--- title: "Food Chaining: Getting a Picky Eater to Try New Foods | Dalo Baby" description: "How to build a food chain link by link from a food your child already eats, how many exposures the trials actually used, and when picky eating needs a professional." canonical: https://dalofamilyapps.com/learn/solids/food-chaining --- [Home](/)/[Knowledge Hub](/learn)/[Solids](/learn/solids) # Food chaining: getting a picky eater to accept new foods [Dalo Baby Editorial](/learn/editorial-policy)Published September 4, 2026Last reviewed September 4, 20266 min read Food chaining starts from a food your child already accepts and moves toward a target food, changing one property per link such as coating, shape or cooking method. Offer each link at least ten times without pressure: ten repeated exposures raised infants' intake of a disliked vegetable by 63%. ![Food chaining: getting a picky eater to accept new foods](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2F3a99ebd5c2e2e4ff67bebdbfc90092aa02b6b7e8-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D176%2C0%2C1024%2C768%26w%3D800%26h%3D600%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ## Key takeaways - A chain moves from an accepted food to a target food, changing one property per link — coating, then shape, then temperature, then cooking method. - Food chaining's founding paper is a chart review with no control group; no trial has since tested it against an alternative. - The mechanism underneath it is well evidenced: ten plain repeated exposures raised intake of a disliked vegetable by 63%, still present three months later. - In an RCT, 14 daily tastes with a sticker sharply raised intake and liking — and it worked by post, with no professional involved. - Never pressure or bargain. Pressure is the one practice shown to make fussiness worse over time. In this article 1. [What it is](#what-it-is) 2. [What the evidence actually supports](#what-the-evidence-actually-supports) 3. [Building a chain](#building-a-chain) 4. [The rules that make it work](#the-rules-that-make-it-work) 5. [When this is not picky eating](#when-this-is-not-picky-eating) 6. [Where to find the next link](#where-to-find-the-next-link) Most picky-eating advice tells you to keep offering the food and wait. Food chaining is more specific than that: instead of putting broccoli in front of a child who has refused broccoli forty times, you start from something they already eat and move outwards one small sensory step at a time. It is a genuinely useful way to organise the offering — and its evidence base is thinner than the confidence with which it is usually sold. ## What it is Food chaining builds a bridge between a food your child already accepts and a food you want them to accept, using the features the two have in common — flavour, colour, texture, shape, temperature, brand. Each link changes one thing. The child is never asked to make a leap, only a step. Link What changes Why it is a small step Familiar nugget nothing — the starting point The known food, eaten willingly Different brand of nugget brand and coating Same shape, same texture, same dip Home-breaded chicken strip breadcrumb, size Still crumbed, still finger food Lightly breaded chicken piece less coating Same flavour, more chicken visible Grilled chicken strip coating gone Same shape and size, no crumb Roast chicken, sliced cooking method Familiar meat, new presentation A worked chain, from a chicken nugget to roast chicken The chain above is an illustration rather than a prescription. Yours starts wherever your child actually is, and the steps are as small as they need to be — some children move two links in a fortnight, some need six links to cover the same distance. ## What the evidence actually supports Food chaining was described as a systematic, individualised, home-based programme for children with extreme food selectivity, expanding the food repertoire by emphasising similar features between accepted and target foods.[\[1\]](#ref-chain) That paper is a chart review — a look back at clinical records — not a randomised trial. There is no control group in it, and no trial has since tested food chaining against an alternative. The method is a wrapper; the evidence is in the filling What has been tested properly is the thing food chaining is built out of: offering a food repeatedly without pressure. If you take one idea from this page, take that one. Food chaining is a sensible way to organise repeated exposure so that both you and your child can tolerate it — which is not nothing, because the main reason exposure fails is that families stop. Repeated exposure has real trials behind it. In one study, 95 infants around six months old were offered an artichoke purée ten times over a few weeks. Intake rose 63% and liking rose 21% in the repeated-exposure group, the effect was still there three months later, and plain repetition worked as well as sweetening the food and better than enriching it with energy.