we are doing something special for her.

we all get in the mood for things and i respect that the same might go for her. but we have made the rule well known, first and foremost.

my friend, til this day, her daughter is 15, makes 2 seperate meals.... (thats who gave me the advise.)

not sure if it helps but just maybe something for later

Hi! Hey, maybe let them help with the food preparation? If it's a project they are involved in, they are more likely to want to partake.
I know, it's hard...my daughter was great with healthy foods until about 5...when all the influence of the sugar giving Aunts and family friends took effect.
Also, I mean....maybe try some new recipes...did you like your mama's cookin'? They best help for us is looking back to our Mamaas...good or bad...most questions are answered there!

Love, Micki
Mamma of a 6 yr. old girly

My son is with his dad half the time. When he comes here my husband and I don't put up with the tantrums. He usually likes what we give him once he tries it. If he won't eat it, we tell him to. If he still won't eat it, we put it on the fork and tell him to open up. Honestly, you people are letting your kids run you. They know they can get away with it so they do it. Be firm. Do not cave. They will get the idea. Having both parents back each other up helps. When I was young we all ate what we were cooked. My parents didn't have a lot of money. We didn't have a choice. Eat or starve. My current husband was married to a woman that had a daughter and he said he was a "short order cook" to everyone. No one would eat the same thing. That's just ridiculous. Unless there is an allergy everyone should eat what is prepared. Time in the day is too short to be fixing special meals. Beleive me, when you show your kids who is boss, they will get it. Also remember that younger children don't have the reasoning to know what is good for them or not. That is why they have parents in the first place.

My 3 kids are the same way. I keep offering them the food, have them try a bite but I don't force the issue.

I have the same problem with my kids. The boys will only eat corn for veggies. Bethany will eat "trees" (broccoli) and baby carrots, celery, corn, peas. I'm probably guilty of not making veggies often enough. I look for the easy, fast prepared foods. For breakfast, I found the YoCrunch yogurt is great, she can mix it herself and the nutrition of the yogurt combats the little bit of chocolate. My youngest is still on baby food with some table food. I'm making sure I give her at least 1 green and 1 "yellow" veggie a day. She loves everything, eggs, cheese, broccoli, spinach, oatmeal, etc... It shows, too. She is 8 1/2 months, 20 lbs. and is growing into 18 month clothes (she's tall too, so) Anyway, I just tell Beth (3) that remember when you didn't like ________ and then you tried it and now you like it? It worked with ham, but she still won't eat a sandwich, PB&J or otherwise. won't touch eggs or cheese unless it's on pizza! Good luck

Okay, although my son would eat some veggies (broccli steamed and raw tomatoes)- he wouldn't eat meat for a while, and has been awful about tasting new (to him) things.

Some things we did that helped:

We would let him have an alternative meal for a while, if he tasted willingly at least a bite of other things offered. So, don't make the PB sandwitch or the bowl of mac and cheese until they've tried a bite of the real dinner.

Mix in veggies with the mac and cheese. Peas, diced tomatoes, spinach and broccli pieces go nicely with kraft dinner.

make fruit smoothies with yogurt, a bananna (you can freese peeled banannas for smoothies), milk and fresh or frozen bagged fruit (the frozen fruit lasts a while longer then the fresh). They think they're having a milkshake, not fruit. And they're getting used to fruit tastes without much added sweetness.

Have a "picnic" tasting party dinner - serve baby carrots, bell pepper strips (yellow, red and orange are sweeter than green, and are preferred in my house), grape tomatoes, and a little veggie dip of some sort. spread out a sheet or tablecloth on the floor, and enjoy a picnic inside. the change of routine may make them more likely to taste the veggies.

My son, when he wouldn't touch meat, liked tofu nuggets. take firm tofu, cut it into bars, soak it in broth (beef, veggie or chicken) overnight, coat the marinated tofu in shake n bake (or breadcrumbs) and bake (I think at arounf 300 for 10-20 minutes). He loved them until he got used to the texture of meat.

Talk about nutrition with your kids, how different foods have things your bodies need to help them grow and stay healthy. Involve them in shopping, especially in the produce isle. Consider having them help you choose a "mystery fruit/veggie" (one the kids are not familiar with) every shopping trip for the whole family to try.

J.,
My 4 yr old stepdaughter will not eat anything but dry cereal, funyuns and chicken nuggets for her mother. She knows that at our house she has to at least try two bites of each food we give her. She will almost always eat what we prepare. If she flat out refuses, there are no snacks later. As long as she makes an effort we don't push it. Through some trial and error, we found the only things she honestly doesn't like are brocoli and spicy foods. If I'm cooking something spicy, then she gets the mac n cheese & chicken nuggets. Other than that, its not up for discussion. Good luck!

