https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 03 May 2026 03:29:36 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246876 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 11:03:24 +0000 gingerbebe 2246876@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>From my nannying days, we did the "no thank you" bite. We didn't make special meals for the kids, but did try to make it so that it wasn't offensive (i.e. nothing super spicy, etc) and tried to make sure there was one thing on the menu the kid would eat, but not including dessert/fruit. So if I was making salmon and quinoa for dinner and I didn't think she would like that, then I would cook corn for the veggie, which you mention she likes. I would put a spoonful of couscous, a spoonful of corn, and a tiny piece of salmon on her plate and tell her she needs to take a bite of each before she can have more of anything. Put the big serving bowl of hot yummy corn right in front of her so she can make the decision herself. Explain she doesn't have to like it, but that she must take one bite of everything before she can have more. After she takes a bite of everything, you ask if she would like some more salmon, and if she doesn't like it, she can say "no thank you." Same with the couscous. Then offer the corn. But the point is one bite is taken and it must be swallowed. Then she can have as much corn as she wants and she can have dessert or fruit. </p> <p>If she refuses the one bite, then you just say that she may be excused but she may not have dessert/fruit and there will be no snacks later. The exception would be if she decides within a reasonable timeframe of being excused that she really is hungry and is open to the original terms of dinner. But then we'd reinforce that this is a special exception and that we will not be opening the kitchen up after dinner like this every night.</p> <p>If she woke up hungry at night, I might offer water and something small like half a banana to keep her until breakfast. And make her brush her teeth. Nothing to encourage waking up, but generally you have to be quite hungry to wake up from sleep in the middle of the night. If the kid woke up chewing their arm off because they haven't eaten in an entire day or something, I might heat up leftovers, but the same rules would apply. No thank you bite, etc. It would suck to do this at like 1am, but I'm a stickler for consistency and I'm huge on manners and I really believe the no thank you bite is important for things like eating at other people's houses and being a polite guest. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246863 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 10:43:54 +0000 mediagirl 2246863@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ksnow: in regards to refusing dinner and wanting to eat later, I make her wait until breakfast. She has a very short dinner to bedtime period, though (1.5 hours). If she had say 3 hours between dinner and bed, I may consider offering her her dinner again. But nothing else. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246862 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 10:42:32 +0000 mediagirl 2246862@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>"I'm wondering if I should just give her what I'm eating and only that and if she doesn't eat assume she will eventually?"</p> <p>This is what we do. We eat the same food for every meal. If she doesn't like it, she doesn't eat. She certainly doesn't get dessert. I will put a few pieces of fruit on her plate that we may not get but she doesn't get more unless she eats her veggies and protein. If she's hungry, she eats. If she isn't, she doesn't. If she flips out and decides she hates the meal I made, she goes to bed hungry (and my husband gives me pitiful puppy dog eyes that make me feel like the worst mom on earth). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246853 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 10:32:58 +0000 catlady 2246853@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My toddler also used to eat anything and has since become more picky. We do a few things to try to encourage better eating. We definitely try to model healthy eating, we try to only keep healthy (or at least semi-healthy) snacks around, and we limit things that we consider "junk food" (like grilled cheese or nuggets) to only when we are eating out in a restaurant. But probably the easiest thing we do is to hide veggies in tons of meals. I hated the idea of this strategy before we had LO (I wanted to her to just eat veggies willingly) but it has really worked for us. For example, tonight we are having whole wheat pasta with meat sauce, with two full bags of frozen mixed veggies that we pulverized in the food processor and threw into the meat sauce. LO loves this. We also semi-hide veggies in things like chili, stew, and casseroles and she will usually eat them that way (covered in sauce). Plus she will almost always drink a bunch of our green shakes in the mornings, which taste like fruit but are full of spinach. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246842 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 10:14:33 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2246842@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My nephew won't eat any meat no matter what. It sound like you have great options, I'd just keep serving it (on her plate) keep the pressure off and cross your fingers? Kids are tough! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246710 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 08:24:00 +0000 Rockies11 2246710@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we eat family style, and she helps with prep. She doesn't eat a lot and rarely eats meat. We keep healthy snacks on hand and give them to her whenever she asks, unless it's really close to a meal. She seems to be more of a grazer than a meal eater. I figure that if we just keep consistent, she will eventually eat a bit more and a bit more variety as well. