Persistence Pays Off

As a dietitian I have always spouted the phrase “it takes 9-12 exposures for a child to accept a new food and that doesn’t take in to account any sensory or feeding issues”.

2 years guys, that’s how long it took for our little guy to eat eggs and actually ask for a second helping. 2 years of putting a bite size amount on his plate every single time we had eggs (roughly 2-3x week). There was no pressure, no conversation, no forcing him to eat it, no incentivizing with a treat, just exposure. Lots and lots of exposure and patience. I say all of this because it’s so easy to give up. So often we offer a food once, they don’t eat it and then we just say “they don’t like ____” and we never offer it again. This is doing our kids a serious disservice as they have to have the opportunity to continually try foods if we expect them to accept them. How can we expect them to eat them if we aren’t giving them to them?

Lastly, I will add that in a lot of nutrition accounts there is a trend to say xyz is needed to help kids with sensory issues. I’m here to say that’s simply not true. This is my neurodivergent child who not only has sensory issues but had feeding issues at birth, was tube fed, had an undiagnosed lip and tongue tie as well as an undiagnosed food allergy all of which drastically effected his eating habits when we started food introduction. Sensory issues make it more challenging but not impossible. And yes this will look different for each child but never assume your child doesn’t like a food or guess what? They won’t like that food, plain and simple.

Parents, if you are struggling to get your child to accept new foods, this is your reminder DON’T GIVE UP! Patience and persistence pays off I promise!