Why are the first foods you teach your child to learn to eat so important?

Eating the same foods all the time makes new foods taste even different. And the more different a food, the scarier it will be to try!

Because of this, we spend A LOT of time in our practice determining what are the best, most appropriate foods to start with when adding new foods into a child’s diet.

We want the process of learning about new foods to start positively so your child looks forward to tasting sessions with you!

Why is it so hard for my child to add new foods to their diet?

Mathematically speaking, if your child consumes 200+ foods, adding a new food will be a change of .005%. That’s a minuscule difference, meaning the new food is likely to resemble foods already in your child’s diet making it easier for your child to acquire a new one.

Whereas, if your child eats only 5 foods, adding a new food is a change of 20%. That’s a significant difference and likely to be very difficult for your child as the food will likely taste or feel VERY different to them. This can be very scary or anxiety-provoking for your child!

Because of this, the first few foods to teach your child to eat should be foods that are a very small change from your child’s current diet. We define these as foods that your child will eat on occasion (hit/miss) or foods that closely resemble a current preferred food (e.g., new shape or flavour).

Why start the process with easy foods?

We want your child to try new foods and essentially “unlearn” their learned response of refusing a food that is new. By tasting new foods that are manageable or not too scary, we are helping to redefine your child’s relationship with food by strengthening your child’s willingness and flexibility with tasting something new. Likewise, with each new food accepted by your child, their confidence will grow which creates momentum for trying even more new foods.

In other words, the first foods you select should be foods that you are confident your child will try. Again, these foods resemble foods in your child’s current diet and/or foods that your child will occasionally eat.

For example, see below Charlie’s current foods, foods she will eat on occasion and foods consumed in the past.

Based on this information, we chose the following foods to target during the first few weeks of therapy.

Ready to add foods to your child’s diet? Use the following PDF to help you decide which foods to teach your child to eat.

One final thought: If your child is still resistant to trying that first food you’ve selected, consider this - maybe the food is still too difficult? If so, work on more foods your child eats on occasion (aka hit/miss foods) OR if you haven’t already, try a new food that falls in the snack category. Our go-to snack foods are a new chip, a new cracker, or dry cereal.

And if it’s still not working, maybe you need professional help.