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246661 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 07:33:08 +0000 Eminthevalley 2246661@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I totally feel your pain. Let me say this--I have twins who are 2.5. One eats everything and the other sounds just like your LO. So I've become fairly convinced that no matter what we do, sometimes a kid will just be picky! But here is what we are doing lately to stress less. They get what we eat. Period. Dinner is always followed by fruit at the end, which he will eat every time. If all he eats is fruit, he still seems to do fine. If I know we are eating a "challenging" food (the other night BBQ pork shoulder...neither liked it, I think the consistency kind of freaked them out), then I might make scrambled eggs or offer cottage cheese. I do like the info on Ellyn Satter's approach: <a href="http://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/</a><br /> But I'm also here to tell you that, like I said, we offer a variety of healthy foods, eat family meals together, have them help us in the kitchen, yadda yadda yadda, and still I have one voracious eater and one totally picky eater--drives me nuts!!! And my picky one will often refuse foods he's eaten before, so even putting one thing on the plate I know he'll eat is not a great strategy. I just figure if he sleeps through the night he's apparently eaten enough. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246650 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 06:44:38 +0000 looch 2246650@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ksnow: I have a 4.5 year old son. He was a model eater until about 2 years of age, then he slowly began to refuse things that he'd eaten with gusto. I could never pinpoint what caused the change, as it was happening it was so gradual I wasn't worried...everyone told me that it was a phase and he'd get over it....that I should try involving him in the cooking process, that I should take him to the store and let him pick out vegetables, that I should just put whatever I wanted on the plate for meals and eventually he'd eat. Our pediatrician at the time told me not to feed him for three days, that it was all in my head and he'd eat eventually.</p> <p>None of that worked, and none of it works today. I learned that my son wasn't chewing, he was mashing and swallowing. So, without correcting that, no amount of the other strategies was going to do anything. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246645 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 06:31:26 +0000 hilsy85 2246645@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ksnow: I would take the list of foods she eats and try to branch them out. So she eats mac and cheese--I would try "green" mac and cheese, basically with pureed broccoli and spinach mixed into the sauce. My LO loves it. She likes hummus--so try white bean hummus, or edamame hummus. She likes pancakes--make sweet potato pancakes. </p> <p>If my LO finishes the one thing he likes on his plate and wants more, I tell him he needs to have at least 1-3 bites of something else before he can have more of his favored item. Sometimes he will (in which case I know he's hungry) and sometimes he won't (in which case I know he's not). Generally speaking as long as a kid doesn't have any oral motor thing going on, a healthy kid will not starve themselves. It's definitely hard, but letting going of the idea that I have to make him eat has decreased my stress by a lot! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246643 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 06:26:17 +0000 ksnow 2246643@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What do you guys do if they refuse dinner and then sometime later that night say they're hungry? Milk? Bring dinner leftovers out? Tell them to wait till breakfast? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246642 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 06:25:35 +0000 ksnow 2246642@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@honeybear: Thanks! I have tried cutting her after nap snack...I think i'll stick with that.</p> <p>And I tried meal prep involvement - no luck there. So I tried a garden too thinking surely if she helped grow the tomato/pepper/cucumber she will taste it. She loved gardening. Still wouldn't take a bite. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246641 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 06:22:37 +0000 ksnow 2246641@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blackbird: Thanks I will check out that book. And your approach sounds like what I'm thinking of doing - but been a little scared to make the leap. In my head I know if she skips enough meals she'll eventually just eat what we are - but it's hard to start off. I think I need to make the 'special' food disappear like you mentioned, otherwise she'll just hold out for lunch and eat a ton and skip dinner again. </p> <p>So do you say anything about dinner? Or just give her the plate and whatever happens happens? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246640 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 06:19:03 +0000 ksnow 2246640@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PrincessBaby: I've tried those nuggets/fries and she won't eat that either! I figured if she was going to eat "kid food" I'd find the good stuff but can't even get her to branch out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246639 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 06:16:00 +0000 ksnow 2246639@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>And her dad and I both model good eating, I think, I mean we sit at table together every night, we have a salad and a veggie pretty much every night.