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It’s time I make a little confession: I have trouble getting my one and a half year old son to eat! Even though I write this column and am always trying to come up with new ways to get kids to enjoy a good and varied diet, my own son, since almost the day he was born, has never been a good eater.
Many parents of toddlers may find themselves in the same boat; it just seems that many kids who reach certain age decide they only like certain foods, when previously they would have eaten just about anything you gave them. And those foods might change, given which day of the week it is, the climate, a color preference, or you name it. Or they might stay the same throughout young childhood. We all know a kid who will only eat their sandwiches with the crusts trimmed just so.
Some kids, my older son included, are like chipmunks, eating just enough to get by most days, and then about every third day, they eat everything in sight, as if storing up for the winter. When he was a toddler, I did get a little worried that he stopped eating all the healthy foods he ate with relish as a baby. Green beans, sweet potatoes, and broccoli were dismissed in favor of on the go snacks like crackers and yogurt.
I know from that experience though, that if you keep exposing kids to an unfamiliar or rejected food, they will probably eventually try it and learn to like it. The rule of thumb is it takes about ten to fifteen exposures before something new will become an accepted part of a child’s diet.
And never cook your kids their own separate meals if you want them to grow up learning to like a variety of foods. It seems to be a common scenario with some kids who get stuck in the chicken nuggets/mac & cheese pattern while mom and dad are eating a much bigger variety of foods.
I have had success with my older son, just backing off and letting him take his time to come back around to accepting different foods, and can now report he eats a pretty big variety for a three year old. So I know that gentle persistence pays off.
But it has been a frustrating process to get our little guy to eat. Alarm bells started to sound in my mind last winter, as meal after meal of solid foods was refused. We went through a series of illnesses (I won’t go into the gory details but we had lots of middle of the night crib sheet changes) and our already small son slipped steadily lower on the growth charts, eventually falling off the curve entirely. We have been back and forth to the Gastroenterologist (GI) Doctor, trying to get to the bottom of why he still won’t eat. It turns out, for him, eating hurts.
So we are now treating the little guy for reflux (which runs in my husband’s side of the family) and have been supplementing with Pediasure in place of his milk for extra calories. Given my culinary background and my willingness to try any trick there is out there to get kids to eat good food, it seems a little funny to be in this position. Giving our almost year and a half year old a chocolate or vanilla shake just to get him enough calories seems so wrong. But I need to do what is best for him and his health to get him to gain more weight and grow steadily.
Now I must point out that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, since I was a poor eater myself, and my mother always worried about me being underweight as a kid. So it is a little comforting to realize now I have no problem eating a great and healthy variety, because as a kid I probably survived on little more than chocolate milk.
I feel for so many other parents who face eating difficulties with their kids — from severe nut allergies to gluten or lactose intolerance and reflux. If you are trying to get your child to take in more calories, one recipe I suggest is this creamy and delicious avocado smoothie; my whole family loves it! Feel free to substitute any other type of milk such as rice, coconut or soy milk, and if you would like to sweeten it a little more, you can add a banana, or more agave nectar or honey.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1191-kids-eating-challenges/
When Getting Your Kids to Eat Is A Challenge
It’s time I make a little confession: I have trouble getting my one and a half year old son to eat! Even though I write this column and am always trying to come up with new ways to get kids to enjoy a good and varied diet, my own son, since almost the day he was born, has never been a good eater.
Many parents of toddlers may find themselves in the same boat; it just seems that many kids who reach certain age decide they only like certain foods, when previously they would have eaten just about anything you gave them. And those foods might change, given which day of the week it is, the climate, a color preference, or you name it. Or they might stay the same throughout young childhood. We all know a kid who will only eat their sandwiches with the crusts trimmed just so.
Some kids, my older son included, are like chipmunks, eating just enough to get by most days, and then about every third day, they eat everything in sight, as if storing up for the winter. When he was a toddler, I did get a little worried that he stopped eating all the healthy foods he ate with relish as a baby. Green beans, sweet potatoes, and broccoli were dismissed in favor of on the go snacks like crackers and yogurt.
I know from that experience though, that if you keep exposing kids to an unfamiliar or rejected food, they will probably eventually try it and learn to like it. The rule of thumb is it takes about ten to fifteen exposures before something new will become an accepted part of a child’s diet.
And never cook your kids their own separate meals if you want them to grow up learning to like a variety of foods. It seems to be a common scenario with some kids who get stuck in the chicken nuggets/mac & cheese pattern while mom and dad are eating a much bigger variety of foods.
I have had success with my older son, just backing off and letting him take his time to come back around to accepting different foods, and can now report he eats a pretty big variety for a three year old. So I know that gentle persistence pays off.
But it has been a frustrating process to get our little guy to eat. Alarm bells started to sound in my mind last winter, as meal after meal of solid foods was refused. We went through a series of illnesses (I won’t go into the gory details but we had lots of middle of the night crib sheet changes) and our already small son slipped steadily lower on the growth charts, eventually falling off the curve entirely. We have been back and forth to the Gastroenterologist (GI) Doctor, trying to get to the bottom of why he still won’t eat. It turns out, for him, eating hurts.
So we are now treating the little guy for reflux (which runs in my husband’s side of the family) and have been supplementing with Pediasure in place of his milk for extra calories. Given my culinary background and my willingness to try any trick there is out there to get kids to eat good food, it seems a little funny to be in this position. Giving our almost year and a half year old a chocolate or vanilla shake just to get him enough calories seems so wrong. But I need to do what is best for him and his health to get him to gain more weight and grow steadily.
Now I must point out that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, since I was a poor eater myself, and my mother always worried about me being underweight as a kid. So it is a little comforting to realize now I have no problem eating a great and healthy variety, because as a kid I probably survived on little more than chocolate milk.
I feel for so many other parents who face eating difficulties with their kids — from severe nut allergies to gluten or lactose intolerance and reflux. If you are trying to get your child to take in more calories, one recipe I suggest is this creamy and delicious avocado smoothie; my whole family loves it! Feel free to substitute any other type of milk such as rice, coconut or soy milk, and if you would like to sweeten it a little more, you can add a banana, or more agave nectar or honey.
Serves/Makes: 2
- 1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
- 1/2 cup ice
Slice the avocado in half and remove the pit. Scoop the flesh from the skin and place the avocado flesh in a blender. Add the milk, honey, and ice to the blender. Puree until smooth.
If the smoothie is too thick you can add a little additional milk.
Pour into glasses and serve immediately.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1191-kids-eating-challenges/