Your toddler is at it again, exercising his independence by deciding he doesn’t want to eat the food you have made. He doesn’t eat anything you’ve prepared or put in front of him at the table. Worse still, his stubbornness lasts for days on end. If you approach a strong-willed child head on, chances are you are just going to get into a battle of wits. Strong willed children want to win, and so do you! However, you can persuade your child to eat by learning to cope with a picky eater, creating a positive eating environment, and serving appropriate food.
Coping With A Picky Eater
1Learn and understand you child's feelings. Instead of thinking to yourself, “For what possible reason could my child be refusing to eat tonight? I cooked the best meal tonight”, try putting yourself in their shoes.
- Your child may be struggling with a fear of food.
- Some toddlers, usually around the age of two, are caught in this dilemma.
- It is called food neophobia, which is the fear of trying new food.
- This is normal and most toddlers experience this at some point.
- Sometimes, it takes around 10-15 times before your child becomes familiar with a certain food.
- Be patient enough to understand that their taste buds will adjust to it in time.
2Expose your child to different food. Let your child become familiar with what you want him to eat by broadening his culinary horizons.
- Allowing him to try various types of food will let him choose the foods he likes, and give you more insight as to his tastes.
- Most parents make the mistake of introducing new foods too fast and if the toddler pushes the food away, they give up easily.
- When introducing new foods to a toddler, you should be ready to reintroduce it at least a minimum of 10 times.
- You have to keep at it, because toddlers have the resilience to refuse food they don’t want.
3Make food more attractive and interesting. Think of ways to make food more enjoyable, to allow your child to have fun trying new things.
- Try decorating the food in a way that your child will enjoy.
- You can make food more colorful, but still keep it healthy. For example, try adding toppings like melted cheese, tomato sauce, or applesauce.
- Cut pancakes, pizzas, and sandwiches into interesting shapes and patterns. You can use a cookie cutter for a more precise cut.
- Try planting vegetable in your garden and let your child be involved in growing the vegetables. He might be more interested to eat them after taking care of these veggies.
4Prompt your child to exercise and be active. In order to work up an appetite, your child needs to be exercising and using up energy throughout the day.
- Make sure your child is involved in a daily exercise routine.
- Play sports with your child during the day.
- Try swimming classes or peewee football.
- However, keep in mind that you shouldn't let your child become too tired to eat.
5Limit your child's fluid intake right before mealtimes. Do not give your child large drinks right before eating, to avoid loss of appetite.
- If your child is thirsty, give him water.
- Remember, a child who drinks a lot of milk throughout the day may be less hungry than a child who is limited to water.
6Create a consistent schedule for your child’s meals. Decide on how many times you plan to feed your toddler throughout the day.
- Ideally, you can have three main meals and two snacks in between them.
- Give your child a heads-up 10-15 minutes before mealtime.
- This works well as your child will begin to anticipate mealtime.
7Limit your child’s mealtime to 30 minutes to enforce the schedule. Let him eat his fill during that span of time.
- If he is not done eating after 30 minutes, take away his food and wait for the next scheduled mealtime.
- In between, you can give your child a healthy snack if they are very hungry.
- However, do not offer snacks directly before or after a schedule mealtime, as this will break down the schedule you have set up.
- Do not spend too much time pressing your child to eat. This will only make him anxious and frightened.
8Prepare food with your child. Getting your child involved in food preparation is a great way to have them feel more connected to their food.
- Your child could do basic food handling, like mixing ingredients or spreading fruit jam on crackers.
- He also could participate by helping you do the plating, which could be appealing to him.
- These simple tasks will encourage your child to eat their own creations.
9Make shopping lists and shop with your child. Bring your child with you as you shop for the ingredients that you need to cook.
- This way he will be able to be more familiarized with the food that you are preparing.
- While in the supermarket, give him a little background about the food and its nutrients.
- Make a list of the food that he has eaten during the past week. You can try making a new menu, which should include the four main food groups (starchy foods, protein, dairy products, fruits and vegetables).
- Do not include soda and junk food on your grocery list, because these products can have a very detrimental effect on your child's health.
- Take note of your child’s allergies and make sure that you do not include these ingredients in your menu.
- Be aware of dangerous foods that might cause poisoning or choking, like raw or partially cooked eggs, raw carrots, whole nuts, popcorn, tea and coffee, or fish that might contain mercury.
10Stick to one alternative food to defuse a power struggle. Strong-willed kids as young as 2 or 3 know when and how to make parents cave in. They will refuse and refuse until you give in to their whims.
- However, giving in is a surefire way for them to get what they want.
- Often, your child is refusing to eat not because they don’t want to, but because there is another food more enticing to them than what you have prepared.
- If your toddler adamantly refuses to eat his meal, you can tell him he has an alternative; give two healthy choices only and make him prepare his alternative meal.
- This way he realizes that there’s “work” involved in making his meal and it’s not a “fast food” thing where he gets to demand what he wants from you and you immediately obey.
- Making him prepare his alternative food each time he refuses to eat teaches your toddler responsibility.
11Read books to encourage your toddler to eat. Reading books about food could encourage your toddler to eat.
- Books like The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food by Stan and Jan Berenstain, and Gregory the Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmat are some toddler books that your little one will enjoy reading with you.
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar is another popular favorite where the caterpillar eats a variety of foods while getting ready to become a butterfly.
- It sets a good precedent, in that it teaches your child that in order to grow healthy and beautiful, eating nutritious food is a must.
