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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

What do YOU do if your 3 year old won't try new food?

20 replies

JackDsMum · 15/09/2005 12:41

ds1 is three and a half and if he had his way would live off about 3 different things; pizza, rice and bananas. I keep putting new things in fron tof him which he refuses to even try. What do you do in these circumstances?
I have just cooked him a new dish and we have pizza for tea tonight. He will not even try the new dish and so I am telling him no pizza tonight unless he tries it. Daft, because he will then be very hungry. He hasn't tried it. Should I give up and let him live off pizza for now? He seems to have settled on the one food i would rather he did not eat all the time!!

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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MaloryTowers · 15/09/2005 12:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

unicorn · 15/09/2005 12:49

try not to make anything of it, he is probably exerting his 3 year old 'personality'

If you give him some choice, and don't comment on what he doesn't eat - but praise what he does (yep that old chestnut!) it may possibly help a bit.

Guard · 15/09/2005 12:50

Have this same problem - drives me mad DD1 is just 3 and would live on sausages, crisps and chocolate - hmm. To get her to try things (which I know she likes) varies - soemtimes if it really is something new I might actually put sausage in it (eg Spanish omelette) in little pieces but more often than not she gets the same as her younger sister and if she doesn't want to try it then that's it. Usually after complaining and sitting there for a while she has a go and realises she is hungry and eats - she doesn't have to eat it all to get pudding but has to do more than half and have a go at veg etc). We do occasionally have times though where she has nothing which is really hard. Sometimes then I'll let have have a banana or something before bed but not always . Think it is important that they are hungry for meals tho' behaviour is worse when she has had late afternoon snacks (like a biscuit in the car...)

starlover · 15/09/2005 12:51

well how about not buying pizza. if he doesn't have the option then he can't live off of it

oliveoil · 15/09/2005 12:53

I give brocolli alllllll the time and 9 times out of 10 it is left, but I then count it as one of my 5 a Day target!

Keep trying!

dd1 would live on cheese sandwiches if allowed so I give her them, but they are surrounded by other things (pepper/broc/carrots blah blah) and occasionally something else will slip in.

I have started a Tasting Corner on her plate, and if she trys something new, she gets a marshmallow (I know, bad bribe) but it does work. She can't say she doesn't like something if not tried. Yesterday's success was Savoy cabbage .

But it is my pet hate feeding times, detest them.

Original poster

JackDsMum · 15/09/2005 12:56

agree starlover. I buy pizza once or twice a week because I know he likes it, will eat it and will not go hungry. But no pizza? Not sure I am happy to let him go hungry for too long!

OP posts:

unicorn · 15/09/2005 13:00

all these 'professionals' go on about making food 'fun'... (smiley faces on plates etc)

If you can be bothered to play with different textures etc.. it may be another option to get him interested in different foods.

triceratops · 15/09/2005 13:02

I ask ds to lick new foods. It appeals to his basicly gross nature. although he would rather lick a snail than the lettuce it is sitting on.

He is four now and is getting noticably better at eating veg if it is mixed in with his food. He used to devote hours to picking it all out.

Ulysees · 15/09/2005 13:06

What about getting one of those pizza mixes (29p?) from Asda or wherever and putting some different toppings out then letting him decorate his own pizza? You then make a huge fuss over how clever he is - I've even gone totally OTT and rung people so ds1/2 could tell them and then see if he eats it? If not you can try again some other time or get him to make something else. DS2 didn't like fruit until I got him to help me make a fruit salad. He's now 5 and 'tries' a lot of things, his latest being a pin head of broccoli lol.

KBear · 15/09/2005 13:22

What DS (almost 4) is falling for at the moment is me saying

"if I put this piece of carrot in your mouth, you tell me if you can taste it"

he always says either he can't taste it or its yummy.

Tried it will brocolli at Sunday dinner - I nearly fainted when he ate it. Four years, FOUR YEARS I've been trying. He won't try stuff that's his problem.

Lucycat · 15/09/2005 13:24

lol at the snail triceratops! dd2 was trying to eat a caterpillar the other day, when asked why, she said it looked tasty!

Doesn't say much for my cooking does it?

unicorn · 15/09/2005 13:25

Thomcat (I think) had a good one..
OTT negatives.
ie 'whatever you do don't eat that broccoli, you just mustn't, oh no he's eating it!!! etc, etc.. thereby makeing it into a huge joke.

Mum2girls · 15/09/2005 13:27

put something diff on his pizza?

Cloe2Jay · 15/09/2005 13:36

I have got a 3 year old who is allergic to diary and last nite he made his own pizza (with my help) with some ham, mushrooms and "dip-dip" on a plain base and he loved it.

dot1 · 15/09/2005 13:44

Oliveoil - the tasting corner is a brilliant idea!!! We've got this problem with ds1 aswell - just won't eat anything other than his standard fishfingers and beans, and lentil sauce (but pureed so there are no 'bits'!) and rice... Very wearing, especially for poor old dp, who usually cooks and tries her best to get a balanced diet down the little tike.

I think we'll start a tasting plate with tiny bits of other food, and offer bribes for each thing tasted!

bakedpotato · 15/09/2005 13:53

DH has the energy for a thieving ritual with DD. Along Thomcat's line.
'I'm just leaving those cherry tomatoes there for me to eat later... soooo looking forward to eating them... Oh no! Who stole them? The cat next door? I'll have to tell it off/ring the police/tcomplain to the neighbours' etc. Exhausting, probably giving off all the wrong sort of signals, but apparently hilarious and it works.

Me, if DD actually tries something and doesn't like it, I say that's fine and bin it, which I suppose is an inducement to try it in the first place.

bambi06 · 15/09/2005 13:57

apperntly according to GOSH feeding programme children need to see/ lick a food about 12 times before trasting it , its a familiarity thing..plus we were told recently to not offer new foods to try at mealtimes themselves as it causes more pressure strain on everyone and mealtimes become known as a battle zone. but for example offer a grape tolick at a completley separate time to mealtimes or say o.k it s 10 oclock..tasting time etc , they are supposed !! to accept it away from the table more readily..it a slow process but sometimes suprises happen

tufty · 15/09/2005 13:58

sometimes its good to be really bored by it all produce the food you want himn to eat and don't make a scene and if he doesn't eat any of it don't panic... bananas and pizza is pretty healthy actually and he won't stay like it forever.Try not to use food as rewards a sit heightens its value for him..
good luck

colditz · 15/09/2005 14:02

Waht about letting him taste some of the new stuff before you sit down to a meal? he won't feel he has despoiled his pure pizza then

I hand bits of veg to my ds straight out of the kitchen and let him run about with them before dinner. Sometimes he will lick them.

KBear · 15/09/2005 17:04

colditz - I agree - my DS would eat roast chicken "stolen" as I carved it in the kitchen but not from a plate. Don't they drive you mad?

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