Avoid becoming a short-order cook and preparing special meals for your child.Encourage him to touch, smell, lick, or taste the new food. Put new foods next to foods your child already likes.Some children are simply less likely to try new things based on their temperament-their individual way of approaching the world. Talk to your child’s health care provider about any nutritional concerns you may have.Give her an animal cracker to dip in the applesauce. If you’d like your child to try a “mushy” food, combine it with a crunchy food that she does like. Does your child have trouble with “mushy” foods? Then offer apple slices instead of applesauce, or a baked potato instead of mashed. Track your child’s food sensitivities and keep them in mind when preparing meals.Children need to be offered a new food as many as 10-15 times before they will eat it. Gently but frequently offer new kinds of foods.Offer several healthy food choices-among the foods your child does like-at each meal.Some children are sensitive to the taste, smell, or texture of food. Listed below are some of the most common causes of picky eating and ideas for how to respond. There are many reasons why a child may be choosier than usual at mealtime. What to Do About Picky Eating in Toddlers And if you are a “picky eater” yourself, then your young child is likely to imitate you in this behavior, just as she imitates the way you talk on the phone or the way you wave good-bye to her each morning at child care. In short, your young child will probably be less willing to try something new if you haven’t tasted it. A study found that mothers who showed (with their facial expressions, body language, or words) that they didn’t want to try a new food had children who also tended to refuse new foods (Carruth & Skinner, 2000). Avoid showing disgust or disinterest when trying new foods.Having a hand in making the meal increases the chances that your child will taste her “creation.” Have your little one assist with measuring, pouring, or stirring. Make sure that your own choices are in line with the foods you want your child to eat and enjoy. Eat a range of healthy foods yourself.What can you do to help your child enjoy a range of foods? Familiarity with foods is key, as a child may need to be exposed to new foods more than 10 times before they try it. This is probably not a big surprise since we are more likely to prepare the foods that we enjoy, so our children are more familiar with that group of foods than others. Research has found that parents’ food preferences are linked to their children’s food preferences (Borah-Giddens & Falciglia, 1993). This helps children learn what it feels like to be hungry and then full-and how to make healthy choices based on this awareness, i.e., eating when hungry and stopping when full. Children are responsible for what and how much they eat. Parents are responsible for providing healthy foods at meal- and snack-times. It is unrealistic to expect a toddler to eat a large amount of food at each meal everyday after all, a toddler’s stomach is approximately the same size as her clenched fist (Martins, 2002).Įllyn Satter, MS RD LCSW BCD, a researcher and practitioner in the field of pediatric feeding practices, explains that both parents and children have their own “jobs” to do when it comes to eating. Parents also need to be in touch with their own expectations about how much their toddler “should” eat. This consistency can help them feel safe and secure during a period of rapid change. During a time of great change, children often seek “sameness” as much as possible, including sticking to the same small group of foods. Toddlers are also learning lots of new skills, like talking, walking, running, climbing, and more. In addition, while children usually grow a lot and quickly in their first year, growth slows down in the second year. Other days they may not seem to eat much at all. So some days they may eat a lot of everything. They can now choose what and how much to eat, giving them some degree of control over their lives. Picky eating often surfaces around one year-a time when many children are beginning to feed themselves.
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