At our house, our children aged 2 and 9 months eat almost everything we prepare, I’ve been blessed with good eating children. There are times when my 2 year old is a little hesitant, but we have one rule when it comes to trying new foods the “no thank you” bite. I’m shocked by how sometimes the one bite rule works! My daughter tries it and says “mm that’s good, I like it”. When she doesn’t like it, we don’t force her to eat it. But a few weeks later I will try the meal again and see if she changes her mind, sometimes its just the day. Even with her favourite meals she might not want it that moment.

I know that my body craves certain foods at times, like a good green salad or a hearty soup, so I try to listen to what my children are saying. When it comes to snack time they are usually allowed to chose a good healthy snack (we do not have processed foods in our house). And I ask her what she would like for lunches that week and try to incorporate them. But I’m still learning. So thank you for your point of view on the subject!

http://dorothy-lifewithboys.blogspot.com/2010/02/sick-boy-not-picky.html

To say that a child whose very first bite of table food made him swell is “picky” is ridiculous. Or that a child that had to be TAUGHT to eat by a specialist–and that took until he was 30 months od–is PICKY is absurd.

I prefer the term “reluctant”. My son is a reluctant eater. He has learned that food makes him sick and thus, he isn’t willing to put new things in his mouth. We get excited when he eats a banana or takes a bite of an apple and his reluctance to try other foods just show the memory power that food can have.

Thank you–and I will be sharing this!