The One Bite Rule

It can be frustrating to get a picky eater to try new foods - especially those they think they hate - like green things. Or crunchy things. Or anything that isn't a generic beige color.

Meal time dramas can escalate quickly and upset everyone in the family. We are talking about tanrums, gagging reflex and tears. A whole lot of tears.

It often seems easier to simply give in.

In the grand scheme of things, is it really that important that they eat that minuscule broccoli floret or 8 carefully counted out smattering of peas?

I know it can feel a like a tiny, irrelevant thing compared to the monstrous tantrum you face, but {Agh. I know you don't want to hear this} learning to eat your veggies is just part of growing up.

But, believe me, I do understand the temptation to quietly scrape the offending vegetable into the bin or dogs bowl (this is how our dog learned to eat peas, and bananas and tomatoes).

We have two picky eating kids in our family, so don't think I'm getting off lightly. In our family, we face the whole 'picky eater' thing head on. The 'ugly, noisy, Mom reaching for the bottle of wine' kind of picky eater thing.

I promise you this: - it is worth it! Once you've pushed through a few messy dinner times, you reach a point where:

You don't have to coyly ask the waiter to remove anything from their restaurant meal (aka "can he have the burger with no lettuce, onion, cheese, bun... um ... actually just the meat" kind of thing)
You can confidently go to dinner at the in-laws house and the kids will eat whatever Granny serves (or give it a good try anyway)
You only have to cook one version of dinner.

Having a Picky Eater in the home can make Parenting hard. Or should I say harder? Out of my four kids, I have two who are notably fussier. My eldest and youngest eat anything, whilst my middle two eye each spoonful with general disdain and suspicion.

They check every meal for the sight of a hidden veggie or threatening shade of green. Then they winge about it. Then they eat it. And I'm good with that.

I'll be happier when they stop whinging about it, but for now I will settle with the fact that they are eating their veggies.

It wasn't always like that. A few years ago, my two fussier eaters were shockingly picky. Dinner time was stressful. I made food that 'fit within their picky radar'. Which generally meant beige colored, highly processed foods that were high in sugar and low in nutrients. Veggies were more of a decor on the plate than part of the meal.

It was only when I started eating Clean (to lose my baby weight after my fourth), that I woke up to how far I'd let things slide. I'm not going to beat myself up about it, because at the time, life was busy and I think that us Moms need to be kinder to ourselves.

But once you start to notice how much sugar your kids are eating, or how they don't eat their veggies, or how fussy they are ... well, you can't unsee that it. That's when you have to face it - changes need to be made.

If your child is refusing to eat a particular vegetable regularly without even tasting it or if they are becoming increasingly picky of the food on their plate in general, then (and I'm not going to sugarcoat it) it's time to put a stop to that nonsense.

You need to take some action. The sooner the better. Like tonight. The good news is - you can fix this. You can teach your child to eat their vegetables without a lot of fuss. It just takes a little persistance and I good, solid action plan.

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THE JUST ONE BITE ACTION PLAN

Getting any child (or adult) to eat a new food always starts with Just One Bite.

Teaching your child to eat their vegetables starts with a lesson in good manners. They must at least try the food on their plate. You spent the time prepping it, they can taste it.

For the next two weeks, I want you to pick one new offending ingredient that you know your child won't eat.
Start serving it at least two to three times during the week. Try it in a few different recipes to test out new textures and flavors.
Insist that they have 'Just one bite". That's all.

Encouraging your child to try new foods regularly (this is the magic word here) builds their confidence and familiarity with the offending food.

They are no longer shocked and upset seeing a little green on their plate because there is always green on their plate .

But what if they won't take that "One Bite"? Then What?

How to Get your Child to take "Just One Bite"

You have a few options here - And not everyone will agree with how you decide to go about this - but every picky eating journey starts with the child actually taking "just one bite". You can do this in three ways:

Bad Cop Style: Examples of this are: Threaten to take away a favorite toy/activity/desert, they must sit at the table until it's done etc. (Note: this isn't the fun way and oh boy do the parenting police frown upon this option)
Good Cop Style: Reward is offered for a small effort, for example, a fun after dinner activity, dessert, praise.
Make it fun: Play a game, be silly, learn through play

Regardless of all the parenting advice offered (Google provides 17 million results for the search "How to get your child to eat vegetables"), you know your child better than anyone else.

Be prepared for a little trial and error and you may need to use a combination of all of the above to get the ball rolling, but once you have your child trying new foods without the fuss, you are most of the way there.

For some more tips on actually getting your child to take ONE BITE - I've put together a list of 22 Tricky Ways to help you get your Fussy Eater to eat their veggies - try one, try them all. Let me know what works for you.

-->> READ THIS NEXT: 22 Tips to Help your Child Eat Vegetables