Introduction

Effective Strategies to Help Your Child Overcome Fussy Eating Habits

Fussy eating can feel like an uphill battle, but it’s not just about stubbornness—it’s often more complex than that. If you’ve been struggling to get your child to explore new foods, this blog post is here to help. We’ll explore practical strategies to gently guide them from fussy eating to becoming more adventurous at mealtimes. Along the way, we’ll cover some do’s and don’ts and help you find approaches that work within your family’s unique circumstances and limitations.

Strategies to reduce Fussy Eating Varies for Different Ages and Stages

There are different strategies to help different ages of fussy eaters. Some ages are easier to help than others, but all ages can improve. The strategy needed will also vary a bit from child to child. I just wanted to remind you that it will most likely not be a quick fix. It will take time and perseverance. During this process, some children will need additional nutritional supplemental support. This will increase their dietary intake while they are still learning to accept more food or more variety of foods. You will need to discuss this with your dietitian and paediatrician.

For babies and toddlers keep it fun and use a lot of food play. Try to keep clean up fun as well. For this age group you want to make sure that no aspect of the experience is negative, even the wiping of the face and hands. Find a fun way to do this.

For the young child, focus more on pretend, such as let’s pretend the apple slice is a car and drive it up your arm.

For the older fussy eating children and teens, you can move on to the food scientist or food explorer mindset. This involves switching from a judging mindset to an exploring and experimenting mindset. For example, a judge mindset says one food is good and another is bad. An explorer or scientist examines the aspects of the food. We would examine how it looks, smells, feels, sounds and tastes when they are ready.

All of these methods are low pressure to eat.

This is a very brief summary of some of the ways that are recommended to help each age group to work through fussy eating challenges.

Creating a Positive Mealtime Environment

Avoiding pressure and bribery

Pressure and bribery both can increase anxiety around food. It is a huge temptation for parents to use these methods. I remember using bribery and pressure when my children were young before I knew better. I used to notice they would sleep better on a full tummy. So as an exhausted mother who didn’t want to keep getting up each night to feed the baby and toddler, I would pressure and bribe them to eat more food at dinner time.

Despite it being instinctual to apply pressure, it can be counterproductive. Pressure can increase anxiety for the child and the parent. Which then reduces appetite.

Bribery is also counterproductive. It sends the wrong message about food. It creates an attitude around food that says one food is good and the other is not.

Everyone is going to have their favourite food preferences. What we want to do is expand those preferences by not highlighting one food being better than another. Using bribery can create a desire for the “treat” foods. It also indicates that there must be something wrong with the food you are trying to get them to eat.

Bribing Kids by giving chocolate doesn't improve fussy eating.

Bribing kids doesn’t improve fussy eating.

The importance of family mealtime routines

Having a family mealtime routine helps to reduce anxiety in children by making clear boundaries for what to expect. It can also help regulate their appetite so that hunger starts to kick in at the usual meal time. Grazing and snacking constantly suppresses these hunger signals which can disrupt appetite and lead to children not recognising hunger. When a child is hungry they are more likely to explore new foods. You don’t want them to get too hungry though, as we also know that anxiety increases with hunger.

Creating a mealtime routine doesn’t have to be complicated. You can use cues to let them know when to expect a meal. It could be a timer, or the end of an activity that will signal time for food. A good rule of thumb for when to offer food is around 2 to 3 hours after the previous meal. If your child has been a snacker, this can get a bit tricky. You may need to start the routine at their first big meal of the day and stretch them to wait for a few hours before they are offered more food.

To help the “snackers”, you could try the “kitchen is closed” statement and let them know when it will be open again. When the kitchen is closed, snacks and meals are not available. It may take a little while for them to get used to the new routine, but they will with persistence and perseverance. You may feel like a mean parent, but it can be a very loving act to say no at times. Try some distractions to get their mind off snacks if they are having a hard time accepting it.

Blowing bubbles is a fun distraction and can help calm anxiety.

Introducing New Foods Effectively

Exposure over time: the power of repetition

In an ideal world, we are aiming to be able to sit down with your children and eat a family meal together, without having to make something different for the fussy child. For this to happen they will need to be regularly exposed to foods until those foods become familiar. This is not about forcing them to try the food, but starting to first, accept the food on the table, then closer to their plate and then, on their plate. Once the food is on their plate, they can explore the food without pressure to eat. Exposure to different foods creates a sense of safety as those foods become more familiar to them. So the key is to keep on exposing them to a variety of foods, regardless of them eating it or not.

