What if my kid did not like the meals?

Fearing the first bite of an unfamiliar food, along with picky eating, are common behaviors that occur during this phase of childhood development. It’s totally normal for babies, toddlers, and even kids to show reluctance when they’re introduced to new meals. That being said, it’s important for parents to stay patient and not give up when your child rejects a new food for the first time, especially because the foods they’re exposed to now will help establish healthy eating habits and develop their palate for life. Below we’ve included questions for identifying what might be inhibiting your kid’s eating and solutions for getting mealtime back on track. We’ve divided the questions into Finger Foods and Kids Meals to make the answers more tailored to your child’s age!

FINGER FOODS

• Is the portion too much?
  • Depending on your child’s age and appetite, it might make sense to start by serving ⅓ or ½ of the jar for a single meal. This can help by making the meal more approachable, and it also allows you to give your little one multiple chances to try the meal! (Once the seal has been opened, you can refrigerate the rest for 24 hours in the original container or save the rest in a separate container and freeze for up to 3 months.)
• Are they ready for bite-sized pieces of solid food?
  • If your little one has only tried purees, or whole pieces of food as part of baby-led weaning, Finger Foods will be a big step! Here are tips you can use to modify Finger Foods to meet your baby’s stage of readiness: 
    • Partial Mashing: Add 1 Tbsp of water to the whole meal and follow heating instructions. Set aside about a third of the meal. Mash the remaining ⅔ with the back of a fork. Stir the set-aside Finger Foods into the mashed mixture so that the meal resembles a textured puree. Serve this mash directly on the tray so the baby has to pick up the food, or feed in a similar manner to a puree so they can adjust to the texture. Once a baby realizes how fun it is to self-feed, they’ll start to do it themselves!
    • Modeling: It can help your little one if they have an example right in front of them! Try splitting the meal, serving half to your baby while you eat the other portion yourself at the same time. 
    • Slow Integration: You don’t have to jump into Finger Foods immediately! Treat them as an occasional thing to practice instead of as your main mealtime component. Freeze some Finger Foods (up to 3 months if you freeze on or before the enjoy by date), and come back to them later as your little one gets more used to self-feeding.
• Have you tried serving the food more than once?
  • If your child has only been exposed to a food once, then you can’t truly judge whether they like it or not! Little ones often need repeat exposure so they have the opportunity to learn to like certain foods.    So keep serving the meals you want your child to eat, and don't be afraid to serve the same meal for lunch or dinner, a few times a week. This is how an unfamiliar meal goes from being new and scary to comfortable and familiar.
• Have you tried serving the meal with familiar food?
  • When there’s nothing recognizable on the plate, it may cause some anxiety for your little one. Try serving familiar food (like fruit) alongside a new meal to provide some much needed comfort and reassurance as they get used to the new meal.
• Have you tried ordering meals that are most similar to the ones you already make at home?  
  • Variety is a beautiful thing, but not always realistic immediately. The magic of Nurture Life is that we do the cooking so you don’t have to. If you know your child likes a dish you make at home that's already on our menu, order it! Then over time you can introduce more variety. You can also set up your Always Adds in your account so that you get the same meals each week. To see how to make these changes, check out our tutorial.

KIDS MEALS

• Is your child distracted during mealtime?
  • Sometimes a child’s lack of eating has more to do with their surroundings than the actual food in front of them. Consider examining your mealtime environment and looking for areas of opportunity to get your little one more focused on the food. What behavior are you modeling during mealtime? Even if you’re cooking while they're eating, let them watch you in the kitchen. Turn off screens (especially parent screens), put away toys, and talk about the foods on their plate as they explore their meal.
• Are you giving other options?
  • When your child knows that you will serve them something else when they don’t like the option in front of them, they are more likely to refuse the food and ask for a different meal. To prevent this, we like to follow the concept of division of responsibility—you’re in charge of what is served, they are in charge of how much of and whether or not they eat. Once the meal is served, you’ve done your job! Now it’s up to them to decide whether they eat it or not. For children that are used to being given another option on demand, this will definitely be a big change, and one that they might not be happy about at first .In the long run, know that you are helping them establish healthy eating habits, and giving them the understanding that food doesn’t just appear—it takes time, effort, and resources to prepare, so making something else is not an option.
• Have you tried serving the meal with familiar food?
  • When there’s nothing recognizable on the plate, it may cause some anxiety for your little one. Try serving familiar food (like fruit) alongside a new meal to provide some much needed comfort and reassurance as they get used to the new meal.
• Are they used to having the same type of food all the time?
  • If your child always has the same few things, making a shift to something new can be hard! Children often crave familiarity, so even a new mac & cheese can be a big adjustment if they’re used to a certain type. The best way to overcome this is by making the unfamiliar, familiar! Try ordering two of each meal so that you have multiple opportunities within a week to serve that meal. Also consider dividing a meal into portions and serving a bit at a time (alongside a familiar food) so they have an opportunity to taste test. No matter what option you choose, just remember that staying optimistic through rejections is part of teaching your little one to be a healthy eater. Most children aren’t predisposed to immediately enjoy the flavor of veggies or jump into an unfamiliar dish. It takes time, practice, and patience, just like any other skill they are learning! Eventually with enough repeat exposures, your little one will find the meal just as comfortable and familiar as their old favorites.

Disclaimer: The content, information, opinions, and suggestions offered on this website have been created with typically developing babies and children in mind. The information here is generalized for a broad audience. Your child is an individual and may have needs or considerations beyond generally accepted practices. If your child has underlying medical or developmental differences, we strongly recommend and encourage you to discuss their feeding plan and when and how to start solids and finger foods with your child’s Health Care Providers.