Is your child a picky eater and you’re feeling  worried and frustrated at mealtimes? For many this can be one of the toughest challenges of parenting. Here’s Ben from our Parent Panel with his tips on how he and his wife are encouraging their young son to eat  well.

It’s the same story almost every mealtime: Isaac – our 3 year-old – sits and looks at his plate of food as if we’ve just put dog poo under his nose. The rest of us gradually clear our plates, our one year-old scoffing away as if he’s never seen food before. I turn to Isaac.

“Come on, eat your food.”

“No.” Nose still wrinkled, arms folded.

The frustrating thing is, we know it’s food he likes. The most recent occasion was when he was given a cheese and ham pasta bake. He likes pasta. He likes ham. He loves cheese. But put them all together, and he’d rather suffer in some kind of self-imposed hunger strike than take a spoonful.

Unlike those dealing with hunger strikers, we can’t force feed Isaac by running a tube down his throat, nor can we pry his jaws open with a spoon and just tip the food in. Instead, we are obliged to turn towards more creative – and legal – methods. So how can we convince our son that the food we give him isn’t revolting, even if it is me who’s cooked it?

Get him to cook it. Not all of it, obviously, and it’s pretty important that he’s at least partially supervised. I don’t think anyone would eat a dish of eggshells, flour and dribble, let alone the one child we’re trying to feed in the first place. But involving your child in the preparation of the meal – from picking the groceries off supermarket shelves, to helping you knead dough – will make them a lot more confident about what they’re eating, and therefore a lot more likely to actually eat it.

Get arty with the dish. I know your parents always told you off for playing with your food, but in getting your child to eat it actually comes in handy. Arrange fruit or veg on your kid’s plate to look like a face, a house, or something else rather amusing. No doubt Isaac will take great pleasure in eating some poor soul’s spaghetti hair.

Take him back to square one. If your son or daughter is picky about eating their fruit and veg, take them to an orchard or farm so they can see where it all comes from. If the weather’s half decent, go strawberry picking and then eat the results later on. I would refrain, however, from taking your child to an abattoir if he asks where his burger comes from.

Set up a reward chart. Go through a rewards system with your child, whereby if he or she eats fruit and veg (or anything at all, in Isaac’s case) he gets a gold star on a chart. For every five/ten/fifteen stars accrued, your child gets to choose his own treat.

A lot of these tips and tricks employ the classic ‘carrot and stick’ rewards-based system, with many parents swearing by them. Plus, if you’re particularly lucky, your child might actually eat the carrot.

 You can read more tips on how to encourage your child to be less fussy here. Contact your health visitor or GP if you are worried about how your child’s eating habits could be affecting their health.

Is your child a picky eater? We’d love to hear your experience and tips you may have, leave them in a comment below and we’ll choose one person to receive a BornFree Drinking Cup.

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