Do you ever feel like there is so much pressure to make sure your kids eat healthy meals? I mean, I know how important a healthy diet is but let’s be realistic. Kale + Kids are NOT a match made in heaven. Of course your want to get your child to eat better, so what’s a busy mama to do?

Healthy eating is an issue that has been particularly heavy on my heart lately because Nugget was recently diagnosed with reflux. This diagnosis came after a 3 week bout of recurrent vomiting so it has not been a fun experience for any of us. Fortunately he seems to be improving with a combination of medication and diet modification. Unfortunately he can be pretty picky and his new diet has removed nearly all of his favorite foods from the menu. 🙁 Since I’ve been spending so much time researching how to help him eat these new healthier meals I thought I might share some of what I learned with you!

1. Be patient. Your child didn’t develop their unhealthy eating habits overnight, and the habits won’t be broken overnight.
2. Offer the least desirable foods first. My boys love fruits and grains while vegetables and meat are a harder sell. So I being by serving their meat and veggies first, even going so far as to delay placing fruit and grains on the table. This forces them to eat the least desirable foods when they are the hungriest.
3. Try to hide healthy foods in something your child is more likely to eat. One of our favorite swaps is to add steamed cauliflower to Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese. It’s almost impossible to detect!
4. Get your kids involved! Invite your picky eater into the kitchen to help you cook a healthy new dish. The novelty of having cooked something yourself can make it more appealing.
5. Don’t be a short order cook. Explain to your child that you are preparing a meal for the family and that is what’s for dinner. If you get in the habit of making a special meal for each child they will be unlikely to try anything new.
6. Read about food. Get books from the library and learn about where food comes from and how it’s made.
7. Respect your child’s wishes with firm boundaries. If your child chooses to be done with a meal, you can respect that but don’t let her have an unhealthy snack or desert a short time later because she’s hungry. When my boys leave the table with a full plate I often set it aside and if they come back an hour later complaining that they are hungry I offer it to them again. All too often ‘hungry’ means I want junk food more than it means actual hunger.
8. Try a tasting tray. Use an ice cube tray and fill each compartment with a small amount of healthy snacks, then leave it out near your child while he or she is playing or coloring and let them explore the foods without pressure.
9. Accept small victories. Your child might not eat the entire healthy dinner you prepare the very first time, but if she tries one or two new things that’s still a victory.
10. Remember that hunger is the best seasoning. Anything tastes better when you’re hungry and kids are no different.
11. Try to prepare a meal that includes at least one option that your child is likely to eat, one option that is new and different, and one to two options that your child may or may not enjoy.
12. Don’t discount the value of peer pressure. If your child has a friend or cousin who eats very well invite them over. Sometimes seeing a peer eat something healthy can entice a child to try it as well.
13. Get a special dish or spoon (maybe with a favorite character?) and make it the ‘try something spoon’ or ‘not-picky plate’ the important thing is to make it special. Then allow your child to use it when he wants to try something new. Turn the whole experience into something exciting and fun -and offer heaps of praise!
14. Don’t give up. There will be some nights when your child just isn’t having it, stay strong and don’t revert back to the junk food habit. In the long run this will all be worth it.
15. Try presenting food in new and fun ways. Pinterest is overflowing with creative bento boxes and more.
16. Implement a rule that “You don’t have to like everything, but you have to try everything.” even if it’s something that your child disliked in the past remind them that our tastes change and that it’s important to try things again.
17. Sometimes picky eating is less about the food and more about the attention they get. For some children even negative attention is still attention that they crave. Try to ignore bad eating and praise your child enthusiastically when she east well.
18. Be realistic. If your child hates spinach serving nothing but spinach casserole isn’t really fair, but expecting him to try the spinach casserole is very reasonable. If serving a meal your child truly hates is unavoidable try to have a healthy alternative on hand.

Try these 3 Games to Make Trying New Foods Fun

19. Blindfolded your child and let him taste a food and attempt to identify it. This also builds vocabulary as they learn words to describe different flavors and textures.

20. Go to the grocery store together and let your child pick an interesting fruit or produce then research together how to prepare and eat

21. Try a taste test! Pick something healthy like broccoli or carrot sticks and then test out different dips (ranch, hummus, BBQ sauce)

Did these tips help to get your child to eat better?

Do you have any advice of your own? Share it in the comments!