5 Tips for Dealing with a Picky Eater

My little boy was a really good eater for the first year and half or so. He pretty much ate everything I gave him. He liked trying new things and even loved spicy foods. Nothing could faze him. In the last couple of months he has started eating a lot less. He won't eat some of the foods he used to love. Except some days he will. Some days he will eat a ton of food. The next day he barely will touch anything and I'm sure he must be starving. My other little boys aren't too picky yet. They will throw it off their tray if they don't want to eat it though! I'm sure our puppy must love cleaning up after meal times around here. Here are some of the things I've learned over the last few months.

1. Don't let your child snack too often. Some days I have realized that this is probably why he's not eating his dinner. I try to have three meals and two snacks each day. If you try to keep everything at a set time it's easier not to get too many snacks in. 

2. Try to include at least one thing that you know your toddler will eat during each meal. Of course something he was eating the day before he might not touch today, so this doesn't always help!

My oldest one year ago. He has changed so much!

3. Minimize distractions. This is a huge problem in our house. There is always somthing else going on that is more interesting. The best idea is probably to try to have everyone eat together at the same time. This doesn't usually happen here because the babies are hungry by 4pm. Then our oldest wants to eat something because they are, which usually turns into dinner because it's so close to dinner time anyways. And it's pretty much impossible to eat dinner at the same time as feeding 3 little boys theirs anyways. 

4. A lot of times if I show him that I like it by taking a bite first, he will be more likely to give a new food a chance. Even if he's had a food before, sometimes he doens't recognized what it is and will refuse to try it even though I know he likes it! And of course once I get him to take one bite, he usually remembers how good it is and will eat more. Be a good example of healthy eating because they will probably want to eat whatever they see you eating. 

5. Keep trying. Even if they don't like it the first time you give it to them, keep trying every so often. There are many foods that my boys wouldn't eat at first and now they enjoy. Try to avoid only serving them foods that they like. This is something I need to work on. We tend to eat a lot of the same foods because I know they will eat it. We need to keep trying new foods!

What are some other ways that you have found to help with a picky eater?

Want to stay updated? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook or even Pinterest! 

(This post might also be linked up to some of these lovely parties.)