This post was written as a paid collaboration with Get Cracking. As always, all opinions are our own.
There’s nothing more frustrating as a parent than a child who has a mind of their own and won’t listen to reason. Oh wait – isn’t that every child? (cue the cry laughing emoji times three!)
In your wisdom as someone who has walked this earth for more than a couple of years – in fact, as someone who actually knows how to walk – you’ve learned a thing or two about life. The grass is green, Santa isn’t real, and some foods (like eggs) are more nutritionally dense than others.
And yet – it doesn’t work to present this logically to a toddler. They literally have the mind of a two year old.
Instead, we have to gather up that wisdom we’ve built up over the years and get a bit crafty in how we get our kids on board in wanting to eat foods that they’ve (for whatever reason) have decided they aren’t interested in.
Thanks to Get Cracking, this past spring we got to hang out with parents of littles at the Toronto Baby Show. We had so many people come up to us and ask “how do I get my toddler interested in eggs again?”
Since we can’t sit down and have a little chat over coffee with each one of you, we’ve collected all our strategies for making eggs egg-citing!
But first…
Are eggs healthy for your toddler?
What’s the big deal if kids don’t eat eggs? Are they an essential food?
In and of themselves, eggs are not essential, but they are a very nutritious food for toddlers and one that we encourage parents to serve.
They’re packed with high-quality protein, which is essential for your toddler’s growth, muscle development, and energy. Each egg contains 6.5 grams of protein, making it a nutrient-dense addition to their meals.
Eggs are also rich in B vitamins, particularly B12 and riboflavin, which support healthy energy levels and brain function. Plus, eggs provide 100% of your toddler’s choline needs, a nutrient we’re kinda-sorta obsessed with as it plays a key role in brain development, memory, and learning.
Another benefit? Eggs contain lutein, an antioxidant that supports eye health. This is especially important as your toddler’s vision continues to develop.
With all these nutrients packed into one versatile food, eggs are a great option to include in your toddler’s diet.
But, what do you do if your egg-loving baby turns into a toddler that suddenly stops wanting to eat eggs? Or maybe you had a baby that was slow to warm up to all foods? You know eggs are good for your child’s growth and development but it’s a moot point if they don’t even take a bite!
Hang tight: we have a TON of suggestions to help you support and gently encourage your child to develop a love for eating eggs.
Here’s what you can do:
1. First, don’t give up
A phrase we love and say often in the context of feeding is “repeat neutral exposure”. What does this mean? It’s the recommendation to serve rejected foods often, regularly, and in a neutral way—meaning, not forcing, pressuring, bribing, or guilting a child into trying the food. Research tells us that repeated exposure to foods is an effective strategy for the reduction of food neophobia and can help reduce food pickiness.
Moreover, some children need upwards of 20+ exposure opportunities before they decide they like the food. Thankfully, when it comes to eggs there’s an endless amount of ways to present them to your toddler. Their versatility is something we love as Dietitians, and moms.
- Scrambled eggs: sometimes kids are more receptive to having the yolk and white whisked together and cooked rather than seeing them separate.
- Hard boiled: these can be served on their own or as a part of other dishes – in many cultural dishes hard boiled eggs are used as a garnish over noodles, in curries and fried rice as well. Conversely to the point made about scrambled eggs, sometimes kids prefer eating either the white or the yolk so the hard boiled format allows them to eat them separately.
- Anda Bhurji: if your toddler loves flavour, stop right here. This is essentially an Indian inspired egg scramble and you can add in any vegetable you want.
2. Model eating eggs in front of your toddler
My (Jess here!) oldest son was a late mover. Admittedly, I didn’t do much to encourage his interest in learning to crawl because it was pretty nice to sit him down with some toys, knowing he was safe, and not going anywhere. But, one day, it happened almost instantly!
We were in the nursery at church. At this point in time, we were the only family regularly attending who had a baby so we usually had the room to ourselves. But, another family was visiting who had a baby who was a couple months older. This baby was crawling around all over the place.
My son’s eyes were glued to this baby. He sat there watching her every move.
Some magical learning must have been taking place in his brain, because when we got home that afternoon, I put him down and he suddenly started to crawl!
It was such an eye opening experience for me to witness how powerful it is for someone’s learning, to simply observe another human performing a skill you haven’t mastered yet.
The same goes for eating! We aren’t born with set taste preferences that never change. We need to learn to like different flavours. Part of that learning is simply observing those around us reaching for, eating, and enjoying these foods.
This is why it’s soooo important to be eating eggs in front of your children! While you can’t see it happening, there’s some magical learning taking place inside their brains and one day, they may suddenly decide it’s their time to start eating eggs again.
