What to do for picky eaters!

Hello friend!  

One of the most common problems I am asked is what to do about picky eaters. People worry their kids will starve and/or become weird adults who only eat chicken nuggets. We have children who try such exotic foods, so people assume there must be a magic button I have or we just hit the kid jackpot! 

The truth is turning kids into good eaters is a journey. It starts with accepting a few realities: 

1) Kids don't need as many calories at dinner as adults. They tend to eat way more at breakfast and lunch, so if you make sure those meals are ones they eat, you can be more adventurous at dinner. If they turn their nose up, it's not the end of the world. 

2) Being picky is pretty normal and usually a phase, so don't freak out. Good eaters sometimes turn into pickier eaters, then back again. Just keep on doing what you do, and try not to uproot all your culinary plans because a kid is going through a particularly picky phase. 

3) However, there may be a meal or two that do need to be altered or even scrapped. If basically all of the kids won't eat something, I usually won't make that anymore. 

Once you accept these facts, we have a few techniques that we use to help encourage kids to eat better. 

1) If it's just my picky eater who's not loving dinner, I will still ask them to take one bite. That's all we require, just one bite. Often, they will then remember/realize they do like the food and eat more. Sometimes, that one bite is definitely IT for them. That's fine, remember they don't need to eat a ton at dinner. 

2) I don't make separate meals for picky eaters. I will adjust meals somewhat, like if a dish is going to be too spicy for certain kids and I can easily add/remove something minor. But, no chicken nuggets for the picky person. 

3) No milk at dinner until everyone is eating and enjoying the meal. If milk is there, all the kids will fill up on it and the picky eaters definitely won't bother with the meal. 

I hope some of this will prove helpful to you. The best I can say to you is that some of my pickiest eaters are turning into my most adventurous ones now. 

You've got this!