Fun with food or a food explorer?

For the younger children, keeping a “food is fun” attitude can really help with food acceptance. This encourages the child to play with food. It might end up in their mouth in the process, but again, it is part of exposing them to the foods until they become very familiar.

For the older children and teens, consider using an explorer mindset. This is a low pressure method that encourages exploration without the pressure to eat. We are just exploring food and along the way they may find new things that they enjoy.

Another method that I have found to be helpful is to get the older child involved in the cooking. Encourage them to do some taste testing to see what they would do to improve the flavour of a dish. You do want to give some guidance here as to what might make it taste better, but ultimately allow them to have a say.

Food play

Mixing familiar and unfamiliar foods – Slow transitions

You may have a child who is very particular and will only accept one type of a food product, like one brand of nuggets. In these situations the change process may need to be slow. You could start with changing the shape of the food slightly. It might be just a corner that you cut off. As they begin to accept the new shape, you can add a different brand as well as the familiar brand. Talk them through the differences, if they are at an age to do so. Ask them to describe the familiar food and the new food. Why is it different? Is it a good difference?

This can be a slow process, but as you continue to make small changes you can encourage the child that they are becoming great food explorers.

Changing the shape slightly can help children to accept differences if it is done gradually.

Make Mealtimes Fun and Engaging to help reduce Fussy Eating

Creative plating

Most kids love a bit of fun. So use your mealtime as a fun and enjoyable part of their day, so that everyone looks forward to it. One way to do this is to have theme nights. It might be an “under the sea” theme where the food is from the ocean, the decorations are blue, you use blue napkins, a puppet fish or other soft-toy to join in the fun. The idea is not to make the child eat the food initially, but to help them engage with it in a way that is fun. It also gives them something to look forward to. Getting them to be involved in the preparation will help them invest in the meal. They might like to colour in some paper plates or make fish cut outs or help with the food prep. They could also choose “who” out of their toys will join in the fun. We used to have a blue puppet Toucan who “talked” to the kids and they would have some fun chats. “Tookey” used to also demonstrate eating all sorts of things. 😉 I also did a half birthday for one of my children at 6 months old (more for me actually), a “Cast Off” party – when one of my children had their cast taken off after a broken bone incident, and the “build your own pizza” nights were a regular. I wish now I had taken some photos 😫 .

For older children and teens, some of these themes might be a bit un-cool. You can still focus on themes like Taco night or pizza night. Get them involved in setting the table according to the theme. You can use lighting and music to set the mood. Have some questions planned to make the conversation interesting for them. A great place to find some mealtime conversation starters is this website: https://thefamilydinnerproject.org/conversation/. It will give you creative ideas other families have done as well as conversation starters.

Theme your meal on occasion to increase the fun factor.

Role Modelling

Children learn a lot about food and what is safe to eat by watching those they trust. Even though it may be more pleasant to eat separately, it is more beneficial for the children to eat with you. One of the most promoted ways of dealing with fussy eating as a first step is to have a buffet style meal. This is where all the food that is on offer for the meal goes on the table and everyone helps themselves. You can do this with a lot of different meals. Instead of putting the food directly on the plates, put the food in the middle of the table and everyone gets to choose what and how much goes on their plate. Younger children will need some help. This method is a soft way to take foods from unfamiliar to familiar. They may not try all the things you put on the table, but exposure is one of the first and most important steps. As they watch the other family members eat they will be noticing their reactions and hopefully enjoyment of the food. This helps with a sense of safety and can help reduce fussy eating over time.

Model eating different food

I know I haven’t talked about sensory issues yet. I was going to but it deserves a post of its own. So stay posted 🤭 .

Final Thoughts

Fussy eating can cause a lot of stress in the family. Your child may never be an adventurous eater but they can grow and develop in their food variety. Helping a fussy eater move beyond their safe foods takes time, patience, and understanding. While it can be challenging, remember that small, consistent steps can lead to meaningful progress. Focus on creating a positive mealtime environment, respecting your child’s needs, and celebrating even small victories. Every family’s journey will look different; be kind to yourself and your family and work within your limitations. By fostering curiosity and making food exploration enjoyable, you can empower your child to build a healthier relationship with food over time.

If you have tried these ideas and you feel you still need support with fussy eating behaviours, get in touch and we can work together on a plan.

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