</p> <p>When I've tried to bring it out in courses - she just says "I don't like this" and pushes it off her placemat. She sits there since she knows she has to until dinner is over but she will not eat.one.bite.</p> <p>There is no convincing her to 'just taste something' so far. She will not do it. </p> <p>So originally I had presented above foods when I know I make something she won't like...like I don't expect her to eat a thai/sprout/mushroom stir fry...but now she asks for them every night. And she doesn't care if she doesn't get them, but she just won't eat.</p> <p>So I don't know if I just take them out of rotation completely so she'll get hungry enough to just eat what we're eating - or if that's mean. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246638 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 06:12:19 +0000 ksnow 2246638@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>"unhealthy" might be the wrong word, maybe better said as she just wants the same things over and over and I wish she was eating more variety/nutrient packed things. We don't have things in the house that I don't want her to have at all, and they are things I've offered her obviously, I just had them in mind as a sometimes food and they are now only thing she'll eat.</p> <p>She used to eat ANYTHING. And I was so pleased like yes my baby is eating her salmon/quinoa/zucchini dinner. And then it just slowly got worse until we're at today's menu. So what she will eat:</p> <p>Milk/Water<br /> Macaroni and Cheese (i buy organic types...but still it's not what i'd call healthy...and she won't eat homemade)<br /> Yogurt/Cheese<br /> Most Fruits<br /> Hummus/Pita<br /> PB &amp; Jelly (I buy Ezekiel bread and no sugar added jelly, and mix it up with almond butter - but doesn't need to be an everyday food).<br /> Pancakes (which I make with mashed banana, 1 egg, flax, vanilla...)<br /> NO VEGGIES (unless you count corn)<br /> NO MEATS</p> <p>And leading up to this, I would make sure there was at least one food she liked on her plate. Whether that meant adding something we weren't having or leaving her dinner a little more disassembled then ours - but she just eats that one thing and keeps asking for more of that without touching anything else. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246629 Mon, 27 Jul 2015 05:11:12 +0000 honeybear 2246629@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I aim to serve food in courses, although sometimes life gets busy and I do a one-pot meal or veggies as a side, so it's not exactly a "rule" here. But in general, everyone gets salad (or a vegetable) first. By age 3, I started to require LO to take at least a bite or two of the vegetable course before the next course appeared on his plate. </p> <p>Also, unless there is some really unusual circumstance (like dinner won't be for a couple of hours after it normally is), I limit snacks pretty ruthlessly after 4pm or so (we eat dinner on the later side, usually around 7/7:30). Snacks, especially carbs, tend to completely sabotage meals. If he says he's starving, I try to have something on hand like grapes, cucumbers, or tomatoes that won't destroy his appetite. </p> <p>The best success I've had with trying new things, after making sure he's hungry, is to get him involved in meal prep. It's a bit of a chore for me, but it definitely makes him eager to try things. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246541 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 22:40:41 +0000 ALV91711 2246541@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We only have "fun" foods once in a while and say it is a treat. On regular days he eats what we eat. If he takes a bite and doesn't like something we let him put it back on his plate and don't make a big deal about it. Sometimes he'll eat the same thing he spat out the next day. If he doesn't eat or only a couple bites we don't worry. Tonight at dinner he drank some milk and declared he was done. </p> <p>For snacks he gets to pick but it will be between a couple of healthy choices. He is happy he gets to choose and I know it is something healthy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246529 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 22:09:46 +0000 blackbird 2246529@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As far as books go, I read a really great book called Its Not About the Broccoli that talked about how to get your kid to eat a big variety of food and how to avoid struggling with them over it. I thought it was interesting and helpful for a variety of things, because I DO want my children to be open to trying all sorts of new foods. </p> <p>Honestly, your kid eats healthy if you do and that's what you give them. If you keep giving them nuggets, of course they will hold out for them or pick the junky things off the plate. I offer things like cheese to E at dinner sometimes and when it's all gone, I say "all gone, but you have some chicken". She often tantrums and I set her away from the table. And when she starts demanding something like hot dogs for every meal, I make them disappear for a couple of weeks. It helps to reset her. Toddlers get into ruts and I always change it up. I don't always give her safe foods. I don't make special meals. You eat it or you don't. The end. But I'm also not scared of my kid skipping a meal. It's ok if she does. And it's not a power struggle; it's there, it's her choice to eat