6 yo DS scared of new foods

[sparkout]

Any ideas? If a food looks a bit strange to him then he will not try it, seems scared of it. There is little logic as I see it but it seems to be poss based on colour, eg purpley or dark things. Should I push him to try or leave him be and assume he'll grow out of it? I have tried a star chart for trying new things and it had very limited success in that he'd try things slightly different, eg diff flavoured yoghurts etc but that was all. We eat together and let them choose what/how much to eat but we have made a rule that we don't talk about the food as prev he used to say how horrid things were then his little sister would copy and then not eat things. He doesn't like the rule as he seems to want to go on and on about the things he doesn't like

It might be worth disguising new foods in pureed sauces or burgers. Once he's eaten or enjoyed them a dozen times, get him to make the dinner with you, wash and chop the hated veg and add it, blend it, etc and tuck in. Don't even mention the food being in the recipe, just casually add it as one of many ingredients. Once he's happy with that, add it to other recipes.

It can take ages for them to admit a food is OK. Just the other day my DS2 asked what the orange stuff in his risotto was. I said carrot. DS1 said, 'This carrot tastes very like butternut squash' and DS2 just grinned at me. He knew I'd lied but a few months ago that would have resulted in meltdown and dinner being refused.

Many moons ago when Dr Tanya Byron was popular on TV, she said a child with food issues needs to see a new food upto 20 times before it becomes familiar to them.

I would just keep putting the foods on your plate and maybe a small amount on a side plate next to him. If he tries it great if he doesnt no problem just take it away.

*Racings" idea is a good one but if I did that with DD3 she would probably never eat the food again even if she liked it as she would feel that I had tricked her.

You know your DS best so if you think he would be ok with it then go for it.

good luck

Try different ways of getting him familiar with new foods before he is ever expected to put them in his mouth. You could get him to help buy them, prepare them and serve them to other people. her could also be encouraged to play with them.

You could also all take it in turns to describe how they smell - making your effort as funny as possible.

That will help him feel less anxious about them so eventually he may feel able to put a little in his mouth.

Just make sure you don't add to his anxiety by trying to persuade or bribe him to try them. That pressure could well be counter-productive.

Thanks. I think the tricking thing would work with his siter as she is easy going and would laugh, but he is quite a suspicious person so i somethimes have trouble convincing him that things are actually what they are so any hint of trickery with him is likely to backfire.

I had read the lots of exposures thing but did wonder how to stay casual about it when he is kicking up a stink and keeping on doing it. He eventually ate the rice and meat and left the kidney beans but was very annoyed and kept telling me next time I MUST put other beans in instead. I will try it though and take the pressure away as prev I had been trying to bribe and encourage him to try stuff as it is so annoying when you know they are most likely to like it, eg he likes all fruit yoghurts he has tried, likes blueberries but will not try blueberry yoghurt because of the colour.

The reason it annoys me I guess is because i have started to cook what he wants for all of us instead of doing what we did when he was little and tried everything. I also dread that it won't pass and he'll be a picky person forever

sparkout try not to worry about the future. Picky children very rarely turn into adults with restrictive diets.

I remember being terrified of trying new foods as a child and I still get a bit anxious if I think someone's going to embarrass me into putting something I really don't want in my mouth. I still have a perfectly normal diet because I try things when I feel the time is right.

I think what you need to work on is getting him to use socially acceptable ways to express his anxiety and dislikes rather than trying to change his eating habits. Perhaps if he was less rude about the food you would all be able to relax a bit more at mealtimes and that can only help.

Good luck.