15 Absurd Yet Brilliant Ways to Get Your Kid to Eat Dinner
Issue #14: Wacky ideas that don't include bribes, threats, or smiley faces made out of food. Plus: a little June photo dump and a roundup of product recs!
Welcome to The Motherload, a somewhat regular publication where I share hacks and tips for parenthood, recent recs in basically any category, plus anything else that’s on my mind. Thank you for being here!
A few months ago, I shared a list of 10 toddler hacks that struck a chord with many people — little tricks that make life with a toddler a little less dramatic. But there’s one arena in particular that has continued to test my creativity and patience: mealtime. So I started thinking, what if the same spirit of practical, real-life hacks could be applied to food? Turns out, it can. But let’s back up for a second.
For some reason, getting food into my daughter has always been a major source of stress. From worrying about choking hazards and allergens when she was a baby to the current toddler-phase struggle of getting actual nutrients into her — mealtime has never felt simple.
I am not the mom who’s making heart-shaped sandwiches or critter-faced pancakes. I don’t follow toddler food accounts on Instagram because, honestly, they stress me out (tbh they make me feel like I’m not doing enough — and I sure don’t need that extra feeling of guilt!). The closest I get to “toddler food” is pouring some of my own smoothie into mini popsicle molds and calling them froyo pops (which, to be fair, she loves!). If you’re a toddler chef, I truly admire you and give you major props. You have a level of patience I simply don’t.
But while I may not be great at making special meals, I am great at being silly, spontaneous, and borderline theatrical if that’s what it takes to get my kid to eat what’s already on the table. Over time, I realized I’ve built up a whole list of weird little tricks — and since I don’t believe in gatekeeping in motherhood, I wanted to share them with you!
Before we dive into the list, I just want to say: the fact that you’re reading this means you’re an excellent parent. You’re showing up, you care, and you’re looking for ways to make your home run more smoothly. Take a second to be proud of that. You’re doing GREAT!
I hope something in this list sparks inspiration for your next mealtime battle, and if you have any additional ideas to share, please drop them below. I’d love more ideas to add to my own tool kit!
Here’s the list:
Call it a snack. Kids love snacks, but for some reason, don’t feel the same way about meals. But marketing is everything, so if you refer to dinner as “an evening snack” or “a chicken nugget snack” — there’s a pretty good chance they’ll go for it.
Rebrand it. I could write a full post just dedicated to the effectiveness of a good toddler rebrand (would you read it?!) but essentially, rebrand the food you’re serving to sound more appealing to them. In our house, salmon is called “pink fish” — not the most creative rebrand of all time but when your kid’s favorite color is pink, it’s a super appealing dinner choice.
Distract. Sometimes it’s necessary! During dinner we often read books, play games, or Facetime Grandma (who reads books and plays games virtually!).
Change up the location. Sometimes the table just doesn’t work. There will be a time and place where table etiquette will be more important, but the toddler years are NOT IT. We are all often in survival mode, so if the only way food is getting into the belly is if you feed them while they’re in the bath tub, so be it. (We’ve done bath tub dinners several times!) Heading outside for dinner is a great and less bizarre location of choice. Regardless of where it is, a new location keeps things interesting!
Dinner outside is always a literal breath of fresh air Bring the food directly to their mouth. Related to the above point — this is not ideal for a longer term or everyday solution, but sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do. If my daughter is happily playing or deeply focused on something else when it’s time to eat, I’ll quietly bring over bites of food and offer them to her. More often than not, she’ll eat whatever’s on the fork without fuss, simply because she’s too absorbed in her activity to resist.
Be silly! Kids LOVE silliness, especially when an adult is being silly too. Some ideas: make funny faces as you chew (ask: “can you do this?” *cue silly chewing face) or say stuff like “let’s take this next bite with a surprised face — how silly!” I’ve found that most things can pass as “silly” if you put on a funny face and use the word “silly” lol.
