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Is Your Child a Picky Eater?
When your little one has you dreading dinnertime due to her picky nature, take solace in the fact that kids aged 2 to 4 are hard wired to question what they put in their mouth—it’s a normal part of development.
And while that pickiness normally starts to subside after age 5, there’s a lot you can do to in the interim to make mealtimes more pleasant—and make sure you raise a good eater.
Involve your child in your meal
Have her grocery shop with you or visit the local farmer’s market, so she begins to understand where food comes from. Once you are back in the kitchen, have her help prepare the meal. Kids are more likely to be interested in eating dinner if they helped participate in its creation.
Refuse to be a short-order cook
Make one meal for the entire family instead of caving to your child’s demands for “kid” food. Think of it this way: your child is invited to enjoy the parent’s meal. It should never be the other way around.
Make mealtimes routine
By serving dinner at roughly the same time every night and sitting together at the table without distractions you send a signal that mealtime is a priority.
Never force it
Studies show the more times you expose a child to a food—roughly 10 to 15 times—the more likely he is to like it. Don’t give up on carrots until you’ve offered them repeatedly. And don’t force the issue with your child. If he’s not interested in a food you’re serving, don’t pressure him to eat it and don’t make a fuss. Just offer it again in a day or so.
Forget “clean platers”
Requiring your toddler to clean her plate before leaving the table just sets you up for a battle. Instead, allow your little one to choose what and how much she eats from the healthy options you serve. If a child comes to the table hungry enough, her innate hunger mechanisms will guide her to eat until she is satiated.
Don’t bribe with dessert
By rewarding a child with a cookie for eating his broccoli, you cement the idea that healthy foods are “bad” and sweet foods are “good.” You can avoid this common trap by treating all foods neutrally.
Above all, set a good example. No child will eat and enjoy peas if her parents blatantly dislike them. Therefore, more than anything else, you can encourage your child’s good eating habits by modeling healthy habits yourself.
I have pretty much broken every one of these rules at one time or another so just embrace the journey! And if you’d like recipe ideas, check out my cookbook: How to Get Your Kids to Beg for Veggies.
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Resources
Dinner Together: Building Healthy Families One Meal at a Time
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.
