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If you are adopting a baby this is something you won’t have to worry about, but for those adopting toddlers and older kids, here are some tips to help you until your child gets their “American tastebuds”.

-Know what your child is used to eating, what they like and what they don’t, and have some familiar foods that they enjoy available at home. Food can be very comforting, and to a child who has their whole world turned upside down, finding their favorite food can help them settle in. We have found that sometimes even a familiar spice is enough…for instance when Benjamin first came home he hated Macaroni and Cheese, but with a few sprinkles of Berebere spice, he gobbled it up!

-Be careful with dairy...kids in most other countries do not typically have much dairy in their diet, if any, and eating a lot of dairy products can make them sick to their stomach. Many Asian and black children are lactose intolerant and have either learned not to like dairy or have never had much dairy so don't like it, so introduce dairy slowly.

-Offer your child lots of new things. If I had a child who only wanted their familiar foods, I would serve them something familiar that I knew was liked at each meal, as well as one or two “American” foods as well, and not let them have any more of their favorite until they had at least tried the new foods (I have a few friends who do this with their bio kids too…their kids have to take two bites before they can say that they don’t like something). Kids are often reluctant to try new foods because of how they look, but then find that they actually like it once they try it.

-Try to plan meals that incorporate a variety of foods so you only have to prepare one meal. With as many kids as we have, I refuse to be a short-order cook and I only make one meal per dinner (or breakfast or lunch), but I do keep in mind what is loved, what is hated and what is tolerated, and make sure that there is something for everybody (I am lucky that my kids aren’t very picky).

-Encourage your other kids to try/eat/enjoy the ethnic foods. Part of being a multicultural family is eating a wider variety of foods than chicken and pasta, and part of embracing your child's birth culture is adding new foods to your regular meals. While getting your new child to enjoy the foods your family regularly eats is a good goal to have, getting the rest of the family to try and enjoy the foods your new child likes is worth a try too.


-Just because they don’t like something once, doesn’t mean that they won’t like it forever. Kids’ like and dislikes can change with their socks it seems, so don’t give up on something forever just because they turned their nose up at it once (or twice).

-For kids that have food issues and want to eat all of the time, keep a bowl of fruit or some other healthy snack out where they can see it and can have access to inbetween meals. Some kids just have to learn and develop trust that there will always be food available. If a child is eating until they are sick, then you should limit portion sizes. Many kids eat a great deal when they first come home and then level off.

-Don’t make a battle out of it. I always say that eating and using the bathroom are two areas where kids really do have the control, and making a control battle out of it is setting yourself up for trouble. Don’t take their finicky tastes personally, and keep a light-hearted spirit about things so you don’t make things any worse.

-Let your child help plan meals. Often kids are a lot more likely to eat something if they have helped prepare it, or help pick it out. You could take your child grocery shopping and ask them to pick “two new foods they were willing to try”, or show your child what you have at home and let them help decide what will be for dinner for the family.

-As with all things that are challenging, remember “this too shall pass”.

Do you have any good tips for feeding newly adopted children or a story to share on how you handled a difficult eater? Leave a comment! :)