Stop Picky Eating at the Source!

Two weeks ago I was out shopping with my son. He isn't one of those die-hard picky eaters, but (like most toddlers) he's definitely zeroed in on the chicken nuggets and hot dogs as his favorite foods. So last week when he picked up a box of Sponge Bob shaped mac & cheese and begged me for it, my first reaction was to tell him no. Why? Because I've never seen him touch macaroni any of the times I've made it, and I didn't feel like buying food that he wasn't going to eat.

He persisted in asking me about it for another three or four aisles worth of grocery shopping, and he was being good, so before we went to check-out I grabbed it for him. When we got home I unloaded and put away the groceries and started getting ready to make lunch. Before I could decide what to make, 'Bubby' was in the kitchen with me, begging for his macaroni again. I thought he only wanted it because he didn't really know what it was. On the box, he could only see that it was Sponge Bob, and that's where the real appeal was for him. I figured that after I had it made it and he saw it, he wouldn't eat it... but I made it anyways.

I'm so very glad that I did. He stayed in the kitchen with me the whole time I made it, even asking if he could look in the pot while the pasta boiled. As soon as it had cooled enough for him to eat, he devoured it. And he ate the veggies I had made alongside it. I couldn't believe how well he had eaten! I wondered if the cause was the excitement and involvement he'd had about what he would eat. That's when I decided to experiment with it.

So I made him three meals one week and three identical meals the next week. The first meal was pasta with a butter sauce, salad and a slice of bread. The second meal was oatmeal, an egg, and three smokey links. The third meal was a chicken salad sandwich, a potato, and green beans. The only difference in the meals was that the first week, he had nothing to do with the food. He didn't come to the grocery with me, he didn't come into the kitchen while I was making the food, and he didn't help out. The second week, he went to the grocery with me, picked out foods that he wanted to try and put them in the cart, and helped in the kitchen with whatever he could. Here were the results from two exactly identical meals:

                      Week One                                                Week Two
1rst Meal:  Ate the bread                      1rst Meal:  Ate half the pasta, all of the bread, & three bites of salad
2nd Meal:  Ate the smokey links         2nd Meal:  Ate everything!
3rd Meal:   Ate nothing                         3rd Meal:  Ate 1/2 the sandwich, 1/2 the beans, and a bite of the potato

Not only did he eat more during the week that he helped, the things he didn't eat during the first week were things that he'd never liked to eat. That means he was feeling pretty darn curious during week two, or that my theory is correct: children like to eat what they had a part in. As a matter of fact, when I sat down to eat my chicken salad sandwich next to him, I said "This is good bubby!" and he quickly replied "You welcome!" I still can't get over the fact that he ate the chicken salad - it even had chunks of onion and celery in it!

Today we went to the grocery again. I was thrilled to see that he was pointing to things that he wanted to eat, and even reminded me that we are out of his macaroni. We got some more, which means we'll be having it for dinner tonight, it has gone from being the food he won't touch to the food he wants more of. As far as food goes, I couldn't ask for a better outcome from a toddler!

Picture taken by Alicia Figueroa for Master of Mom™, Inc.