What should I do if my child is a picky eater?

The first thing to do with a picky eater is to take a deep breath and relax to make meal times enjoyable. The more tense you are at meals the more likely it will become a battle ground. You can control the type of food offered to your child. Your child should decide when and how much to eat. Creativity and patience with a positive attitude is a must. In most cases hunger will lead your child to eat the right foods if the child does not fill up on junk food. Ideally, offer nutrient dense foods at meals and snacks to your child such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats such as olive oil, proteins including lean meat, nuts, legumes, soy and dairy. Offer milk and soy milk between meals instead of with meals. Water should be the primary beverage. Avoid sweetened beverages, and sweets, packaged and processed foods with added saturated fat, sodium and sugar.

Children at this age are trying to do more for themselves, and like to do things their own way. This behavior can include a refusal to eat certain foods, or even refusal to eat at all. However, it is a normal part of growing up and should not alarm parents. Some suggestions are to offer one new food at a time, and make sure to give a small amount. Don't worry if the child doesn't eat it right away, the idea is to continue to introduce it at different times and eventually the child will eat it. Let her try a variety of different foods, even the ones you don't like! If the child likes one particular food and eats it all the time, understand this too is normal behavior and is known as a food jag. If it is a healthy food then let the child eat it and offer him other foods too, and after a few days, he will start to try them. Sometimes letting the child help prepare the meal will get him excited about eating it. The most important thing to remember is that children after the age of one tend to eat less because they aren't growing as fast, so don't panic and trust that young children are smart eaters. If they miss one meal they will make up for it the next meal, and in time with patience and persistence your child will be trying all kinds of new and nutritious foods.

If they are not growing well you should speak to your child's doctor.  If they are growing well but picky about food try and relax.  Making mealtimes a battle won't help either of you!

Let them help with preparing the meal which gives them a feeling of control and ownership of the meal. 

Offer them choices - but limit it to 2 choices and make them both foods you'd be happy for them to choose, such as a choice between 2 fruits.

Make sure they are not filling up on drinks or snacks before mealtimes - they need to feel hungry to have the desire to eat. 

Offer small portions then praise them when they try it - children often feel overwhelmed by a lot of food on their plate and by serving a manageable portion you are setting them up for success.

Between 1 and 5 years of age, children typically experience a slowing of weight gain. They aren’t growing as fast as they were in the first year of life. That means it’s normal for children to start eating less at around 12 to 18 months. It may seem like they are picky or have a poor appetite. Many will refuse to try new foods or suddenly reject entire food groups that they previously liked. Or your child may want the same food over and over and over…. My mom says that I would only eat food with raisins in it until I was 3 years old! Surprisingly, picky eating typically won’t lead to poor health or nutritional deficiencies.

Don’t force your child to eat! Mealtime will become the worst time of the day if you do. Sometimes the need for control rather than being picky causes the problem, so let your child be in charge of what and how much she eats by offering 2 choices of nutritious meals and snacks.

A child’s likes and dislikes may change day-to-day or month-to-month. Many children grow well by only eating foods of their favorite color, so be creative because almost every color has some healthy options.

It’s not unusual for children to have one good meal, one fair meal, and one poor meal a day--all of which can ultimately average out to a fairly decent amount. Offer healthy food and let your child eat as much (or as little) as she wants. This will help avoid unnecessary battles over food.

Studies confirm there are ways to help kids be more willing to try even their peas and broccoli and that our wrong responses may even increase our kids picky eating habits.

Here are a few parenting “don’ts” to avoid that might help you reap better results at mealtimes and what you should “do” instead.

• Don’t rush. Some kids -- especially younger ones -- take longer to eat, so make mealtime more leisurely. Let your child chew longer if needed, and give her time to eat at her own pace.
• Don’t be a short-order cook. Fixing extra, substitute meals only teaches finicky eaters that they don’t need to eat what’s on their plate. So don’t cook individual dishes. Instead provide a less-favorite food with more popular ones.
• Don’t insist on clean the plate. Coaxing kids to eat more will get you nowhere. So don’t push food, but do encourage the “One Bite Rule” (try at least one small bite but you never have to like it).
• Don’t give up! Studies show that calm, repeated exposed to a new food -- especially vegetables -- daily for 5 to 14 days is often effective to getting kids to overcome a food aversion. So don’t give up on the food if your kid puts it in the “yuk” category the first time. Instead choose one new item at a time to introduce.
• Don’t give too much. “Shrink” the food serving so it doesn’t appear so daunting: use smaller portions (even a teaspoon size) served on smaller plates.