[\[2\]](#ref-remy) +63% increase in intake of a disliked vegetable after ten plain repeated exposures, with the effect still present three months later (Remy et al., 2013)[\[2\]](#ref-remy) In older children it has been tested as a randomised trial. Families of 3-year-olds were sent written instructions to offer 14 daily tastes of a vegetable their child disliked, with a sticker for trying it. Intake and liking both rose far more in the intervention group than in controls, and the whole thing worked by post, with no professional involved.[\[3\]](#ref-fildes) Fourteen tastes is a more useful number than "keep trying", and it is a number most families give up well before reaching. ## Building a chain ### How to do it The work is in the preparation, not at the table. A chain designed on a Sunday is much easier to hold to on a Wednesday evening. 1. 1 List what your child actually eats All of it, including the things you would rather they did not eat. This list is your set of starting points, and it is usually longer than it feels. 2. 2 Pick one target food, not five Choose something close to an accepted food rather than something you think they ought to like. Nutritional ambition belongs later in the chain. 3. 3 Write the links between the two Change one property per link: coating, then shape, then temperature, then cooking method. If a step gets refused twice, you have made it too big — insert a link between. 4. 4 Serve the new link alongside a safe food Never as the only option. The point is that a refusal costs your child nothing, so refusing is not frightening. 5. 5 Offer it repeatedly without comment Aim for ten or more exposures of the same link before judging it. Touching, licking and putting it down all count as exposure. 6. 6 Move on only when the link is genuinely accepted Eaten more than once, without persuasion. A single good day is not a link. ## The rules that make it work - No pressure, no bargaining, no "three more bites". Pressure is the one thing shown to make fussiness worse over time. - The food is offered and then dropped. If it is rejected, take it away without comment and serve it again another day. - Do not use pudding as payment for the target food — it teaches that one is a chore and the other a prize. - Keep portions small. A large serving of a suspicious food reads as a demand. - Eat the same food yourself at the same table. Modelling is the mechanism most often left out of picky-eating plans. - Two snacks a day is plenty; a child grazing between meals arrives at the table with nothing to gain from trying something new. The NHS advice on fussy eating lines up with all of that: offer the same food as the rest of the family, give small portions, do not force, take rejected food away without saying anything, do not use food as a reward, and expect it to take many attempts.[\[4\]](#ref-nhsfussy) Children's tastes change — a food refused this month is often accepted a month later.[\[5\]](#ref-aappicky) Set the timescale before you start Food chaining is measured in months. Families abandon it in week two, conclude the child is unusually difficult, and go back to serving the same six meals. Decide now that you will offer each link ten times before judging it, and the method has a chance; decide it at the table on a bad Wednesday and it does not. ## When this is not picky eating Ordinary fussiness is a normal developmental phase, and neophobia peaks in the toddler years for almost everybody. Some signs point at something else, and food chaining is not the first-line answer for them. - Weight loss, faltering growth, or dropping through centiles. - A food repertoire that is shrinking rather than static, or fewer than about twenty accepted foods. - Gagging, choking or vomiting at the sight or smell of food, rather than at texture. - Distress that is out of proportion — panic rather than reluctance. - Suspected allergy, reflux, constipation or oral-motor difficulty, all of which are treatable causes wearing a behavioural costume. Any of those is a conversation with your health visitor, GP or a paediatric dietitian rather than a chain to design. Food chaining was originally developed for children with feeding aversion under clinical supervision,[\[1\]](#ref-chain) and that is still where the more serious end of it belongs. ![](/_next/image?url=%2Fimages%2Fsmart-solids-icon.webp&w=256&q=75&dpl=dpl_HDQuuA58EiAncPne4fumhEvNhdFC) Dalo Solids Keep track of what has actually been offered Dalo Solids logs which foods have been tried, how many times and how they went — so "we have offered this loads" becomes a count, and you can see when a link has genuinely had its ten exposures. [Dalo Solids](/apps/dalo-solids) ## Where to find the next link The hardest part of a chain is usually thinking of the intermediate foods. Our [food database](/learn/food) covers hundreds of ingredients with age-appropriate preparation for each, which makes it a practical place to look for the next step in texture or form. And when a link changes shape or size rather than flavour, [how to cut food by age](/learn/solids/how-to-cut-food-by-age) covers doing that safely.[\[6\]](#ref-nhsstart) In this article 1. [What it is](#what-it-is) 2. [What the evidence actually supports](#what-the-evidence-actually-supports) 3. [Building a chain](#building-a-chain) 4. [The rules that make it work](#the-rules-that-make-it-work) 5. [When this is not picky eating](#when-this-is-not-picky-eating) 6. [Where to find the next link](#where-to-find-the-next-link) ## References & disclaimer We link every source we used. Where guidance differs by country, we cite the authority that applies where you are. 1. 