My son tried refusing to eat certain food when he was little. To this day the only veggie he will eat is corn. He is a huge fruit eater though. He's a prefectly healthy child too. To make up for whatever he isnt' getting vitamins are always a good option.

To conquer my dinner battles with him I use a very simple and easy tactic- what I make is what he gets, period. I have never given him a second option so he never expects it. I'm conscious of what he does and does not like and tend to mix and match. For example, for about 2 years he would not eat cheezeburgers, odd I know, but I would make it with something he loved like mac and cheeze. This way, he was still getting something to eat, even if it was the same mac n cheeze every night. Eventually he got so used to seeing that half a cheezeburger on his plate that he decided to try it and now loves it. If he refuses to eat his dinner or even come to the table and eat that is fine. He gets no snacks, but his dinner is always available. Usually after an hour or so passes he doesn't care what I made and is so hungry he cleans his plate! If it takes closer to 2 hours then he gets a timer and 20 minutes until his dinner is forfeited (but I've only had to do it once).

Use the same technique here that they tell you to use with new solid food eaters. Keep offering it, even if they dont bite. Eventually they will try it and more often then not (depending on the food) they will like it.

They will not go to bed hungry or starve themselves.

Have you tried combination meals like hamburger helper? Or perhaps pork chops and stuffing?

Another question would be, where did your 5 year old get the idea of poisoning? Most kids are not aware of that idea. That may be an issue you should sit down and calmly address with her. She may have seen something that frightened her and the 3 year old just wants to be like her.

I am having a hard time with my 4 yr. old. He refuses to try hamburger and the only other meat he will eat is chicken nuggets and once in a while chicken if it's in my salad. He occasionally eats ham, bacon and pepperoni. I use to cook dinner and make a seperate one for my son. Now what we do is tell him that he doesn't have to eat what's served he just has to try it. We also tell him that if he doesn't eat what's served he can have bread and no snacks later. We just started this so it hasn't totally worked yet.
Good luck.

My five (6 in Feb) year old ate everything I ever offered right up until he was about 3. Then everything changed and he wouldn't eat anything that was vegetable related. We never made food an issue, and now he tries new things all the time. It took a long time, only recently has the trying new things started, but it did happen. I always made something that I knew he would eat in addition to what his father and I were eating. Not a separate meal but something we would all eat.This could be the first thing that your kids feel some control over, remember how hard it is to always having someone else make every decision. Try to make other things that may look similar, try fish instead of chicken, put vegies on pizza ( hide it in the sauce) , you'll find ways and they will start trying things eventually.

If you have ne luck let me know my 2 1/2 year old won't eat meat the veggie she does eat is corn and she only eats chicken nuggets french fries, grilled cheese...the hardest i think is lunch and dinner cause i can get her to eat pancakes and waffles and cereal for breakfast just fine....but i am wits end with her too soo if ne thing works for you let me know please!!

If you get an answer can you please share that with me? This sounds exactly like my house. My 4 yr old she usually eats pretty good, but lately hasn't wanted any dinner except th e same as your kids and chicken noodles (hormel) and turkey sandwiches. My 3 yr old does tha exact same thing as yours and won't touch vegetables and she lives on spaghetti o's and pb&j. I too am tired of this and don't know what to do b/c I can not send them to bed hungry as it has been suggested to me to do. So I just wanted to let you know you are definitely not alone in this and if you get any good advice PLEASE pass it along to me.
Thanks so much,
J.

Ease up...they won't die, and this too shall pass. My oldest ate no meat till he was 12. "MCA" for dinner every day...mashed potatoes, corn, applesauce. Now at 14, he eats boneless skinless chicken, turkey, very lean roast beef. My middle, a girl ate everything except normal kid stuff, no pizza, watermelon, stuff most kids like. My youngest eats no fruit...only applesauce...no veggies...only french fries(don't count)and very little meat...carb/junk food junky. All are very healthy..always pass physicals, and rarely sick. Forget the "proper" one meal for all dinners, teach them if they don't like what's on the table to make their own....age appropriate meal of course. Good luck Remember, if they don't like it, vomit is not nice to clean up!

get very creative to vary their foods. use whole grain breads and every once in a while use mango butter or pumpkin butter on the sandwich with cream cheese instead of P B & J. (trader joe's has a great selection of that sort of thing). try canned veggies (rinse them off before cooking) instead of frozen or fresh-also, use fruits in light syrup and rinse them before offering to get rid of sugar. shred carrot and puree cauliflower to put in spag sauce. also, soft cook cauliflower and mash to make "mashed potatoes." sweet potato fries are good with cinnamon sugar if you can get them to try that. have them make their own whole grain english muffin pizzas. offer some tiny cut veggies as toppings and have a "most colorful pizza" contest. take pics of the winning pizza with the winner and give a reward. I hope this helps you! getting them to eat veggies is so tough sometimes!