Anthropomorphize their muscles and bones. Ok we’re getting into the weirder ideas but stay with me here! I sometimes pretend to be my toddler’s muscles and I BED and PLEAD with her to eat her food so that she can grow so big and strong. This works extra well with funny voices!
Explain that the food has superpowers. This one’s especially great if your kid is deep in the “why?” phase or loves learning how things work. Explain to them the powers of the food on their plate; for example, “chicken’s superpower is to keep your belly full all night long and to help you grow so big.” Carrot’s special job is to make you see better. ChatGPT is so helpful here — use this prompt:
Please explain to my 3yo what _______’s superpower is.
Let them help prep. They’re way more likely to eat the food if they helped prepare it! I recognize this can be a hard one to achieve since lots of food prep involved hot cooking elements. BUT you can get them involved with things like cutting food or setting the table or even notifying the rest of the family that dinner is ready
K cutting some strawberries! I don’t have a link to this exact set but you can search “toddler kitchen tools” and find something similar Play “Guess What’s On My Fork”: I forget where I originally heard of this idea but essentially you close your eyes, have your toddler feed you a bite of food from your plate, and you have to guess what it is. Then you swap, and feed your toddler. Keep going until you get enough food into them! Easy peasy.
Sneak nutrients into other food they like. Shout out to my mom for this one — when we were little, she had to hide my brother’s chicken in apple sauce in order for him to get protein in LOL and it worked! You can also do this by making food like meat sauce and noodles, adding white beans to cream sauce for added protein, or making zucchini / carrot muffins if that would get your kid excited.
Tell them they’re such a good eater. “You are SO big and you are always such a good eater. I cant believe it! You’re going to grow so big and strong!” The positive praise is very motivating for kids!
Tell their sibling they’re a great eater. Or say it to yourself, or your partner! The key is to avoid direct comparison — don’t say, “You’re not eating as well as Adam.” Instead, try a casual compliment aimed at someone else: “Wow, Adam is doing such a great job with his broccoli!” Chances are, your kid will want in on that praise too and suddenly become a very enthusiastic eater.
Tell them you’ll do a dance when they’re chewing. And boy will it be a silly one they won’t want to miss! I use the dance method for several things — when my daughter goes to the bathroom, gets into her car seat, etc. It’s literally always effective.
Ask for a bite for yourself. They will say “no, this is MINE!” and then immediately devour it to make sure you don’t get any.
There you have it. I hope these ideas help turn mealtime from a daily dread into something a little more manageable — and maybe even enjoyable!
Any ideas to add to the list? Drop em below or respond to this email!
Some photos from June so far!
Today I have a bunch of product recommendation — these are things that we’ve been using and loving!
As mentioned above, we love our kiddie popsicle molds!
This is probably now the third time I’ve recommended this product, but our visual timer is the ultimate MVP of our household.
For curly hair kids, this conditioning spray is an A+ after-bath product. It makes detangling easier and smells great too!
On the topic of hair care, this spray bottle is super legit and works well.
We love these cute open-toe Croc sandals. K is ready for summer!
These kid-sized binoculars make such a sweet and unique birthday gift. Perfect for your little explorer or nature lover.
I am OBSESSED with this kids’ book about safety. It covers everything from body boundaries to fire hazards to stranger danger in a really thoughtful, age-appropriate way. There are a few Jewish words sprinkled throughout, but even if you’re not Jewish, this book is 100% worth adding to your shelf.
How did I just now discover the magic of a splat mat? I have no idea how I did baby-led weaning with K without one. We’ve been using this one with L and it’s already making mealtimes so much cleaner.
Psst: This post features some affiliate links — if you buy something, I might earn a small commission (at no cost to you!). Thank you for your support!
As always, thank you so much for reading! Have a great week and happy ALMOST summer!
🩵 Rachel
Frankly, you should have 651K subscribers. These are gold. As someone who is in full push, beg, demand mode with my toddler’s dinner, I’m baffled I haven’t thought of any of these strategies. Thank you!
All about the rebranding! I often tell my husband “it’s all about the marketing.” Great piece!