Use the exposure monitor to keep track of how often foods have been offered to your child and to log whether or not they were tasted or eaten.
It can take time to learn to like the flavour and texture of foods. Many children (and adults!) require up to 15-20 exposures to a food before they will taste it. This means that a food may be refused 15-20 times.
Repeated refusals can be frustrating and are easily misinterpreted as a clear indication that the child just does not like the food.
Research suggests that most parents do not persist in offering a food beyond five rejections. Therefore, there is a clear difference between how many times a food should be offered, and what is common practice.
For parents, trying to remember how many times a food has been offered can be difficult. In order to help with this monitoring process, and to ensure that foods are not removed too soon from a child's diet, we have developed a simple exposure monitor.
How does it work?
The exposure monitor works by providing parents with a simple and easy-to-use way of recording exposures to food.
It allows parents to record every time a food is offered. There is also the option to add additional information related to how the food was offered, such as if it was given as a snack or a meal, or whether it was raw or cooked.
The aim of this tool is to encourage parents to keep offering foods. After 20 exposures you will hopefully be able to see how acceptance has improved, and what types of exposure may work best with your child. If after 20 exposures your child has still not tasted or eaten the food, further guidance will be suggested.
Please note: The exposure monitor tool works with the information that you provide and so it is unique to you.