hpw do you get fussy eaters to try something new?

[brimfull]

like gravy
or a sandwich
or cheese
aaaaargh!

he eats every veg and fruit under the sun... but will not entertain stews,sandwiches,dairy products.

Any ideas

do you have other children around? My best strategy was to invite other children for ameal, adn have a dreat came with them, serving themselves and each other, having 'who can slurp their spaghetti the loudes' etc and then serving ds1 his preferred restirceted diet with no comment and no attention. it took 3 goes bofre he wanted to join in.

sorry, that should have read 'great game' - I am typing with one hand

Give them a tiny tiny ammount of the thing they don't like and have a plateful of the stuff they do like and bribe them between mouthfuls, with lots of praise, if they wont try the stuff they dont like take it all away and say nothing. wait a minute or two (walk out the room or ignore) then go back and ask them to try it again, give it about 30mins (give or take depending on how they are doing) then end the meal if they did well reward with pudding if they didnt do well give them nothing til next mealtime. Be strict.

Today after 7 mths of my mindee never eating salad type stuff he actually ate a mouthful of tomato, lettuce and cucumber because he really wanted a yogurt.

He put each bit a tiny bit into his mouth i praised and smiled and stayed sitting at the other end of the table to give him space. I smiled while he chewed (so glad he was trying it but wary he would probably spit it out and despite his effort I would have to take the lot away and not give yogurt - because that would have rewarded the spitting) I could see he really wanted to spit it out, was waiting for me to turn my head for a second so he could spit it and hope i wouldnt notice so he still got pudding but I didnt look away, after nearly 10 minutes of him chewing the same mouthful he eventually swallowed it and got his pudding!!!!

I'm hoping eventually we will get there.

Had an hour and a half stand off with ds tonight, he wanted choclate before dinner, lots of snot and tears later, I got him to eat one piece of bread in return he gets 2 chocolate buttons, he finished a slice of bread and cheese and scored 8 buttons!

We gave a lot of praise for each bite of bread!

You will get there, Love, I promise. I had a great game with my 2 boys tonight along the lines of 'who stole Ds1?' - 'why?' 'because MY ds1 would never eat broccoli' and they wet themselves laughing and polished off the whole plate - heavily doused in mayo btw, but who gives?

bribery ok will bump up my bribery techniques but they are wearing thin tbh.

maybe will invite someone non fussy round

thanks

I dont let mine have any snacks what-so-ever if they dont eat their dinner.
It sounds harsh, but its the only with mine. DD1 actually startved herself for 3 days once because i wouldnt give in. She was determined she wasnt going to eat what i provided, and i was determined she would.

She was incredibly fussy, we basically circulated the same things that she would actually eat, which wasnt that bad, but it wasnt good either. Not at all balanced, there was some nutrition, but i wasnt happy with it.

It was even more of a problem as she got older and we might decide to stop in at a retaurant from time to time. And especially when we went on holiday one year - she had the most terrible tantrums because the food that was included was not what she was used to.

Dp couldnt bare to watch her eat, or to be faced with something unusaul was such a drama at tea time. Everybody used to end uo cross and she would end up upset.

One time she even vomited in her plate because i made her poached egg, not dippy as she is used to. It was just the thought of it not the taste.

I decided to make a change, a drastic one. It was my way or go hungry.

She is totally different now (she is 7) will taste most new things. Is still particular about some things, but then so am i a little.

Im sure this wouldnt suit everybody or every child. But it worked for me.

How old is he?

We tried a star chart with fussy DD when she was 2 and she found out that she liked tuna, chicken, all sorts of nuts and dried apricots. There may have been a few other things but even that lot made her diet a WHOLE lot more varied.

'Green Eggs and Ham' and 'I won't ever, never eat a tomato' have helped too over the years

Half the battle with kids is getting them to blasted well try something. They look at it and decide they HATE it, without a morsel passing their lips. My 2, well, especially ds1, used to eat anything you put in front of them. Then for some strange reason, they got really picky. In the beginning I used to give in and go make something else, or serve something shite because I knew they'd eat the processed crap.

However, those first "No. Horrible. Yuk" 's got me off my smug "my children eat anything" high horse, I can tell you!

Now though, I've toughened up and I make it, serve it and if they don't eat it, they go hungry.

Sometimes they don't eat it. Don't get me wrong, at times they go hungry and inside I am fighting with myself not to go make them a jam sandwich or something - it goes against everything you feel as a mother to stand back and not provide food.

But I don't make a big deal out of it either, I don't get cross with them about it. At the end of the day, they have to deal with the empty belly!

I am also quite happy to bribe them - like they get a star for trying a new meal (enough stars on their chart means a new toy!) and I praise them like mad when they do eat their dinner.

Like tonight, I made a baked bean pie thingie. Sounds like something a child would wolf down, right? Ha. Nope. It also had mushrooms, onions and celery in it. All poison as far as my kids are concerned.

So I said I'd buy a tub of nutella in this week's shopping if they ate at least half of what was on their plate.

Ds1 ate over half with no probs, but I had to hold ds2 plate and we agreed what he'd have on each forkful, which I fed to him. It took bloody ages!

at vomiting on her plate.