Creating a Positive Eating Environment
1Eat together to motivate your child. Eating together with your child can make eating a communal and fun time for your child.
- Although your toddler won't be able to say so, it can mean a lot to them to spend time eating together as a family.
- You and your other family members may have tight schedule, but it is very important to make sure you share one meal per day together.
- Avoid arguments during mealtime. Make your family’s mealtime pleasant.
2Share food with your toddler. Eat the same food as your toddler to make him feel better about eating it.
- Do not give him special food and don’t eat special food yourself, either.
3Demonstrate that you enjoy every bite of your food. Toddlers often learn through imitation, so showing how much you enjoy your food can set a positive example for your toddler.
- Be a good food role mode; if you want your child to eat broccoli, you must show that you eat it too.
4Encourage your child to eat while you are eating. Always make positive comments about the food as you eat, to show your child how delicious it is.
- Appearing convincing will make your child believe that the food is truly delicious.
5Make up stories about the food to engage your toddler. Making up stories and games with your child's food can make eating a fun experience for them.
- For vegetables, you could let your child eat them by pretending to be a big monster or alien who will eat up all the green trees (lettuce, cabbage, etc.) that he sees.
- You could make up stories with your child and pretend that he will become as green as the Hulk if he eats all his green leafy vegetables.
6Use positive reinforcement to make your child proud of eating. Positive reinforcement is when you give your child praise after eating.
- Some children appreciate it when they are being praised and complimented.
- Always praise your child when they eat their food properly.
7Invite your child's playmates over to make mealtime an event. You can try inviting your child’s playmate, neighbour, or classmate to eat together with him.
- Sometimes, children enjoy it when they eat with kids in their same age group.
- They are more likely to eat fruits and veggies when they see their friends eating them. Group feeding can motivate other kids to set as an example.
- You can serve them yogurt with fruit slices, berries, or even dried fruits.
- You can try adding healthy dips like cream cheese, guacamole, or peanut butter.
- Along with these, you can use a cute bowl, or their favorite dish and plate sets.
8Take away all the distractions while your child eats. Gadgets, TV, and toys won’t help while your child is eating.
- He will not be able to enjoy and concentrate on his food if he is too busy playing with his iPad or favorite toy.
- Let you child explore his food by touching and playing with it. Allow your child to make a mess instead of cleaning or wiping him once in a while.
- After your child gets older, they will be able to focus their attention on learning how to properly use utensils and table manners.
Serving Appropriate Food
1Put effort into making your child interested in their food. To make your child more interested in their food, consider offering two different courses that are from different food groups.
- This is especially helpful to ensure that your child will not get bored of eating the same thing.
- However, do not mix your child’s food with sweets like candies or chocolate. This will just create a craving for sweets and discourage them from eating normal foods.
2Include one of your child's favorite nutritious foods every meal. You may include at least one nutritious food that your child likes with every meal.
- Then you can dice small portions of vegetables into it, to make sure your child eats enough vegetables.
- For example, you can grate carrots onto your child’s macaroni and cheese.
- You can also cover the vegetables that you wanted your child to eat with their favorite sauce.
- You can serve your child a smoothie, which contains milk and healthy fruit.
- Give fruit juices in moderation to avoid tooth decay.
3Try making vegetable art with your child. Making vegetable art can be a good way to get your child interested in eating their vegetables.
- Use healthy ingredients like olives for the eyes, mushrooms for the nose, and pasta for the hair, etc. to create colorful and funny faces.
4Serve your child small portions to avoid overwhelming them. Just put a small portion in your child’s plate, because big servings will overwhelm your child and lead to a lessened desire to eat.
- You can also slice or mince your child’s food into smaller pieces, so he will not have difficulty chewing them.
- You may also want to offer your child a nibble tray since children usually binge on one food at a time.
- Make these finger foods more enjoyable by cutting them into small different shapes.
5Create a different ambiance as you and your child eat. Switching up the environment can add some novelty to your child's eating experience and make it more fun and engaging.
- You can try having a barbecue and eat by the poolside for a change.
- For added fun, having a picnic might also excite your child.
- You can also go to a restaurant that your child likes to get him into the groove of eating. Remember to stay away from eating food with too much salt.
- In case you are going to a restaurant where you are uncertain of the food that they serve, bring some fruit or snacks just to be sure that your toddler can still eat properly.
Sources and Citations
- "What Will We Eat Today - Dealing with Toddlers." Urbanext.illinois.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Aug. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Furbanext.illinois.edu%2Ftoddlers%2Feattoday.cfm>.
- "Feeding Your Toddler - Ages 1 to 3 Years." My.clevelandclinic.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Aug. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Fmy.clevelandclinic.org%2Fchildrens-hospital%2Fhealth-info%2Fages- stages%2Ftoddler%2Fhic-Feeding-Your-Toddler.aspx>.
- Maud, MD. "Toddler Food From 12 Months." Www.baby-medical-questions-and-answers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Aug. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.baby-medical-questions-and-answers.com%2Ftoddler-food.html>.
- Maud, Dr. "My Child Won't Eat - Help for Parents of Stubborn Toddlers Who Won't Eat." Www.baby-medical-questions-and-answers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Aug. 2014.
- Cettina, Teri. "How To Win Over Stubborn Children." Www.cnn.com. CNN, 26 Apr. 2011. Web. 19 Aug. 2014.