Introduce new foods to picky kids with the Rotation Rule

At Amazon: Tales for Very Picky Eaters

I'm a huge fan of Dr. Dina Rose's blog It's Not About Nutrition. She's "changing the conversation from nutrition to habits" on the assumption that, with good habits comes good nutrition (eventually). Her advice is often counterintuitive, as in: When The Less Nutritious Choice Is Right.

I'm totally fascinated by what she has to say and it makes a lot of sense, although I find myself falling into traps she hopes to teach parents to avoid. One biggie: serving the same, go-to reliable meals you know your kid will eat.

Dr. Rose advocates the Rotation Rule: switching which foods you serve day-to-day. The habit she's encouraging is the willingness to try new foods. It all begins with exposure to new foods, plain and simple.

Seems simple enough, but there's more to it than that, especially with die-hard picky eaters. I encourage you to click through and read the entire post. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Read the full post at It's Not About Nutrition: 
5 Easy Ways to Mix-It Up: The Rotation Rule in Action

More: Hacks for picky eaters

Comments

[Sara]

From very early on, I've expected my kids (4 years old and 18 months) to eat what we eat. While our breakfasts and lunch have little variation, I rarely cook the same dinner twice. And I only make one meal. No separate "kids" meal. And we always say that you don't *have* to eat anything, there are no seconds on "high value" sides until you have eaten a reasonable portion of the main dish. And since we rarely serve desserts, there's no bargaining for dessert. I make allowances for the things I *know* they don't like (My 4-year-old won't eave "leaves" so he gets lettuce-free salads, for example). And if a dish turns out spicier than expected, I'll make something that is a little milder. But other than that, they eat what's served. Sometimes it's a lot, sometimes it's not. But while I've definitely had some dinner duds, neither kid has yet absolutely refused to try something. So far, we've got two good eaters :-)

The 4-year-old also "helps" cook dinner most days. Which actually means eating the veggies as I chop them up "to make sure they taste ok."

[replica watches]

Very good brief and this post helped me alot. Say thank you I searching for your facts.

[Alex]

Just read French Kids Eat Everything. Definitely worth checking out. I'm still processing it. A lot of exposure to different foods, lack of catering to kids, lack of snacking (!) etc.