Wouldn’t it be a game-changer to be on the same page with your picky eater?
(Mission Impossible theme song playing in the background.)
The thing is, your child’s refusal to eat rarely has anything to do with your cooking or the food itself. Understanding what’s actually behind the refusal can help you move through a picky phase much faster—or, if it’s not a phase, help you figure out how to work with it more effectively.
You might be thinking: easier said than done!
Picky eaters seem to never give up.
When Picky Eating Feels Overwhelming
It’s easy to get worked up about your child not eating.
It’s also easy to become checked out and resigned about their pickiness.
But when we react this way—either stressed or disengaged—we’re unlikely to motivate our child to eat. What your picky eater doesn’t know is that you will never give up either.
Take a Breath and Regroup
Take a deep breath. Regroup.
One of the best ways to relate to your child is through cooking together. You may be surprised to see them transform from a picky eater into a little chef.
This idea is the foundation behind our upcoming app, Picky Chefs.
Have you noticed how naturally kids are drawn to food preparation and the kitchen? Why do you think that is?
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Do they want to imitate grown-ups?
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Get messy?
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Explore?
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Be close to us?
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Be silly with mom and dad?
When you allow yourself to be silly with your kids, everything shifts—and real magic happens.
Turning Food into Play
The next time you feel like you’ve hit a wall, consider involving your picky eater in meal preparation.
Give them a rolling pin and ask them to help with lunch. Let them be silly and start a rolling revolution—rolling backward and forward over foods with different textures:
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Bread is spongy
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Garlic is crunchy
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Bananas are squishy
As soon as your child realizes that you are the source of fun when it comes to food, you may experience a connection that hasn’t been there before.
And when they’re having fun and their guard is down, you might even discover what’s really behind their refusal to eat.
How Picky Chefs Supports This Approach
Picky Chefs is built around involving kids in the cooking process so food feels familiar, fun, and less intimidating. Through simple, hands-on recipes, kids explore ingredients before they’re ever asked to taste them—helping make mealtimes more positive for the whole family.
Bon appétit!