My kids love all kinds of food. We have never had a problem getting them try new things. We tell them if they take a bite and don’t like it, they don’t have to eat anymore. But, they have to try everything. There are some things they like better than others, but when I make dinner, they eat what my husband and I eat. We always get a good laugh out the looks we get when we go to a restaurant and our kids order broccoli! Since they eat so healthy all the time, we let them indulge from time to time in the not so healthy like ice cream or french fries.

My oldest loves her fruits and veggies so we lucked out there. Meat on the other hand is our problem. We are slowly getting her to at least try some meats now.

In my family there had never been that struggle. We had to eat everything on our plates or at least try it. When you didn’t want to eat something, you didn’t eat. Hunger is the best cook. I grew up on a farm so I saw every step of food process. Food costs money and efforts. I think we tend to spoil our children nowadays.

We just ask that they have two bites of a new food. So far it works but they’re only two and four so there may be more battles ahead.

We were fortunate enough to have family members that agreed with this, but we simply didn’t offer anything else until the children were older. Even now, the kids know that the rule is they at least try everything on their plate before rejecting it. If they refuse to eat anything we’ve offered, they don’t eat. It’s not a battle and we don’t offer it as a negotiation. We’ve never had any trouble.