Any Tips in Getting a Toddler Eat White Fish?

The only way my son would do it was to dip it into some sort of dip/sauce. We did dressing or soy sauce but it's a hard food for some to like. My son likes shrimp more and even tried some lobster recently and loved it!

When my son (he's the more difficult of the two) doesn't want to eat something, I have him do 3 things:

Smell It
Kiss It
Taste It

Usually after the smell it/kiss it tasks, I usually get a very loud "Yuck!" as his response but, after the taste it challenge, he may still let out a bit ole "Yuck!" but a good share of the time, he will also end up saying, "Mmm... that's delicious!" and gobble the whole thing down. If he still doesn't like whatever I have served him, then he's off the hook for that meal and that meal only. I'll still introduce the food again and again because it takes a child to certain number of tastes to become accustomed to a certain taste, smell or texture.

Hope this helps.

I like the PP's mango salsa idea. Also consider that he might just not like fish-there are MANY adults who don't like it.

One more thing,,,my son has always avoided shrimp-wouldn't even be in the same room when I cooked it. He finally relented and tasted it. Turns out he is highly allergic to it. His aversion to it was probably his body's defense mech avoiding it. Something to consider.

Here's how I got my kids to eat sushi...the local grocer makes some pretty passable samshimi and tuna rolls. So every so often when we stopped at the grocers I'd poke my head in the refrigerated bin and exclaim "oooh, mommy's going to buy something yummy just for me!" and I'd make a little production about picking 'the best' roll for myself. I did this for months...and if they'd ask to try it I'd shake my head and say no, you probably won't like it.

One day after making another small production they begged to try it. I gave them each a tuna roll and told them it was icky, but they had to eat the whole thing. They did. And LOVED it!!! Of course now, I have to share my tuna rolls, which sucks for me :( And normally I don't give in to begging so it was a *big deal* for them.

It has worked with salad (mommys, you can't have any) and other things I've wanted the kids to eat.

'Course don't noodle on this method too hard when your kid wants to try your glass of wine ;)

Tell him to try it
then tell him that if he doesn't like it he can spit it out (make sure it's over a plate though, you don't want a mess)
And if he still refuses and you REALLY want him to try it, buy him something (probably small) like a teddy bear and put it on top of the fridge(or someplace where he can't reach it) and tell him he can have it if he tries it

all kids are different, my son will eat almost anything if he sees us eating it, he is also in love with ketchup so if all else fails he will eat the strangest things if he can dip them in ketchup ( yes I have a child who eats green beans with ketchup, there are worse things ) Fish sticks really are not that healthy so don't feel bad about him not eating fish sticks. We eat Tilapia with a mango salsa that my son loves and we also use a tequila lime marinade that is quite tasty too ( its non alcoholic ) I read somewhere that it can take something crazy like up to 20 times tasting something before we decide we like it, and I have also heard our taste buds change as we get older. If you just put it on his plate and encourage him to try it he may decid eventually he likes it. We have always encouraged the one bite, we call it the no thank you bite. What I will say is nothing is worth turning meal time into a power struggle. Lots of luck to you, and remember they can only eat what we offer them = )

Try ketchup and/or tartar sauce. When my son was about 3 or 4, we'd go someplace to eat and get him a kids meal we know he'd like (hot dog, etc) but he was getting to the point where he'd still be a bit hungry - it just wasn't filling him up anymore. So we'd give him bites of things off the grown up plates - fish, crab cakes, etc. Once we knew he was steady in liking something, we could risk straying away from the kids meals a little more often. He's 11 now, and is willing to try a bite of just about anything. (He tried liver and onions once and he won't try that one again for a long time - but I still like it!) When he's 13, as a right of passage I'll let him try clams/oysters on the half shell. My Mom introduced them to me at that same age, and I've loved them ever since. I tell him as we age, our tastes change all the time. Some things we liked as kids we don't like as adults (I adored Captain Crunch when I was 5 - I tried it again when I was 25 and it tasted HORRIBLE), and some things we hated as kids suddenly taste wonderful when we're adults (I totally understand my Mom loving soup now, but I didn't get it till I was 30). Bon appetite!