3. Offer your child foods that include eggs as an ingredient
While your child is still in the learning-to-like phase of eating eggs as a stand alone food, keep offering foods that include eggs as an ingredient!
Not only does it help with increasing the comfort factor around eggs with your kids, it’s important to keep up the ingestion of eggs for continued tolerance. In other words, research shows that we need to keep eating foods for our body to tolerate them and not become allergic to them.
Here are some ways to keep eggs on the menu as an ingredient:
Pancakes
Have fun by adding pancake batter to a squeeze bottle and creating different pancake shapes and designs. Or try these pizza pancake dippers!
Cookies
Most cookie recipes include eggs for their binding power – which means it helps the cookie stay together instead of falling apart into a crumbly mess. Try our lower Sugar Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies or these Chocolate Prune Breakfast Cookies
Muffins
We’ve yet to meet a toddler who doesn’t love muffins! Especially when they’re mini sized. These coconut banana muffins also don’t contain any added sugar. Plus they contain three whole eggs!
French toast
This is a great way to step things up from simply adding eggs into baking, which results in a uniform, homogenous mixture. French toast is made by dipping bread into an egg batter and then frying to a golden brown. Since you can sometimes still see some of the batter on the outside of the toast, your child will start to become more comfortable with eggs on their own.
Porridge Fingers
These tahini porridge fingers are a make ahead, easy-to-serve breakfast bar packed with energy, fibre, healthy fats, and the goodness of egg nutrition – you’ll need 8 eggs for this recipe – talk about exposure!
4. Get your toddler involved in food preparation
It’s often repeated that it can take 15-20 times (or more!) for a child to be exposed to a food before they learn to like it. But, did you know that an exposure doesn’t have to be a taste?
An exposure is simply that – being in the same presence as a food. Some exposures are going to be more “advanced” than others. You can think of exposures like steps on a ladder.
Seeing the food.
Smelling the food.
Engaging with the food.
Licking the food.
And some exposures are going to be more “powerful” than others.
For years I (Jess here again!) offered my kids guacamole. It was on the table and they could choose to try some or not. Well, you can probably guess what happened with my less-than-adventurous eaters. They never wanted to try it.
It wasn’t until I intentionally got them involved in making the guacamole that they became interested in trying it. They had fun being the chef and deciding whether it needed more lime, garlic, salt, etc.
So I decided to use this same principle with eggs! After placing the pan of scrambled eggs on the table, I brought over the salt and pepper shakers. I told my kids that they could be the chef of their own plates and figure out how much salt and pepper would taste right for them. They had fun putting a little sprinkle on, taking bites, and determining whether there was enough yet.
Getting kids involved in food prep helps them take ownership of the dish. When they have ownership, they feel a sense of pride. This, in turn, creates more intrinsic interest in the food itself; and opens their mind up to the possibility that they may actually enjoy the taste of it!
Here are a few ways you can get your children to assist you in cooking eggs:
- Cracking the eggs into a bowl (wash hands well after handling raw eggs)
- Whisking eggs
- Scrambling or flipping eggs (older children)
- Or just getting them to be the chef at the table and decide how they want to season the eggs! This could be as simple as salt and pepper or you could get fancy and bring out other herbs and seasonings. Some kids also find eggs more approachable with a condiment such as ketchup or salsa.
5. Engage your toddler in play
You may have been taught not to play with your food as a child but we think that’s absolute bunk! Of course, there are times and places to eat politely, but when you’re just at home with your kids, playing with food can be super helpful for learning to like new foods! Children learn through play, and if your child is reluctant to try new foods at mealtimes, let them play with food outside of meal times. This lets your child have fun with food without the expectation to eat it or internalize any pressure.
Here’s what food play can look like:
You can read books, we love The Good Egg and How Did That Get in My LunchBox?
Dying eggs doesn’t have to be reserved for Easter traditions, you can do it year round.
Got leftover egg salad filling? Let your child finger paint or make shapes with it! This would be a great sensory experience.
Creating fun Emoji Eggs is a great way to get creative and truly, play with food.
Playing with pretend eggs and hosting a tea party with all of their stuffed animals is also considered food play!
We know that feeding toddlers can feel like an endless series of trials, especially when they’re not keen on your carefully planned meals. But remember, feeding is a long-term journey. You’re shaping their relationship with food for life—and it’s not about one meal or one day.
Introducing nutrient-dense foods like eggs in fun, engaging ways can make a big difference. Whether you’re offering scrambled eggs with veggies, baking them into muffins, or trying out new toddler-friendly recipes, keep offering without pressure. Toddlers thrive on routine, and the more they’re exposed to a variety of foods, the more likely they are to eventually give them a try.