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Little Changes for Bigger Appetites
- Introducing New Foods to Fussy Toddlers -

Is giving a cat a bath easier than feeding your toddler at mealtime?

Try these 'mom-tested' techniques for broadening a fussy eater's taste for healty choices. Making some small changes can make a world of difference:

• At mealtime, set the tone by playing some relaxing music along with making sure all toys are put away to help keep distractions to a minimum.

• The color of food could can either stir an appetite or diminish it. Try replacing bland looking foods with more vibrant choices, such as apples for bananas, and broccoli for celery sticks.

• Serve a variety of foods to broaden your children's horizons, but remember when serving a new food to always include it with a familiar one. This way the children won't leave the table hungry. Later, they may even try the new food addition - that's no longer strange and unfamiliar - the next time around.

• Keep in mind child-friendly serving portions for appropriate ages. Often children feel overwhelmed when their plates are too full. A good way to measure for preschoolers is one tablespoon for each year of age. That goes for fruits, vegetables, and meats. To prevent kids from consuming a 'liquid lunch', reduce milk or juice drinks by 1/2 to 3/4 cups at mealtime.

• When serving sandwiches, a preschooler should only have 1/2 a slice to one slice of bread. It doesn't seem like a lot to an adult, but a full sandwich is too much for most small toddlers to finish.

• Make meatimes more fun by getting the kids involved in menu planning or preparing kid-friendly recipes that they can help create and serve. Pizza, homemade chicken nuggets, or mac-n-cheese are universally popular favorites.

All children have different tastes and attitudes toward food, so some of these might not work for your family. Keep experimenting, and you'll soon find mealtime may become more enjoyable for you and your picky eater!

See below for many other mealtime tips that have been suggested to help children eat healthier.

About the Author
Katrina Cramer-Diaz is a working mom with a background in education and plenty of experience in parenting. She lives in Virginia with her four children.

More kids' mealtime tips around the Web:

Children's nutrition: 10 tips for picky eaters - Mayo Clinic guide to avoiding power struggles, with tips and advice on how to make mealtime more fun.

Recipes & Cooking Tips for Kids - Get kids more involved in mealtime with three fun recipes to try preparing with toddlers with health and safety tips.

Mealtime Tools - Meal Makeover Moms with a great collection of tips to make mealtimes easier, including related recipes and family nutrtion articles.

also see in Cooking -> Budget Meals