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“I have a pair of overly fussy eaters who just flat out refuse foods they don’t like or don’t want to try. They will even go to bed hungry if I don’t make them something they want – how can I get them to try new things and eat well?”

Posted by Kate, 28/05/2013

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  • Respect your child’s appetite — or lack of one. If your child isn’t hungry, don’t force a meal or snack. …
    Stick to the routine. Serve meals and snacks at about the same times every day. …
    Be patient with new foods. …
    Don’t be a short-order cook. …
    Make it fun. …
    Recruit your child’s help. …
    Set a good example. …
    Be creative.
    Involve Your Child in buying foods.
    Try (a Lot) More Than Once.
    Add Condiments.
    Serve Small Portions.
    Improve Cooking Skills


  • Try bribery. Have their favourites on hand as well as food you’d like them to try, then tell them they’ll only get a bite of their favourite food if they try the other food first.


  • My son is the same I try to sneak veggies in and he will refuse to eatbthe whole thing


  • There is only so many nights that they can go to bed hungry. Just keep offering them the food and eventually they will try it.


  • I don’t think you can force them, just put things on their plate and tell them to eat what they want, don’t offer anything else and if they don’t eat then give them nothing else but water until breakfast, then give them a good healthy one


  • oh my god i am stressing about this now.


  • I have an extremely fussy 8 year old. He started refuseing food at 11 months, and variety was non existent. I have tried many things dietician, parenting classes. But the most sucessful method for us was a method called the sos approach to feeding, some dieticians are trained in this method and it was fantastic.


  • Children love eating things they grow, how about a vegie garden, if they want to eat them raw let them, otherwise take them shopping and make a game of letting them choose something new each week (not lollies!) on the condition that they try some , get then cooling as well .If all that fails just get sneaky and hide things in mash, mince, smoothies etc!


  • Oh boy…I hope you stopped making special meals for them.
    My husband used to do that with my daughter. My daughter now laughs about it and admits she simply said she didnt like things when she was in the mood to have eggs because she knew by sitting there looking sad her Dad would throw a fit and then go cook her eggs. It really had very little to do with the fact that what was on her plate wasnt nice…she sinply decided she would like eggs more.


  • How are they going now?


  • how is it going now?


  • I think it depends on the age too what action is best to take


  • Maybe just introduce one new thing every week for them to try.


  • How do they go with their eating now?


  • If they see you eating it and enjoying it might help.


  • Something I found handy was taking a trip to an all you can eat restaurant where they can choose anything they like-you really get a good idea of what they like.


  • I hope things worked out in the end


  • Its great to see the answers as I have a daughter just like yours


  • You could mix all the vegetables in to a dip give your kids some dry biscuits . You could try hiding it in spaghetti or mashed potatoes.


  • With so many useful tips I hope you were able to solve the problem


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