1. [Food chaining: a systematic approach for the treatment of children with feeding aversion](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16556929/) Nutrition in Clinical Practice · 2006 · Study 2. 2. [Repeated exposure of infants at complementary feeding to a vegetable puree increases acceptance as effectively as flavor-flavor learning](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23700337/) The Journal of Nutrition · 2013 · Study 3. 3. [Parent-administered exposure to increase children's vegetable acceptance: a randomized controlled trial](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24091061/) Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2014 · Study 4. 4. [Fussy eaters](https://www.nhs.uk/baby/weaning-and-feeding/fussy-eaters/) NHS · Guideline 5. 5. [Picky Eaters](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/nutrition/Pages/Picky-Eaters.aspx) American Academy of Pediatrics · Organisation 6. 6. [How to start weaning your baby](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/baby/weaning/how-to-start-weaning-your-baby/) NHS · Guideline * * * Before you act on this This guide is general information about healthy, full-term babies. It does not replace advice from your paediatrician, health visitor, midwife or dietitian, who know your baby. If you are worried about your baby's feeding, growth, breathing or sleep, contact a health professional. ## Questions, answered How many times should I offer a new food? Ten or more before judging it, and the trials support that scale. Ten plain exposures raised infants' intake of a disliked vegetable by 63%, and a randomised trial in three-year-olds used 14 daily tastes. Most families stop well short of either number. Does food chaining actually work? Its own evidence is weak — the founding paper is a chart review with no control group, and no trial has compared it with an alternative. What it is built from, repeated exposure without pressure, is well evidenced. Treat food chaining as a sensible way to organise that, not as a separately proven technique. What if my child refuses every link in the chain? Your steps are too big. Insert a link between the accepted food and the refused one, changing something even smaller — the same food at a different temperature, or cut a different way. If a step is refused twice, that is the signal to subdivide rather than to push. When should picky eating be seen by a professional? If your child is losing weight or dropping through growth centiles, if the list of accepted foods is shrinking rather than static, if there are fewer than about twenty accepted foods, or if there is gagging and panic rather than reluctance. Those point at a treatable cause rather than a phase. ![Dalo Solids](/_next/image?url=%2Fimages%2Fsmart-solids-icon.webp&w=128&q=75&dpl=dpl_HDQuuA58EiAncPne4fumhEvNhdFC) Get it on your phone Dalo Solids [Dalo Solids](/apps/dalo-solids) Part of [Starting solids: the complete guide](/learn/solids/starting-solids) ## Keep reading [ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2F3221509bed9aa83f90fe2026aa4947e181f08593-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### Division of Responsibility: who decides what, and when You decide what, when and where; your child decides whether and how much. Ellyn Satter's model, the validated evidence behind it, and the pressure loop it exists to break. ](/learn/solids/division-of-responsibility-feeding)[ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2F3cc74a688f1c3dbf8618c469daf594b946325154-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### How to cut food by age: sizes, shapes and safety Two principles cover almost every food: cut round shapes lengthways, and soften firm ones until they squash between your fingers. How the cut changes from 6 months to 18 months and beyond. ](/learn/solids/how-to-cut-food-by-age)[ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2Fbcb161c8f66326873818f7984f7abc51ee07a6c0-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### Baby food schedule: 6, 9 and 12 months How many meals a day at each stage, how textures should move, why babies under one do not need snacks, and where national guidance genuinely differs. ](/learn/solids/baby-food-schedule-6-9-12-months)[ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2F73dbaccccfc51f8a5a8978f5af865b8d1da3ff56-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### Baby-led weaning vs purées: what the trial actually found The only randomised trial found no BMI difference, no difference in choking, and one result that contradicts the theory. An honest comparison, including what each approach asks of you. ](/learn/solids/baby-led-weaning-vs-purees) ## Try the free tools - [Is your baby ready for solids?](/tools/solids-readiness-quiz) ## Development milestones - [12-18 months](/learn/milestones/12-18-months) - [18-24 months](/learn/milestones/18-24-months) [← All solids guides](/learn/solids) [Read as Markdown](/api/markdown?path=%2Flearn%2Fsolids%2Ffood-chaining)