The One-Bite Rule For Picky Eatersby Myra Turner | More from this Blogger 26 Jan 2007 11:59 AM If you have a child who is a picky eater you probably have spent time worrying that their nutritional needs aren't being met. I know I have. If you have a child who is a picky eater, you may want to try what's called the "One- Bite Rule". Tyler's father has used it to try and get Tyler to try new things and low and behold, I found out this morning that it's actually a method suggested by dieticians, nurses and pediatricians. As I was reading my morning email, the current issue of the newsletter, Family Education offered a few tips for parents who want to try to change their picky eaters eating habits. The rule is simple--- you encourage your child to try one bite of the food you are trying to introduce. It works best for toddlers and young children, but anyone (including picky adults) can also be won over. Here are a few things to keep in mine when applying the one-bite rule: Don't bombard your kids with tangy, spicy or mixed foods. The dishes should be kept simple. Introduce one food at a time. This method works best if you try to introduce new foods when your kids are hungry. The article also advises parents to let their kids know that it is okay not to like a particular food or dish but to also encourage our kids to try the food first before they decide they don't like it. Many times Tyler will reject food simply because he does not like the way it looks (or smells). It's also a good idea for everyone in the family to practice the one-bite rule. This serves as a good model for your kids to follow. Another way to encourage your kids to try new foods is to have them pick out new food items at the store to try. We did this recently with papaya. Neither Tyler nor I liked it but at least we tried it. I find that a lot of things that I hate, he loves and things I would figure he would like, he hates! So you never know. Finally, the article recommends that we should not be disappointed if our kids don't like the foods we are trying to encourage them to eat. We should, however, praise them for trying and in some cases, we can try again later and have success. I tried to get Tyler to eat a crab cake a few months ago and he declined twice (on two separate occasions). Then one day he asked to try one and (surprise!) he realized that it wasn't so bad after all. Sometimes we just have to be patient. See also: Sneaky Mama's Top 9 Tips For Picky Eaters Solve Your Child's Eating Problems Learn more about Myra Turner  I'm a proud mid-life single mom with an active seven-year-old son, Tyler. Relevantparenting tags User Comments  Julie Gentry (5915) 26 Jan 2007 11:26 AMWe call it a "No Thank You" serving :-). "Elisha, would you like some spinach?" "No thank you." Then it's a mini-scoop. Has been working so far.  Aerie (309) 26 Jan 2007 11:57 AMI don't have any picky eaters, so I can't say how this would work for them. The rule in our house is that you can't say you don't like something if you haven't tried it (or even tried it recently, or this version of it). And you can't get seconds on one item if you haven't eaten a serving of each item. This means that my son Toby has to eat at least a little meat (even though he doesn't really like it) if he wants to get seconds on cauliflower. :-)  Valorie Delp (49340) 26 Jan 2007 12:01 PMI've written quite a bit actually about one of my children who is a picky eater. Her issues are medically based though so we have the "just a little taste" rather than a bite. If she doesn't like it, we don't make an issue of it, but she has to sit at the table through dinner with us and then when we're finished she can choose a different meal. Not anything she wants but something that's approved. She frequently has to make it herself. . .and always has to clean it up. . .even if it's not her night to do dishes.  Linda Hansen (1796) 26 Jan 2007 04:23 PMMyra, we use this rule at our house too. When we first got the boys, if it wasn't dehydrated soup, they wouldn't eat it. Veggies...out of the question, except for corn and green beans. Since then we have put this rule in place. The one bite is the first bite of the meal, while they are still hungry, as you suggested. They don't always like everything, but they have developed a taste for many foods they wouldn't have normally eaten. Good blog. Artcraft Community Tags one-bite rule, picky eaters, tips on how to get picky eaters Discuss this article
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