The one-new-food-per-week rule

If you've ever offered broccoli twelve times and heard "yuck" twelve times, you may have given up before the magic number. Studies of how children learn to eat keep finding the same thing: it can take 15–20 goes before a child accepts a new food — and each go has to feel like nothing is riding on it.

What that looks like in practice

It means putting the new food on the plate with no comment, no encouragement, no reward. Just… there. The child can ignore it, touch it, smell it, or eat it. All of those count. None of them should earn praise or face disappointment.

The risk with praise ("good girl for trying the pea!") is that it turns every new food into a performance. The risk with rewards ("you can have dessert if you eat three bites") is that it signals the food must be bad enough to require compensation.

One per week is enough

Introducing one new food per week — alongside a reliable mix of accepted foods — is a manageable pace that doesn't disrupt the meal. Over a year, that's potentially 52 more foods a child will eat. The real number will be lower; some won't stick. But calm, repeated offers add up quietly over time.

The goal isn't to win every battle. It's to keep the table a calm place and let curiosity do its slow, reliable work.