Picky eating is usually a normal stage for a growing child.However, it can become a disturbing problem because our little ones miss out on a lot of vitamins and you waste a lot of good food, not even mentioning all the stress. Usually the list of what picky eaters don’t eat includes vegetables,fruit, low fat dairy, skinless meat and fish and basically everything what is healthy. But there are some ways which at least worked for me and maybe will make your everyday routine easier as well.
SHOP AND COOK WITH YOUR CHILDREN
Let your kids choose products in the supermarket, especially food from the categories they eat the least. For example, if your children don’t like vegetables, ask them to bring you the most beautiful tomato they can find and let them choose the vegetable they want, or I usually do it as a game,I ask to bring me the vegetable that looks like a tree and they bring me broccoli or cauliflower. Also, involve them in tasks such as measuring ingredients or washing the products, they will be proud of helping you to cook and will want to share it with others as well as eat it by themselves.
NO CLEAN PLATES
Usually parents tell or even force their kids to finish everything what’s on a plate. This is a huge mistake, doesn’t matter if your child is a picky eater or no. You should teach your kid to eat as much as he or she wants aka feels full. Sometimes we forget that our little ones have smaller stomachs, so remember this rule that a child must eat 1 tablespoon of food per age of the child for each dish, which means that if a child is 4 years old, he or she should get 4 spoons of chicken, 4 spoons of vegetables and 4 spoons of rice as an example. This rule can help to stay healthy and happy. Extra tip, if your newborn baby is crying and doesn’t want to eat try play with him/her, take the bottle of his/her milk and use it as a toy or tease your baby a little bit,usually babies want something after showing them that they cannot have it.
SERVE NEW MEALS
Aside the old ones that they already like. This trick worked for me very good, my child was crazy about rice, he could have eaten rice with everything and for every meal. I was very desperate in the beginning because I wanted to cook something different than rice, so I decided to give rice with different products and every time reducing the portion of rice. In the beginning was rice with chicken and peas, later was rice with couscous chicken and tomatoes, etc. I know that some people will say that it’s not good to give rice and couscous or rice and noodles at the same time, but I used to add only one spoon of rice and one spoon of as an example noodles, so my son did not get too much calories. Anyway, it really worked and I think that my picky eater did not even notice that I changed his beloved rice with different products, so maybe it will work for you too.
TRY 11 TIMES
Researches proved that children might accept some things like food, toy, clothes etc. only after offering them it for 11 times! I know it sounds crazy but it doesn’t cost to try it. Off the topic, when I had a newborn he didn’t stop crying no matter what I did but after picking and putting him back to the crib eleven times or trying to feed him also eleven times it worked. Is it a coincidence? I don’t know but worth a try. So, try to serve your picky eater the same broccoli for eleven times and even let him play with it and see, maybe he or she will finally decide to try it. And if your baby cannot stop crying because he/she doesn’t want to eat the food you serve,give him/her the favorite snack and encourage that if he/she eats this snack now then later he/she will have to eat the meal you served now.
Every child is unique and some of them might accept these tips and some no, but don’t forget that it’s just a short period in their lives and I can assure you that as much as your children eat it will be enough for them and if you are worried about the immune system, give them some vitamins with their favorite juice or any drink. I hope that these tips will be useful and you will find a way to persuade your picky eater to try something new.
Until Next Time,
Amanda Maxwell