Dealing with Cautious/Picky Eaters

by | May 3, 2023 | Educators, Parents

As educators and parents, how many times have we wanted to “throw in the towel” when it comes to feeding our little ones? Between introducing new flavours and textures and ensuring our mighty learners are getting adequate nutrition to fuel their day and support their development, meal and snack times can be a tricky part of the day. Here are some tips and facts to help make those times more enjoyable for everyone.

Picky vs. cautious

At one point or another, all caregivers struggle with a ‘picky eater.’ Let’s reframe this challenge and look at these children as ‘cautious eaters’ instead. Reframing how we view the situation helps us to see from the child’s point of view and keeps the conversation positive (aligning with the Alberta Early Learning and Care Curriculum’s (Flight) image of children).

Cautious eaters and meal planning:

When planning menus, it can be tempting to just choose “easy” foods that you know the children will like. However, having hot dogs and macaroni every day isn’t ideal (for more than one reason). It’s important to help children eat a variety of foods and ensure healthy, nutrient-dense choices, even when these can often be rejected. Just like learning other skills, we must be patient and consistent to help children learn about new and healthy food choices.

When meal planning for the cautious eaters in your care, a good piece of advice is:

It’s your “job” to prepare a well-balanced meal for the children, but it’s the children’s “job” to choose what and how much they eat.

Other tips for meal planning:

  • For cautious eaters or new children, it could be helpful to ask parents to supply some of the foods they eat at home regularly to supplement their day home meals (or even just some recipes and menu ideas)
  • When introducing new foods, it can be a good idea to offer a few “safe foods” (foods your children are usually comfortable eating) along with what you are offering
  • If possible, plant a vegetable garden. Getting the children involved with their food, learning about it, might get them more excited to try the vegetables. Here’s a link with tips on vegetable gardening with kids
  • Involve children in weekly meal planning. This gives them a sense of responsibility and importance as they are included in a huge daily routine. This is also a great one-on-one activity/experience for the child and educator
  • Involve children with minor meal prep tasks like stirring, counting ingredients, etc (with lots of supervision, of course!)
  • Use your technology and research different recipes or invest in cooking books. To involve the children, you could take a trip to the library with the and have them pick out cooking books that interest them.
  • Don’t give up – it often takes more than just 1 (or 12) exposures to get children to try something new. Keep offering the new food in different meals, different recipes, etc.
  • Make it fun! Get creative with your presentation of food to help children enjoy the experience. Try creating recognizable shapes (e.g., with mini cookie cutters) or other new or eye-catching ways to serve/present the food. Offer a (healthy) dip option to make it more fun.

More tips for feeding cautious eaters:

DOs:

  • DO keep trying! It can take up to 20x of exposure for children to try new foods
  • DO find and follow social media pages that focus on infant and toddler nutrition – a quick search can help you find resources that appeal to you and your day home
  • DO sit and enjoy meals with your children – this will model trying and eating a variety of food choices, setting a good example for your children
  • DO try incorporating picture books to into your literacy program that encourage healthy eating. Some examples:
    • Rah, Rah Radishes by April Pulley Sayre
    • Summer Supper by Rubin Pfeffer
    • Maurice the Unbeastly by Amy Dixon
    • Gregory, the Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmat
    • How Did That Get In My Lunchbox?: The Story of Food by Chris Butterworth
    • To Market, To Market by Nikki McClure
    • Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed
    • Try It! How Frieda Caplan Changed the Way We Eat by Mara Rockliff

DON’Ts:

  • DON’T stress too much if a child refuses a food product or meal. Refrain from giving them something else in between meals just so that they eat. They will likely eat better at the next meal.
  • DON’T label a child as “picky” or say things like “Fatima doesn’t like grapes” as this can limit the child from making their own choices and decisions.
  • DON’T make a big deal about trying or not trying a new food. Serve the meal like you would any other meal.

Free online training

With their Nourishing Beginnings program, Dairy Farmers of Canada’s Registered Dieticians have created online nutrition training modules ELCC educators. Within these modules, we are encouraged to shift our perspective on “picky eaters” and focus instead on different ways to help children feel supported in exploring new foods, with many tips and tricks provided. How many times should a food be offered? How do textures affect children? How do we respond, and what conversations are happening at the table? These are just a few of the questions that are tackled in the Nourishing Beginnings Training module.

Educators can sign up and take the course for free at nourishingbeginnings.ca. PLUS it is approved for Release Time Funding!

 

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