Until very recently, my son was a very picky eater.  Looking back on it, he seemed to eat anything...until he was a toddler! Then the trouble started...

I hope that these tips will help you cope with your toddlers picky eating:

1. Introduce one new food at a time. Don't try to overload your toddler's palate with too many new foods at once. Present your toddler with one new vegetable for one week. He may not even try it for several days, but continue to offer it to him each time you cook it anyway. If you offer him too many new foods at once, he may feel overwhelmed and not attempt to try anything new at all. Here's a great blog about a mom introducing her son to new produce in fun ways: http://greatbigvegchallenge.blogspot.com/


2. Don't offer alternatives. It's too easy to get into the habit of cooking two or more meals. Some mothers with two or three children fix something special for each child. Cook one healthy meal for everyone in the family to enjoy. Your toddler will fight with you at first, but eventually will realize that you are not a short-order cook anymore.  Need help with creating family friendly meals? Every week,  DineWithoutWhine.com will send you  meal plans and complete grocery lists that will even please picky eaters at an very affordable price. I encourage you to check them out at http://www.solutionsforbusymoms.com/dinewithoutwhine

3. Make mealtime a family affair. Today's families are so busy; you can rarely find a day when everyone is home at the same time. It's often difficult to sit down at the dining table and eat a meal together. Challenge yourself to start eating dinner together as often as you can, even if it's just twice a week. When your toddler sees his siblings, or parents, eating their veggies and meat, they will be more likely to try whatís on their plate, too. Want to see a great little online video that will inspire you to have dinner together as a family? Check out http://www.solutionsforbusymoms.com/familydinnervideo

4. Don't make it a power struggle - What really made the biggest difference with my son, was when I gave up the power struggle. You see, he at one point, he only ate about ten foods.  For a while, I would just rotate making those 10 foods. I'd occasionally make something new,  and ask him to try it, but not pressure him.  After about 3 months of not arguing about what he chose to eat, he started trying new things. Now he often tries new foods and even loves Feta, of all things!

5. Try some visual stimulation - Wouldn't it be great to have some Baby Mozart-type videos about food? The Baby Gourmet Video Series is made just for toddlers to encourage healthy eating! My kids loved them and it really did make them want to try new kinds of fruits and vegetables.  You can find them on a special page in my amazon store by clicking here. There you'll also find The Visual Guide: How to make a healthy lunch for kids - this is a great guide for moms on how to make interesting, healthy lunches for school or camp -- but my kids loved watching it too!  

 
6. If all else fails, try sneaking healthy stuff into the food he already loves! Here's a great article on how to do it!    Want even more help? Check out The Sneaky Chef!

7. If your picky eater is really hard-core, I recommend The Picky Eater ebook. I bought it and did not regret it! It's got even more tips than this article and tons of recipes your toddler and you will enjoy! http://www.solutionsforbusymoms.com/pickyeaterebook


I know that dealing with a toddler who is a picky eater isn't fun or easy. Try these  tips on your picky eater, and let us know how it goes by leaving a comment

Last night I was talking to my sister-in-law who said that she tells her son that if he ever can't find her to find someone in a uniform and ask for help.  While that's good advice, sometimes you can't find a person in uniform anywhere.  I told her that I once learned to teach children that if they ever can't find me to ask a mommy with children for help.  If they can't find a mommy with children -- then they should ask a woman.  Sorry to say, but women are much less dangerous than men when it comes to these things.

 Personally, I can't wait till these GPS Shoes become widely available!

As you may remember from a previous post, I love the idea of teaching kids to spend, save and share early life, so that they learn good money skills young.

Recently, I started having my children (age 6 & 3) earn their allowance by giving them a quarter per chore and for other things that they needed a little "incentive" to accomplish. (For the record, many experts disagree about if children should just get a set allowance, or earn money for their chores. I'm not saying my is the right way, or the only way, but this is working for us for now.)

Every Sunday, after a house clean-up, where everyone helps, we dump out the quarters that they've earned and put them into our banks from MoonJar.com which have three sections for saving, spending and sharing.  For each dollar, two quarters go into spending, one in to saving and one into sharing (charity) 

While this  process has been working really well for us, I have found an awesome video that helps to reinforce the messages I've been trying to teach them.

The Money Mammals is a fun DVD for kids age 3-7 that teaches children about basic transactions as well as the importance of sharing, saving and 'spending smart.' It's all done in an incredibly lively and accessible way, with adorable puppets and songs that will stick in your head!  The other day, in the dollar store, I found myself singing "You can't buy both you must make a choice" to my kids -- they actually got it and a meltdown was avoided!

If you want to make sure that you're kids don't end up on "economic outpatient care" (provided by YOU!)  The Money Mammals is a worthwhile investment in their future -- and yours! 

If you love to do & sell crafts, for yourself and/or with your kids, you are going to love this site I just found.  When you join you get a bunch of free Craft E-books & a new free ebook every month. There are options upgrading your membership for about $10 to get even more great resources, but even if you don't, there's something for EVERYONE here.  Enjoy!

At Blue Bear Aware you'll find  a fun and fashionable line of allergy alert t-shirts and bibs that raise awareness (in English and French) of a child’s allergy in an entertaining AND effective way. Also be sure to check out their "KozyEpi" It is a handmade pouch designed to hold two auto-injectors (and nothing else) and keep them as close as they should always be.

And if your looking for a great snack to throw in their lunchbags - check out  http://www.nonuttin.com/ for Allergy Free Granola bars (they're even kosher too!)

Do your kids have food allergies? If so, please share your favorite solutions here!