Have you ever felt like you are raising the harshest food critic in your house and he/she is only two years old? Have you ever felt so helpless you wanted to scream at lunchtime? Getting toddlers to eat the food you prepare for them is sometimes challenging. Toddlers are picky and stubborn.
In addition to preparing simple foods that they like, you can try a few ways to get them to eat better.
- Make mealtime a fun time for them. Start telling a story and keep it in sequence. When it is time to eat tell them you are going to tell them the rest of the story. To make it even more attractive, use your toddler as a character in the story. Kids love it. Exercise your creativity and have fun!
- Have a set time for them to have breakfast, lunch and diner. Make sure they don’t eat for a couple of hours before their mealtime, so they are hungry enough to enjoy their food.
- Let them eat their food themselves. It gives them a great sense of achievement. They gain a lot of self-confidence too. Encourage them to eat themselves using the right utensils and recognize their great job. Be patient and be ready to spend a few minutes to clean up after they are done eating. This is a great exercise for your patience.
- When you see they are getting bored of eating, play an eating game with them. For example, ask them if they can close their eyes and eat or hold one foot up and eat at the same time. You will have fun. Kids will surprise you with their comic acts.
- Don’t let kids watch TV or play with their tablets, or even have their toys on the table while eating. Instead, talk about where the food is coming. No horror stories, please!
- Don’t rush the kids. They need to enjoy their experience of eating and experimenting the food. May be we can learn something here from our kids!
- If the kid is upset wait a little before you feed him/her. Kids tend to resist eating when they are upset. As adults, we do stress eating, kids do the opposite.
Eating should be a pleasant experience for kids. Whenever possible have the entire family have a sit down meal. As adults, we tend to forget that mealtime is a very important part of our day. Not only we attend to our body’s needs, we also attend to our social needs by listening to others, teasing each other and just having fun. A lot of major life and business decision are made at the dinner table.
Don’t forget that children know when they are full. They can’t eat an adult portion. Try to avoid to encourage overeating.
Eileen Manoukian
Doctoral Candidate in Early Childhood Education
Founder and director of Gem Educare
http://www.GemEducare.com
Gem Educare 