Any Suggestions on a 3 Y/o Who Is Very Picky When It Comes to Eating??

I'm fortunate to have a very good eater on my hands, however, I've found with some of her friends and a picky nephew that "fun" food goes a long way. I.e., make raw veggie "critters" cheese shapes or shaped sandwiches using cookie cutters or pancake shapers. A bed of ramen noodles as the ocean (blue food coloring) and a hot dog octopus (slice 3/4 of the way up the hot dog in a cross shape and drop in boiling water - wah la! legs!) Allow her to choose a color of eggs and scramble away - food coloring again! You can also pick up a garnishing set at almost any store to make fun shapes - flowers, curls, etc. Good luck and have fun!

I am a grandma of 8 children. I love helping people, so if there is anything that you need, just email me.
I work for a company that serves people with special needs.
As far as your question, does she like cheese? I would say use cheese on the vegetables. Then slowly give her less and less cheese, until she is just eating the veggies.
G.
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M.-

When our son "tried" to start being a picky eater I was lucky and had an appointment with his pediatrician coming up and had some friends who had children that had recently gone through this. So we nipped this behavior rather quickly.

Here is some advice I gathered and tricks of my own that worked. Our doctor told us children are very intelligent and keen, they know you will cave in to their pickiness if it has worked even a few times on prior occasions.

Offer a few select things at each meal or snack time even if they are not her favorites. No substitutes and no caving in. The first few times she may eat very little or nothing. That is what our son did. But children will not starve themselves. By his afternoon snack our son was trying some new foods and started eating what we put in front of him. But we stopped caving into his "hunger strikes".

We also started diluting his fruit juice with half water so the sugar wasn't so hard on his teeth and trying different fresh and canned fruits. We were surprised by what our son liked. He loves fresh raspberries, fresh strawberries, blackberries, papaya, and mango. He also loves canned mandarin oranges, canned peaches, and the flavored applesauces that have strawberry and mango mixed into them.

Our friends and pediatrician warned us that sticking it out would be hard, and it was hard to see our son go away from some meals without eating or eating very little, but we stuck to our guns and now he eats a much wider variety of foods. We also started using our food processor a lot and shredding carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli, into foods he would eat like spaghetti sauce, grilled cheese sandwhiches and such. He also likes home made banana bread, and we mixed fruit into his oatmeal and pancakes and he ate it without even knowing it was there.

All children go through set backs where they go on little hunger strikes. So don't get discouraged if this happens.

Also Gerber makes a great pack of veggie juices, that have carrot juice and such in them mixed with fruit juice. They are really for younger children but she may like them, be careful the carrot juice stains things easily. Gerber also makes a fruit drink line I think its called Splashers that contain less sugar than some other juices.

Good Luck, hope this helps a little.

With my 3 daughters I would always have them help me make the food. They would and still will eat about anything as long as they "made" it. I still do this whenever I make something new that I know my 5 yr old will not eat without a fight. Even simply adding ingredients and stiring helps them feel like they made the food. Hope this helps!
E. :)