When your child is a picky eater, it can be hard not to worry about their nutritional needs. If your child will only eat a few items, you may have to provide these items until they are able to make more mature food choices. While you can try to introduce new food items to your child all the time, forcing your child to try new things isn't likely to work. When you are tired of fighting at mealtimes to get your child to eat, there are a number of things you can do to reduce your own stress over their appetite or lack thereof.

Don't Force the Issue

If your child says that they are not hungry, there's no need to force them to eat a meal. People eat when they are hungry, and trying to force your child to eat is only going to make them more anxious the next time a mealtime approaches. You want your child to be able to understand when they are both full and hungry. Allowing them to have control over whether to have a snack or not will help them gain this understanding.

Keep Portions Really Small

While you may want your child to eat a set amount of food, providing really small portions will be less overwhelming to your child. It's much easier to consider eating a piece of broccoli when there's only one there, rather than be told to "eat it all" when there's a full serving. Children can be taught to try new things, but the effort has to be methodical.

Create a Routine for Meals and Snacks

When you stick to a meal and snack routine, your child is likely to be hungry at these times. If your child asks for drinks in between these times, offer water so that they don't fill up on milk or juice and lose their appetite for real food.

Calm Down About New Foods

Some children are very fearful of new foods, and this means you are going to have to be very patient when it comes to introducing new items to your child's diet. While you can try to add in vegetables to spaghetti sauce, any parent of a picky eater can tell you how easy the tiniest little particle of new food can be spotted by a picky eater. In the long run, introducing your child to healthy foods without trying to hide them in their meal is probably the easiest.

For more information, contact local professionals like Entira Family Clinics.