How To Get Your Picky Toddler To Eat More Variety In 3 Simple Steps

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how to get your picky toddler to eat more variety

In this article I am sharing the picky eating toddler strategies that I’ve used here at my Montessori-inspired daycare & preschool for almost a decade to help picky eaters become more interested and adventurous eaters.

Toddler refuses to eat new things?

Want your child to eat more variety, but you’re not sure how to get a child to eat when they refuse?

Maybe your 2 year old won’t eat anything but snacks….

Whatever the situation might be, odds are I have seen it and helped a family with it.

By the end of this article, you will have solid plan for how to get your picky toddler to eat more variety!

Read this next:

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1) Start doing food chaining regularly

how to get your picky toddler to eat more variety

Food chaining is gradual and intentional, and is one of the proven ways to expand a picky eater’s diet.

When doing food chaining, you are working off of what your toddler already likes and regularly eats. From here, you make ONE slight change to their food at a time, inching toward completely different foods.

Here’s a starter plan for you:

If you serve whole chicken nuggets to your child, start chopping them up and serve them this way for a few days. (as pictured above)

After a few days, mix a few sprinkles of chopped roasted chicken in with their chopped nuggets.

See how they take to it. Let them do what they will and continue to serve it this way, whether or not they eat all of it.

If they are unbothered and enjoy it, add more and more chopped roasted chicken. Then, serve only chopped roasted chicken.

Woohoo! You’ve inched your toddler to a brand new food they would’ve otherwise denied.

You can do this same thing with all types of foods:

Mix a small amount of quinoa into their white rice.

Add a sprinkle of pre-soaked chia into their yogurt. Sprinkle yogurt! Start tiny and if they are unbothered and/or like it, add more to get to 50/50 then more the following week. You can then try serving some different chia puddings like carrot cake pudding!

Add a few long zoodles to their spaghetti noodles or ramen noodles. Perfect and easy in a red sauce.

Add some chopped cherries to chopped strawberries (make sure that all taste good – not too tart and not overripe/mushy, as that first impression will build or break trust with your toddler)

Key reminder: Make sure to always serve 2 other things your toddler loves on the plate with these new mixtures. And continue to serve a little, whether they eat it or not. I like to serve two ‘safe’ foods instead of one, so that they feel even more comfortable AND just in case they aren’t in the mood for one food they usually like, they have another. This is fair and balanced.

I encourage families to also set new rules/announcements around mealtime if they don’t already have them, like – “we are going to have all sorts of new and different foods on our plates from now on.” And, “It’s important that we eat all different types and colors of foods so our bodies have what they need to grow, not get sick, be strong and feel good!” This also serves as a heads up to you doing food chaining, so they aren’t taken by surprise by the changes.

It’s inevitable that toddlers will have feelings about change, new foods included. I created this quick video reminder about how to handle feelings and behaviors at mealtime.

Don’t forget – you can do this at snack time too! (Ps: making snacks “mini meals” is a great way to help if your toddler refuses to eat anything but snacks. Think fruit, veg, protein, healthy fat like – chopped strawberries and cherries, avocado cubes, snap peas and roasted garbanzo beans)

Want guided help with your picky eater? Join 100+ other moms for the free picky toddler at-home challenge! Do it at your own pace!

See how it works below!

2) Start reading books about food acceptance and diversity

If you can approach picky eating as a teaching opportunity, you will be on a solid path to transforming your toddler’s picky eating habits.

Forget pleading for them to take bites.

Forget bribing with ice cream.

Forget restricting their favorites until they try the new.

None of these help them build healthier relationships with food, nor do they foster connection and openness between adult and child.

Instead, let’s read some books. This is meeting your child where they are. Toddlers love love love a good story time. Infuse some books about food diversity and acceptance. This will plant seeds and spark curiosity within them, making them more open to new foods that will be served at mealtime.

Bonus: Do some show and tell with some of the foods you are reading about. Be descriptive and ask questions to get your child hands on with new foods.

Getting your toddler hands on with new foods, without any pressure of eating them, just feeling them, learning about them, in control of them, exploring them, this makes a HUGE impact on picky eater toddlers because they are experiencing new foods in a relaxed, fun, low-pressure setting. And when they are relaxed, they are open and willing.

Soon, they will get curious and sniff, lick, taste! On their own terms, because they have the intrinsic desire to do so, rather than any outside pressure. More psychology of picky eaters for ya 😉

Doing this ^ has been the most powerful thing for me here, with all the picky toddlers I’ve worked with. Incredible!

Try these helpful toddler books about new foods:

Want a FREE instant download of my Transforming Picky Eating Cheat Sheet? Drop your name & email below! We never spam.

A step-by-step start guide to help you start seeing change with your picky toddler within 1 week!

3) Invite them to help meal prep as many meals as possible (even if it’s just one little thing)

As I mentioned, my daycare and preschool is Montessori-inspired. Montessori methodology has changed my life and I cannot image parenting or caring for babies and toddlers without it.

One of the key focuses of Montessori is life skills practice – everyday things like, washing hands, putting on shoes and jackets. helping set a table and prepping the meals for the day.

Over the years, I’ve seen the sheer power (not to mention the joy, confidence and sense of belonging it brings to toddlers) it wields when it comes to overcoming picky eating. A perfect mix of learning, non-pressured exposure and control that toddlers need to accept and try more foods, more often.

I invite you to let this learning and joy happen in your home by letting your child be more of an integral part of their daily meals and meal prep.

Having a space that is prepared for this, makes it far easier to do it consistently.

First, I recommend that you add a learning tower to your kitchen space.

A learning tower makes having your toddler in the kitchen so safe and easy. You won’t have to help them stay safe so your hands will be free to do what you need to do. Just be sure to have them at a corner of the counter where they can’t reach anything unsafe or that you don’t want them to grab.

Next, I suggest getting a couple toddler-safe starter cutting tools like these:

And finally, you can opt for a fun subscription box for kids cooking, like Kidstir. This will take the thinking out of what to make and will be special and exciting just for your toddler, kind of like a present! Such a fun way to meal prep together and immerse your little one in new recipes and foods.

Picky eater toddler final notes

Now that you have the 3 picky eating toddler strategies, I want to remind you that this will be a learning process and learning takes time and consistent opportunity.

Typically, with these strategies and specific wording, I see changes happen within 1-4 weeks. By week 4, they’re a whole different type of eater and dinnertable mate!

For my exact 4-week plan on transforming picky eating, consider signing up for my FREE Picky Toddler Challenge. This 4-week plan is delivered to your inbox and can be done at your own pace. You CAN have less power struggles and less stress-filled meals with your family, sooner than later!

Or, you can also download a FREE Picky Eating Start Guide here. Either way, know that you have more free resources at your fingertips that will help your family have more enjoyable mealtimes with your little one!

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