When our little guy was younger, all meats required "sauce". This could be a gravy, an 'au jus' style of sauce or a marinade for the meat. On fish, we use a mild teriyaki, a lemon butter (never could understand why my kids liked to suck on lemons as infants/toddlers ;), and eventually some more complex flavors. It kind of depends on what other styles of cooking he likes (as soon as they were out of baby food, our guys ate the same dinner as us, so they were used to all kinds of savory, sweet and even spicy flavors - they would never touch bland foods like you get on the kids menu at most restaurants :) I guess the point is, try different flavors with the fish - I just heard someone talking about pineapple on fish, and I'm looking forward to trying it...

Ketchup works best for us. Also, we never say what meat we are eating - which helps avoid the prejudgement before they even try it. Like if we say hamburgers it is always immediately "ewww we don't like that". So, to avoid that we just serve dinner without saying what we are having. And, as I said, ketchup is always on the table. That, or ranch, haha.

We also eat a variety of meat, including deer and bison so for us that is another reason we do not specify which meat we are eating - fish included.

Good luck!

I have never liked fish... except for when my Dad would sear Ahi tuna (yellow fin) or Mahi Mahi on the grill.... We lived in Hawaii at the time, so it was super fresh. It tasted like steak! I don't know if you can get anything that fresh here, but those 2 fish are the least 'fishy' smelling. :)

Tilapia is my toddler's favorite too, and fish sticks. A lot of white fish have a less fishy taste. We prepare it with blueberries, which she loves. It's also good with orange marmalade and apple cinnamon sauce.

The only thing my kids eat with fish also happens to be their favorite meal on earth:

I get organic mac n cheese-(those Annie's boxes). I add finely chopped broccoli, garlic and tuna. And mix it all up. Adding the stuff adds veggies and fish as well as stretching it farther and having leftovers. It's sort of a less white trash tuna casserole I guess. I know they don't need the cheese AND fish for protein in one meal but I do want them to eat fish occasionally.

My 2 1/2 son won't eat fish or broccoli any other way, but he snarfs down mountains of this. You could use a milder fish too.

Babies and toddler have very sensitive taste buds and a sense of smell, and a natural suspicion of any food that's unknown. Fish that gets used for fish sticks often is a kind that tastes "fishy" anyway, and so might not taste good to him. Some kids never like fish. How about shrimp? I loved fried shrimp when I was that age. If you're worried about him getting the Omegas he can get get from fish, he can take a supplement, or get it from other foods. Also, a child of any age needs to be given a food at least 11 times (with no pressure to eat it) before they'll start to see the food as an OK thing to eat.

My rule for my kids is to try everything. When I place a food in front of them, they must try at least one decent sized bite of everything on their plate. If after they have tried the food they still don't like it, then they don't have to eat the rest of that food. It has stopped a lot of potential battles.

As far as eating fish is concerned, I wouldn't get too worried over your son not eating it. All seafood has a very strong smell and I am not surprised that your son balks at just the smell of it. Yes, seafood does have healthy benefits but, it is not a "live or die" issue if your son doesn't eat fish.

None of my kids eat any seafood. I am the only one in the house that likes seafood. So, I don't make it. I just wait until we go out to eat at a restaurant to have fish for myself. Then, at the restaurant, my kids will sometimes ask to try the fish I have. Most of the time, they don't like it.

If you and your husband like seafood, then just keep introducing it to your son every once in awhile. Our tastes change as we grow. So, maybe, sometime in the future, your son's will too.

My 18 month old has been eating fish for several months now. I buy (or you can make yourself) some pico de gallo that I put on it. Make a foil pouch with a talapia filet inside, put a littler butter on top, and a few spoonfuls of the pico on top. Wrap it all up in the foil and bake it at 400 for about 14 minutes. It's super easy, healthy, and so yummy. I love it bc it's something that our entire family can eat, as well. :)