Hi Sarah, I am glad this was helpful! Please reach back out if you find yourself with more questions.

Thank you so much, Ashley! This is really helpful, and I will check out your blog posts and look forward to upcoming ones as well.

Hi Sarah,

Some great questions! I will be featuring this in some upcoming blog posts in April, as they are FAQs about the Division of Responsibility and specifically using a “love it, like it, learning it” approach. The goal is to create positive meal time experiences that allow your child to determine if/whether and how much they eat. It is up to you as the parent what, when, and where that food is offered. So for children who don’t want to even try the learn it foods/non-love it foods (which is MOST apprehensive eaters, my own included), I encourage parents to try other fun and creative non-pressure approaches.

We never want to force, bargain, distract, or reward – period. Instead, think about how you can help your child “learn to like” the new foods. Often times, family style meals and allowing kids to serve themselves is a great start to getting them comfortable with the food at least being on their plate. Let them self-serve (starting around age two) with a family rule that they take at least a little of everything. The rule should always be “you don’t have to eat it” so they know the control is theirs for if/whether and how much they eat. That said, once it is on their plate, you can try some fun things like asking them about the sensory aspects of it (how does it smell? What does it feel like? Is it sweet or salty? – making them want to lick it, etc.). This often gets them to explore it in a non-pressure way to develop more comfort with the food. I don’t think it is bad to encourage them to try it, if the tone stays positive and playful. Often, something as simple as “Let’s make our broccoli kiss before we take a bite!” can be a simple way to get them to touch and then taste it. If it turns south and you feel yourself pressuring and them getting defensive, take a step back and try again another meal. It takes A LOT of re-exposure to these foods and practice with becoming familiar with them before they will often eat them.

Some articles that may be helpful for more ideas:
http://veggiesandvirtue.com/blog/establishing-a-division-of-responsibility?rq=division
Look under Step 3: http://veggiesandvirtue.com/blog/meal-plan-february4
Under step 3: http://veggiesandvirtue.com/blog/meal-plan-february11

Feel free to reach out with more questions!

So glad this is helpful to you! Thanks for sharing this with your SIL! Please have her reach out with anymore questions.