it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246474 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 21:07:19 +0000 regberadaisy 2246474@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's hard but I'm trying not to stress about it. My 3 year old has always been a really good eater but in the last 6 months she's definitely gotten pickier. But I know she's still way less pickier than most. Our big thing is she has to eat "some" protein at dinner and I will always tell her she has to try something. Sometimes she does not want to try and I let her know if she doesn't like it she can spit it back out. Right now it's a 50/50 shot, if she likes it. *shrug*</p> <p>As for eating healthy, if you don't have it in the house then she won't eat it! She eats what we eat and we very rarely make her a second meal. But we will on occasion prepare a protein differently. For example, tonight we made grilled chicken breast and we just know she will not eat that. So I breaded chicken breast for her and baked that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246438 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 20:38:19 +0000 PrincessBaby 2246438@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My toddler is super picky also...And the things she will eat - like chicken nuggets and fries - I found healthy versions of. Earth's Best makes baked chicken nuggets that are gluten free and super healthy. I found a brand of sweet potato fries at WF that are baked, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246436 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 20:36:06 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2246436@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Modeling had worked best for me. Saying how yummy my food is. He usually refuses and I don't ever push it. Eventually he may try it. I try to keep everything as low key as possible. Also, I only give one food at a time when I really want something eaten. Ie veggies first. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246435 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 20:35:37 +0000 Anagram 2246435@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Even with things she likes, sometimes I have to let her put ketchup or hummus on it for her to eat it--and sometimes she just doesn't eat much at all, and I try to just let her body call the shots and assume she will be hungry later. And she always is!</p> <p>We've definitely had days where she kind of refused a meal and didn't really want to even eat a snack till 2-3 hours later. I offer only healthyish snacks (banana, fruit and veggie pouch, avocado, blueberries, hummus and crackers, etc), so on those days I save her meal for the next day and let her eat a snack. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246430 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 20:29:47 +0000 Anagram 2246430@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My toddler has definitely become more picky lately now that she's two, but the foods she eats aren't unhealthy--she's just a toddler and not liking to try new things much these days.</p> <p>What are the unhealthy things your LO is eating? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246423 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 20:25:24 +0000 Foodnerd81 2246423@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO is only 2, so I know it's going to get harder, but I try to follow the same as @hilsy85: - make sure there is at least one healthy thing on her plate that she likes. If she won't eat even that, I take it to mean she isn't that hungry. </p> <p>I don't make her finish anything, but I will make her try things or eat at least one bite before I'll give her seconds of something else. I respect if she doesn't like something or just isn't in the mood, but she needs to try it. That said, I'm not going to pretend this works every time! </p> <p>And yeah, I do know it's going to get worse so take my advice with a grain of salt. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246414 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 20:15:49 +0000 hilsy85 2246414@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What is she eating that's not healthy? I know my LO only gets "unhealthy" foods if I give them to him, i.e. the best way to make sure he eats healthily is to make sure that that's what I have in the house. We generally (at least for dinner and breakfast) give him what we are having, and make sure there's one item on his plate that he likes. He is very inconsistent--some meals he will eat everything, others he will only eat the carb (rice, pasta) or fruit on his plate. I really try not to stress about it because I have found that it evens out over time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-encourage-toddler-healthy-eating#post-2246399 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 20:00:51 +0000 ksnow 2246399@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Do you guys have any recommendations; books, websites, things you've tried at home, on how to get a toddler to eat better? My LO is almost three, and eats less and less variety every week. It's gotten really bad, and I'm just fed up with prepping different things/her not eating anything "healthy". We've tried a bunch of things, but I don't think we've done anything consistently enough for it to take effect. </p> <p>What do you do to get your kiddo to eat healthy/what you are eating?</p> <p>I'm wondering if I should just give her what I'm eating and only that and if she doesn't eat assume she will eventually? It'd be nice to hear this was effective for people before I took a hard line with it. Do you allow seconds of something on the plate if she wasn't finished first helpings of other things? </p>