Mealtime
Picky eating, table behavior, trying new foods
The food that was fine yesterday but is "disgusting" today. The battles over bites. The dinner table that feels more like a war zone. Mealtime struggles touch on control, sensory issues, and family dynamics all at once.
What to Know
Mealtime battles touch on control, sensory issues, and family dynamics all at once. The child who was fine with a food yesterday but finds it disgusting today isn't manipulating you — taste preferences, texture sensitivities, and mood all genuinely affect how food lands.
Picky eating exists on a spectrum from developmentally normal to clinically concerning. Most kids go through phases of food restriction, especially toddlers and preschoolers. What matters is whether they're eating enough variety to be healthy and whether mealtimes are becoming a source of chronic stress.
Pressure usually backfires with eating. The more you push a food, the more aversive it becomes. What works better: neutral exposure (the food is there, no pressure to eat it), family-style meals where kids serve themselves, and keeping mealtimes pleasant rather than adversarial.
Signs to Watch
- •Eats only a very limited range of foods
- •Has strong negative reactions to certain textures, colors, or smells
- •Melts down over what's served
- •Turns mealtime into a power struggle
- •Has anxiety about trying new foods
- •Shows signs of nutritional deficiency or growth concerns
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