Kids who eat anything and everything you serve to them during meals are godsend, well all kids are godsend but picky eaters can make life a little difficult for any parent. Almost every child has some sort of picky habit when it comes to food making it difficult for parents to ensure that their child gets all important nutrients he or she needs.
Here are some tips on getting your little one to eat those wholesome goodies you’ve prepared for them:
Talking them into eating
Talk to them, comment on the smells and the taste, and tell them how yummy it’s going to be. Yep, just like watching a cooking show, go on and be narcissistic about your cooking. If chefs on cooking shows can make you drool over their food with just words, so can you.
All at the table
When it comes to meal time, discipline is very important. You don’t want to be chasing your child around the room with a bowl and a spoon trying to get them to eat. Be firm and explain to them that meal times should be spent at the dining area.
“I cook, you eat”
Because some children are picky, mum ends up having to cook separate meals for different members of the family which means more time spent in the kitchen. This can emotionally and physically draining for her. Make it a rule that everyone eats the same thing at the dinner table and have healthy proportions of each dish.
Bribery
Always have a balanced serving of carbs, protein and fibre at each meal. If your child want to have more chicken or fish for example, make sure you get them to finish their veggies before serving them more meat in return. Don’t overfeed!
Cut out kiddie meals
Whenever we eat out, there’s always a kiddie meal on the menu and very often there are always junk food like fries included. It’s known fact that food products that are marketed for kids are often inferior in taste and flavor as compared to adult meals. Avoid these because it can set the standard of what is desirable to their palate hence birthing more picky eaters! The same goes for drinks, give them a taste of carbonated beverages and you’ll have a hard time getting them to drink plain water. Stick to fresh juices and not cordials for that once in awhile treat.
Wash, rinse, and repeat
If your children hates vegetables, don’t stop giving it to them or else their healthy will pay for it in the near future. Instead repeat introductions of any food over a period of time (not everyday though, try every few days) will slowly make them acceptable to the child.
The key to cultivating good eating habits is to be firm and instill healthy eating habits right from the very beginning. Don’t give in when your child cries and don’t sneak them junk food like nuggets or fries to pacify them. Children tend to detest vegetables and are quick to spot greens in their food, blended or not and in order to get them to be healthy, you need to have healthy eating habits yourself because children are quick to learn from example.