I have literally only got over a gagging over trying new things (and yes, it is the thought of it) because I was forced to try things I didn't want to.

As an adult, choosing MYSELF to choose new things, I don't gag any more. So I think it has got to be the choice of the child...

I sort of envisage when dd is older (if it is a problem) - giving two new things on a plate with something she knows and giving her a choice of which one does she want to try... maybe...

At the moment (dd is 19mths) I just let her play with new foods and enjoy eating it with her (licking it, smelling it, naming it, trying it, etc).

Oops that makes me sound like dd isn't a crazy picky toddler - she really is! But I have the attitude - that's her dinner. Not making anything else, what she eats, she eats and I will keep serving carrots with her roast for example even if she doesn't eat them...

(And yes, the first 'bleurgggh' threw me too!)

Thats just it mummymagic.

I used to try everyhting i could think of to get dd1 to eat. Bribery, begging, star charts, and being cross.

Since i decided to be firmer, ie offering food and is she didnt eat it then she would get nothing else and she would have to go hungry, she has to choose herself now. Either she tries it and eats it or she knows she will have to wait until the next mealtime before she is allowed anything else.

I dont get cross, it all very matter of fact. Thats the way it is and thats that. Like it or lump it.

She vomited that one time because i was soo cross and was basically forcing her to eat it. It was about then that i decided this new tact.
By allowing her to chose for herself, rather than me telling her she should eat it.

We compromise alot now. She has ketchup with everything. But at least she will now eat everything. I can go to a restaurant with her if i want and have no hassle or stress over her food. Which is lovely.

Sorrt hayChingle for not reading your post properly ... glad it all worked out for you!

Don't bother. Give him whatever bits of the meal they will eat. Other people eating any enjoying stuff around him will eventually make the miracle happen. Whatever you do, don't make an issue out of it! Just put food in front of him, if he eats it, give low key, non extravagant praise, if he doesn'tt ake it away with no comment, but don't provide anything else, except fruit, and perhaps wholemeal bread. It will change, but making it into a battle makes the change slower.

bribery works in our house too, and things have improved since I stopped nagging and adopted a no broccoli no ice cream no negotiation approach.

And I only give them one small bit of something new on their plate, so thay can eat most of their dinner without a fuss.

And I eat the same most of the time so they can see it's not poison!

thanks for all your replies

good to know he's quite normal really

think I may start a star chart for trying new tastes and promise a new toy if he succeeds .

It's so annoying because I know that he would love most of it if he actually just tasted it.

He will not take anything else for lunch except
a cucumber and red pepper sandwich ,drink and fruit.
No protein at all .

He will eat meat like chicken/beef/ham but refuses to mix into sandwich and won't take it in a tub.grrrrrrrrr

As for school dinners....I dream of the day he'll have those.

Cucmber and red pepper sandwich!! My DSs would never try that ...

I sometimes do "Oh you won't like this at all" and put the dish a long way away from ds1 and eat it enthusiastically myself. Usually after a while he would want to try some.

Sometimes I put a little bit of new things in his bowl and ask him to try some and tell him that if he doesn't like it I'll take them away. And if he does try and says he doesn't like it I do really take it away and give him lots of praise for trying. (But have to only do this with things likely to succeed!) It did take a while before he trusted me to do it though.

I know sing-he's an odd one.

Used to eat marmite sandwiches ...oh those were the days,when they eat whatever you put in front of them.

If DS is being faddy, I bribe him by reading a story but only turning over the page when he has taken another mouthful.

Don't know how long that tactic will last, but if works at the mo.

I think kids often go in phases, it's an age thing as most of the kids I know were fussy for a stage and wouldn't try anything new & gave up old favourites! I don't make a big deal of it anymore, I'm quite open with ds1 (just about to turn 4) about trying new things and how he might like it the 6th or 9th time he tries it. all I ask is that he tries it even if it's just a lick, that's enough.
But, I also had great success with 'I will not ever never eat a tomato' (Charlie and Lola) and 'Charlie's vegetables'. He started eating tomatoes again after the first and beans for the first time ever after the 2nd. I think they do really pay attention to this stuff and their peers - he always eats everything at nursery! So now I say [nursery cook] gave me this recipe!
BTW, would he have a spread on the sandwich (i.e.hummus?) for some protein? But cucumber and red pepper plus fruit is great!!

Candlelit dinner every Sunday night!

Ds2 liked roast meat but wouldn't try most veg. Aged 3 he developed an obsession with candles, so I promised we would have a candlelit dinner every week if he would promise to eat the same as us. Introduced one new vegetable each week.

I did read in the paper that you shouldn't bribe(tho I have frequently) as it makes the food they don't like even less appealing and the treat more appealing than it should be, also can give food issues later in life.[roll eyes emoticon]

But theere you have it. DD1 wouldn't eat much dinner at all wiothout the bribe of a biscuit at the end

Apparently the best way to get a child to eat something is not to make a big deal of it, dish them up what you want to give them, they eat it or they don't, don't give any extras.
It takes at least ten times (or something) for a child to see something on their plate before they are willing to try it. Once they get used to seeing it they will try it.

What do you do if they always try it but spit out any new foods with digust. DD will only eat pasta not potatoes or rice despite trying each at least 50 times!