How to introduce New food??

[mummc2]

Hi my DD2 age 3 eats well but her diet is fairly limited and have been trying to introduce new foods into her diet but she wont put things anywhere near her mouth. She just cries and cries. I dont make a fuss will just try and offer her something off my plate and she says no everytime so i say please try it and if you dont like it you can spit it out thinking when its in there she might like it and she wont try it.

Her main things in her diet meal wise is some sort of sunday dinner so sausage mash y puddings gravy, fish in all forms chicken and nuggets, chips and waffles, peanut butter, cereals, toast and crumpets.

Shes picky with sandwiches, veg is carrots only, fruit is apple and maybe a couple of bites of banana, sometimes will eat pasta but mainly its a no-no.

I might seem fussy that she doesnt eat more i dont know its just my DD1 age 6 eats pretty much everything and will try everything. Her favorite treat is pizza but when we want to go we have to feed DD2 first as she wont eat anything in pizza hut.

Any ideas to get her to try new things?????

Make sure that the only thing she drinks at table is water. Most foods, bar the stuff you mentioned, tastes revolting after a mouthful of fruit juice because it is so sweet in comparison.

Make sure she is hungry when she sits down to eat. Everything tastes better when you are hungry, so introduce new foods when she is good and hungry (after a play in the park for instance).

Don't offer alternatives, or let her snack after meals and don't suggest things from your plate. Serve her a small portion on her plate, so it is there from the start.

Looking at your list, it seems to be a textural issue - she likes crunchy stuff and salty foods.

If she likes peanut butter, she will probably like hummus. You could also push the boat out with sate - marinate the meat (chicken or pork) in some soy sauce and garlic. Sate sauce is basically peanut butter, garlic and soy sauce. I am sure you can find a recipe online.

Bubble and squeak might also work for her and crunchy vegetables, like baby corn.

Fruit always seems to go down better if it is cut up and left on a plate whilst watching TV - segments of satsumas, bits of apple and anything else in season, especially if there are a few kids around who will happily tuck in and show her it is OK. A whole apple, banana or plum can be a bit daunting.

I insisted my kids taste everything, but never forced them to eat more than a taste. That seemed to work.

Good luck.

Going straight for a taste would be too confrontational for my DC's. So I start with having something new on the plate along with a meal they would normally eat - and not complaining/shouting/getting annoyed. Next is me asking "have you smelt it?" And it really is a question not a request. Next is touching it. After they have smelt it and touched it, we go on to tasting. And that is also a question, maybe a suggestion but not a request.

With my DD (almost 2), all that might happen in one meal. DS (3 1/2) might take a month to get there. Insisting he tasted something on day one would be very frightening for him.

I do also have a plate of cut up fruit at dinner. It might be fruit I know they like or something new. It is just on the table for them to take when and if they want. DD will usually give it a go. So far (this is new since Christmas) DS has only looked at it, but I fully believe he'll try it soon.

I don't have experience with this but have you thought about her helping you to make the food? Obviously in a safe way, but maybe if she was being all grown up and cooking her dinner with mummy she might be more inclined to try the food? Hope you work it out

Agree with both camdancer and sunndydays. We've just been through a dreadful period of eating with DS1 (now 3.4), but things are beginning to get better. We've done several things: 1. Offered new foods alongside familiar (less pressure to eat/taste). 2. Got him interested in cooking (downside is that he now wants to help make every meal, which can be frustrating ). 3. Started having 'family tea' at least once a week; he's more likely to try things when we're all eating together than if it's all about him. 4.Let him choose things in the supermarket, even if they're not that convenient/cheap/healthy. Eg yesterday we were shopping and he said 'Can we get a mango, I love mango?' (to my knowledge he's never eaten it before). My instinct was to say 'not today', but I stopped myself and said yes. He's also allowed to choose which cereal he wants etc. 5. He reads quite well, so I'm going to start giving him his own shopping list when we go to the supermarket (he always wants to look at mine), and put some new/unpopular things on it as well as things he likes.

All these things have helped, and we've definitely turned a corner. Yesterday we had tacos for lunch, and his instinct was to say 'I don't like tacos', but with a bit of gentle persuasion (and me saying 'they're a bit like crisps' ) he did try them, and loved them. He then got lots and lots of praise. He's also started eating potato, which he previously wouldn't touch.

FWIW we saw a child nutritionist recently (DS also has other issues with food, to do with sensitive gag reflex), and she said it's all about putting NO pressure on them. Offer the meal, don't comment on what's eaten, give (healthy) pudding even if they haven't eaten their main course. Don't hover and nag. It's terribly hard to do, but it's certainly working for us.

I also think nursery has helped a lot. DS started in June and he has his snack and cooked lunch there, and he'll definitely try more things when he's there than at home. Does your DD go to nursery?

Finally, I really do think these things are often about other issues as well as food. DS has had a really tricky few months - new baby in the summer, swiftly followed by toilet training, and a succession of bugs through November and December - and his behaviour generally has been quite difficult. I think he decided food was going to be one of the battlegrounds. The improvement in his eating has definitely coincided with an improvement in his behaviour more generally.

I am no expert in this issue but DS started eating better variety when he started school and was exposed to school dinners! He really wanted to be like the grown up kids, so he slowly started to ask for and eat (I can see he doens't like it very much but he does eat) tuna and pasta, two things he has always hated. And other stuff like cabbage!

I think that 3 years old is very tricky and a bit later - at 4 and 5 years old - they start eating more variety of taste and texture. I am for giving new stuff alongside things that they like. I started giving him plain spaghetti with a bit of cheese as a side to fish fingers and he ate the lot. Second time, I gave him spag with chopped tomatoes and cheese. He loved it.

I hate confrontation over food, proably because I had so many with my parents when I was growing up!

Thanks everyone for your responses sorry it took me so long to get back on internet hasnt been working.

My DD has just started nursery but not for dinners unfortunately. WE sit down at the table for all our meals although her dad only at w/ends as he works late. she wont let me put something new on her plate but will try putting it in the middle of table see if she gets interested. I think it may just be her age. I try not to put any pressure on her but i suppose we all say that!!

Theres no changes babys, house move or anything going on in her life and it has just gradually got more of an issue not suddenly so maybe just keep trying gently see if she comes round. Think she has got slightly more clingy though recently maybe due to nursery so hopefully when her confidence on her own improves she feel strong enough to try new foods off her own back.