Every day I mentally calculate that each of my boys has had a sufficient intake of each food group. Aaron, my 1 year old, is a dream eater – he’ll eat any food and isn’t fussy at all. Noah – my 3 year old, is the complete opposite. There are days where he seems to survive on plain toast and air!
I have a few tricks to ensure that Noah is nourished by as broad a range of food as is possible, from foods that he DOES eat! Your child may be more open to a wider range of foods from each food group, or be even fussier than Noah (which I hope isn’t the case!) – I just hope that you can adopt at least a couple of these tricks to make feeding your little one a little less stressful.
To make the 10 Top Tips for Feeding a Fussy Eater list user friendly, I’ve broken the list down into two tips for each of the 5 food groups – carbohydrates, protein, calcium, fruit and vegetables.
1. Bread – If all they want is bread, I like to make sure that it’s as wholesome for them as possible – so only keep wholemeal or wholegrain bread on hand. If all else fails – a plain piece of wholemeal or wholegrain toast for a meal provides far more nourishment than a plain piece of white bread.
2. Pasta – Along the “plain carb” route, I’ll regularly cook an entire packet of wholemeal pasta and freeze it in child sized portions. Simply defrost and you have half a meal ready for a portion of protein and veggies to be added. Nothing like pasta with peas and cheese to satisfy even the fussiest of fuss-pots!
3. Eggs – Make a simple, deeply nutritious, and best of all – fuss-free dinner. With protein being the food group that Noah happens to be the fussiest about – he has a plain 2 egg omelette for dinner at least a couple of times a week. Experiment with a variety of egg dishes to find which your family and fuss-pots like best!
4. Chicken – This is a little sneaky, but if like me – protein is your biggest area for concern then this little trick may be just what you’re looking for! I take a portion of cooked chicken (usually from the previous night’s family roast) and puree it with one of Noah’s favourite foods. With chicken having a really mild taste it purees really well with avocado or peanut butter. I’ve pureed it with both on separate occasions, to great success. I spread it on toast as I would his normal avocado or peanut butter and he doesn’t suspect a thing!
5. Yoghurt – While plain natural yoghurt, without any flavour or preservatives is really nutritious, it can be quite bitter and plain for young palates. I like to add some pureed fruit, (I’ve been known to squeeze in a pouch of organic store bought fruit puree!) home-made jam or honey to sweeten the yoghurt. Noah loves it this way and will eat it by the bowlful!
6. Milk – Calcium is the food group I’d say he overeats more than anything. So, when he asks for glass after glass of milk I tend to water it down. I pour half a cup of milk and fill it up with water. This increases his water intake, while ensuring he doesn’t drink his weight in milk each day!
7. Fruit Kebab – Sometimes an unknown fruit or one not seen in a while will be turned down by my little fuss-pot. So, I thread it onto a skewer, along with a familiar fruit and generally this encourages him to give it a try.
8. Smoothie – If a skewer doesn’t work, then I throw the fruit into a blender, along with a yoghurt, milk and honey. A yummy smoothie is usually a sure-fire way of increasing fruit intake for the day!
9. Frozen Peas – As the weather heats up, a bowl of frozen peas – straight from the freezer, make an excellent snack. You may think it’s a little crazy, but it’s normal for me! I grew up asking my Mum for “Faw Peas” (the 3 year old me’s phrase for frozen peas) and to this day I quietly indulge in an illicit bowl of frozen peas from time to time.
10. Carrots – whole carrots are one of the few veggies that Noah will knowingly eat. I leave them unpeeled – there’s tons of nutritious goodness in the peel – and simply cut the top and bottom off. Noah has at least one carrot a day in this way, usually accompanied with a cup of (watered down) milk. 3 year olds are pretty strict with their routines – and for mine it’s carrot and milk, he can’t have one without the other!
I hope this post has inspired you to try a few new tricks with your little fuss-pot. I’d love to hear from you about any tricks that you’ve tried that have worked in broadening your little fussy eaters horizons.
