{"id":472,"date":"2017-07-10T11:58:24","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T10:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kidsitter.co.uk\/blog\/?p=472"},"modified":"2017-07-10T11:58:24","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T10:58:24","slug":"10-tips-feeding-picky-eater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidsitter.co.uk\/blog\/10-tips-feeding-picky-eater\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Tips For Feeding A Picky Eater"},"content":{"rendered":"

No matter how sophisticated your palate or how much you appreciate good food and proper nutrition, you may be or may become the parent of a picky eater.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Feeding a child with strong feelings about what he will or will not eat is a tiring, frustrating battle, but the experts tell us the behavior is pretty darn common and is often a normal part of your child growing up and gaining his independence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here are 10 tested tips for getting your child (or the one you\u2019re\u00a0babysitting) to eat a more balanced, nutritional diet without losing your cool.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Realize that kids need less than you may think.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Children\u2019s appetites go up and down. They naturally eat relatively little some days and some days feel much more ravenous. Serve smaller portions so you don\u2019t overwhelm them, and understand that a few bites of the veggie they may refuse is often enough to provide benefit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Limit snacks and sugary beverages.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Kids will readily fill up on snacks and have no room in their bellies come mealtime. Provide small, healthy snacks at a routine time, likely mid-morning and mid-afternoon, and have them hold off on eating any more until the next meal. Food is much more appealing when they\u00a0are hungry.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Teach them to eat a rainbow, everyday.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Even little kids can grasp the concept: Eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables \u2013 something from every color of the rainbow \u2013 everyday. By using a rainbow as a guide, you can ensure that your kids are getting a wide range of vitamins and minerals. One food can\u2019t do it all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. Don\u2019t be afraid to hide fruits and veggies.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

While we don\u2019t agree that it\u2019s always best to trick your kids into eating well, it\u2019s a not a bad idea to sneak a bit of extra nutrition in wherever it works. For instance, add some finely chopped carrots and zucchini into a well-loved pasta sauce or sneak some greens into a smoothie. Kids will likely never know the difference, and you\u2019ll stress less about their diet when you know they\u2019ve had an extra does of nutrition here and there.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

5. Get them involved with food.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Research proves kids are more likely to eat foods they help select and prepare. Let your kids help make a grocery list, find items in the store, and help to prepare a meal by cleaning, prepping and cooking with you. Make the tasks age-appropriate so they don\u2019t get injured or overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition, take kids on a trip to the farmer\u2019s market or farm and use the outing as an opportunity to talk about healthy choices. The next time you\u2019re grocery shopping together, show them the beautiful array of local produce and let them choose something new to try at home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. Work up an appetite.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Your kids will eat more and better when they are hungry. Help them work up an appetite each and every day by ensuring that they get at least an hour of physical activity and whenever possible, fresh air.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. Make peace with\u00a0condiments.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As much as you may cringe at the thought of smothering lovely, fresh veggies in dressing or dunking a nice bite of fish in ketchup, let your kids do whatever it takes to make their food appealing to their young palates. Consider making fresh condiments, rather than clunking a big bottle of high fructose loaded ketchup or bottled Ranch dressing on the table. It\u2019s quick and easy to make your own condiments, and the taste is far superior.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8. Respect mealtime.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

You can teach kids the value of eating well by teaching them to respect mealtime. Outlaw all electronics, yours included, from the table, and whenever possible, eat together as a family.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Make meal time enjoyable, talking about your day and things you look forward to doing\u00a0together. Avoid fighting about what your child will or will not eat. Keep it positive time together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9. Make \u201cgood for you\u201d good.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Transform ordinary foods into special treats. You can turn berries into an easy cobbler, a freeze fruits and yogurt to make handfuls of frozen grapes, cups or sticks of yogurt, homemade juice pops, and fruit smoothies.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

10. Don\u2019t prepare a separate meal.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

We don\u2019t want our children to starve and after a long day, the last thing we want to do is go to battle with them over food. It\u2019s tempting to avoid the battle and ensure that they eat by making them a separate meal. Resist the temptation. You don\u2019t have time to be a short order cook, and you\u2019re really only reinforcing your child\u2019s will to refuse what the family is eating.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter how sophisticated your palate or how much you appreciate good food and proper nutrition, you may be or may become the parent of a picky eater.   Feeding a child with strong feelings about what he will or will not eat is a tiring, frustrating battle, but the experts tell us the behavior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[60,58,56,61,57,59],"class_list":["post-472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-drinks","tag-food","tag-fussy-kids","tag-health","tag-picky-eater","tag-snacks"],"yoast_head":"\n10 Tips For Feeding A Picky Eater - KidSitter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kidsitter.co.uk\/blog\/10-tips-feeding-picky-eater\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Tips For Feeding A Picky Eater - 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