Should I make some mushroom noses today or tomato ears or perhaps she will like the olive eyes? Sound familiar. Planning healthy foods for picky eaters is never easy but with some understanding and some tips, you can take the pressure off yourself and your child.
After sudden spurts of growth in a child, there are periods when the child s growth is more gradual in nature. Obviously, this means the child may simply not be able to eat more and we have to understand that. Also, they are leading far more active lives now and have still not acquired the discipline to sit through an entire meal and finish the food. You may also feel that your child tends to binge on one particular food a little more than the rest. Do not worry – studies have shown that if the child is allowed to eat what he wants and his eating pattern observed over say, a week, it is found that his intake would have been fairly well balanced!
Does this mean that we need not or should not worry ourselves about what our children eat and become picky eaters? Not at all, however, instead of turning every mealtime into a dreaded affair for you and your child, concentrate on developing healthy eating habits in the child. Here are some easy ways in which you can reduce mealtime hassles with your picky eater.
The first thing, Respect the fact that your child will eat only when he is hungry and that he only needs small servings to fill him up fairly quickly. Do not try to achieve results overnight or expect him to eat a well-balanced meal in one day. Try to get him to eat well-balanced foods over a week. And certainly do not let him have snacks right before meals. A hungry child is more likely to eat what is on the table.
While trying out new food, give him small quantities first. Do not worry if he does not like it the first time. Keep trying at regular intervals or you could try mixing it with some foods that he definitely likes example, you could try giving some pieces of hard-boiled eggs with his grilled cheese sandwich.
And yes, try and make it fun. Involve your child in planning, buying and also in preparing for meals. If the child is allowed to make his choices, under your careful guidance, you will notice that he ends up with a fairly well-balanced meal plan over the week. Take him with while shopping for food and let him pick out his choices from vegetables, fruits and other healthy items. Talk to him at all times on how what food is healthy and what is not. Allow him to help you while making meals. Children love to stir, shake or mix things up. Give your child salad to stir or batter to mix. It could get messy at times, but the results will be there for you to see. There are chances that your child will soon stop being a picky eater.
Grown ups should set good examples for the children by avoiding junk food at mealtimes themselves. The Internet has an amazing number of sites which will give you recipes and wonderful ideas for quick, delicious snacks for your child’s lunch or a family meal.
If your child is a picky eater, try not to convert him overnight but work with him in developing long-term healthy eating habits.
Popularity: 32%
September 12th, 2009 at 12:41 am
What the hell is this crap ?!!!! Respect your child? make it fun ????
HELLO !!!! You are the parent, they are the child, remember back in the old days when children did what they were told out of respect for their elders ? This is the meal I made for you, eat it or go hungry ! sound familiar to anyone over 30 ? I don’t know who the brain-dead jackass is who reversed the way things have been for the last 2000 years or who they think they are to change what has worked since the dawn of mankind, but I would love to beat them into a coma !!! Why are there bullys, why do kids shoot and stab each other in school ? why do children tell their parents what to do? can you say lack of respect ?!!!! where does that come from ? just a wild guess here but offhand my thought would be LACK OF DISCIPLINE?!!!!!! I swear the next time I’m in a store and hear your children tell you what to do, and you do it sheepishly I’M GONNA BEAT YOU !!! Be a parent ! let your kids know you are the “boss” you tell them the rules, you set forth guidelines, you determine right and wrong and they listen to you, follow your lead, do what their told to do, our they are PUNISHED ! No cell phone, video games, TV, friends hanging out at the house corrupting their morals, no MTV and rap gangsta bullshit music warping their minds…take control and make them live and learn true american values ! if you don’t know what those are, read the friggin constitution, study our founding fathers and their ethics and moral codes !
November 20th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
This is in response to Mark’s post.
I agree that children should show respect their parents and elders. But that is all. I have a diploma in Early Childhood Education and am furthering my education to a degree in Early Childhood Education. One of the many things I have learnt through school and hands on experience working with children, it is that every child is unique. The first 12 years of a child’s life will have an impact on their brain development and determine who they are going to be. The tips for the picky eater encourage positive situations, which will make for a positive child. Forcing a child to eat or go hungry may work, as it did for ‘anyone over 30′. But these negative situations may have a greater impact on some than others. Children misbehaving should be given direct consequences to their actions, not “punished”. What does that teach them? I do something bad, I get no toys? Or sit in my room? No Tv and my parents will yell at me? If you want to be respected, you have to earn respect. The same goes with children as it does with adults. If you make sense, the children will understand cause and effect and learn your expectations. If they make a mess, get them to clean it up. If they’re not listening, you sit them down and don’t let them do anything until they’re ready to listen, even if it takes all night. This is called parenting. The ” you tell them the rules, you set forth guidelines, you determine right and wrong and they listen to you, follow your lead, do what their told to do, our they are PUNISHED” is the easy way out. You want your children to not question anything in their lives? You want to instill fear in authority? You want them to be followers? I know I don’t want that for my children. Set your children up for success. If anything, violence and bullying comes from insecure children. Parents are the most influential to their children and I wonder what bullying them into doing things will cause…?
Think about it before you threaten to beat strangers in a store with different parenting styles. Keeping and open mind and positive attitude in life will get you farther.