Why won't my three year old try different foods?

Toddlers dislike new foods. It takes a long time to get them to like a new food. Simply being around it for a while helps. Eating it is the last step in liking it. Having a food on the table and eating it yourself allows your three-year-old to see that the food is OK without having to eat it. Allow her to just touch it or lick it. Allow her to take a bite and remove it from her mouth if she decides she doesn't like it. These are all ways of becoming familiar with the new food.

We adults tend to forget that so much of the world is still new to a toddler, including lots of the food they eat. Just as you may be reluctant to go to a different country and eat, for example, raw fish, a child comes to the table with the same misgivings about trying something new. A child's way of learning about something new involves more of their senses than an adult’s approach. They like to touch, feel, squeeze and taste — but not necessarily swallow — and so on.

Don't reward her for trying the new food since this will interfere with her learning to like the food for its own sake. It may take several meals of having the food around before she'll eat it or it may only take one. Then again it may take several years. For example, my ten-year-old started enjoying eating artichokes a year or so ago, but the rest of us eat them regularly. By removing the food entirely, you have removed the opportunity for them to come to like it.

Continue to offer a variety of foods. Make sure the family eats together so she can see you enjoying lots of different foods, and ensure you always have at least one food available that she likes. If she eats little or nothing, let her get down from the table. If she needs to, she can make up for it at the next meal or snack time.

Thanks for writing.