Picky Eater - Osseo,MN

I found that if I kept having him try foods he has previously disliked he sometimes likes them. For instance as a baby he disliked anything green, but at a 4 year old his favorite veggies are broccoli, asparagus, green beans, and peas. I get him to try new food by involving him in the selection and preparation which your son may be a bit young for. What we do is that as we walk through the grocery store we talk about all the different fruits and veggies and which ones look really weird and if we should try them. Just the other day he pointed at something I had never tried, celery root and asked what it was and how it tasted. I told him what it was but that I had never tasted it and asked him if we should try it. He thought we should so we did. When we got home we looked online for recipes and he helped me choose one that sounded interesting and we made it. While it wasn't a big hit, it was a food adventure for us. He helps me prepare food by washing the veggies and other easy tasks such as breaking off the tough ends of asparagus. We have done this since he was about 3 and it has been lots of fun for all of us.

Good luck!

I agree with the Becky W.

My son was a baby food eater. My daughter wanted "real people" food. Made all the difference in the world when I started feeding her regular food.

Variety, keep offering. Even if he doesn't eat it, put it on his tray/plate anyways. Eventually he will try it!

Good luck!

Try not to make a big deal out of it. Just serve him what you eat, like others have said. By doing that, he will eventually try other stuff and learn to actually enjoy it. We have done that with all of our kids and they are not usually picky past the age of 5. (And none of them have starved!) :-)

One of the tricks I've recently learned is to serve "family style" meals. In other words let him serve himself from big bowls. My youngest is also 21 months and since we've introduced this method he at least tries everything he serves himself to feel like a "big boy" like his brother and sister. Also, don't give up, I read somewhere that a child has to be introduced to a food something like 25 times before they'll like it.

Kids are only picky eaters if you let them be. Get a handle on it now or you'll have a 5 year old who only eats mac and cheese. Don't give him yogurt and cereal anymore. He will get hungry enough to eat what you give him.

Just give him food and let him eat. When you make dinner, cut up whatever you made for dinner and give him the plate along with a cup of milk and let him eat. Same with lunch, give him a plate of food and let him go. As soon as you stop turning it into a struggle he'll eat. If you give him the plate and walk away, its no fun to refuse the food. Plus let him do it himself, at 21 months he can easily use a fork, spoon, and cup by himself. :)

I am dealing with the same situation. My 3 1/2 year old will not even taste most of the stuff I put in front of him for supper. I used to give in all the time and make him what he wanted and would make two suppers every night (one for him and one for us). I have found that if I give him what we have for supper and tell him that's what he is getting and he can eat it or not and just ignore him and continue eating, he will usually sit there for awhile and then realize he is not getting anything else and will start eating. And most of the time, once he actually tastes it, he realizes he likes it which makes it easier the next time I make it. I think the more emphasis you put on trying to get them to eat, the more they don't want to. If he is hungry enough, he will eat!