Dealing with Picky Eaters

Many young children are picky eaters with about 1 in 4 choosing to reject food that is new to them or food that they have previously eaten. Unpicking what is a natural part of their development, a phase or our own reactions to their refusal to eat certain foods can be tricky.

Choosing to refuse some foods is a normal part of young childhood. In fact, it is thought that the shaking your head as the action to indicate ‘No’ comes from turning your head away from food when you were a baby. It also makes sense in evolutionary terms when a child moves from the mouthing stage before they were mobile to being mobile and able to access many more things to put in their mouths, many of which could be dangerous or poisonous.

That doesn’t make it any easier though for the parent who has lovingly prepared a dish only to have their child completely refuse to try it. They could also be protecting themselves from other adults who make it obvious that they disapprove of a child not eating something, or indeed everything on their plate.

Our ultimate aim is for our children to have a relaxed and easy relationship with food and not to use it as a way to feel in control or out of control!

Top tips

· Introduce lots of new foods at an early age

· Hide your frustrations, act like you are going for an Oscar

· Cook with your child, especially savoury foods

· Feed your child healthy snacks. Keep them to hand — prepared fruit always goes faster than that in a fruit bowl

· Make food fun and appetising — e.g. serve a picnic selection in an old egg carton, or picnic on a rug indoors in winter

· Show them where food comes from — grow cress, visit the allotments, pick apples and blackberries

· It’s OK to hide some veggies, blitzing lots of vegetables with tinned tomatoes makes a lovely pasta sauce

· Don’t give them milk in the couple of hours before a meal otherwise they may fill up on that and then not eat food. Weaning is a time to reduce milk and add in and increase different foodstuffs.

· Always serve meals and snacks when your child is sitting down, ideally at a table and try to eat with them. Model the behaviour you want to see and use the time as a catch-up time. At nursery we talk about what has happened since we last saw the child, what we want to do that day or what we have done already.

· Have regular meal and snack times — serve each meal at around the same time each day and build up a routine including serving similar type items at each meal, so fresh fruit at snack time, a hot supper etc.

· Puddings — you don’t have to serve a pudding, just because that is what you got when you were at school doesn’t mean you have to now and if you get into the habit it is very hard to break. Make puddings special, not an everyday treat.

· Don’t over feed your child — serve small portions and then help them to more if they want some, when they are old enough allow them to help themselves. From 3 years we put central bowls out on each table with serving spoons.

· Encourage your child to eat the amount that they want. ‘You must eat everything on your plate’ or ‘just one more mouthful’ will make them think eating more is good. The biggest threat to their lives is from obesity and the related ill health effects. You want a self-regulated child who eats enough for their needs but no more.

When to seek help

There are some instances when you need to seek outside advice and help:

· If your child has problems swallowing, chewing or digestive issues.

· If your child eats only one or two textures, e.g. only puree or dry crunchy food.

· Seems very anxious when faced with unfamiliar or disliked foods.

· Has a reaction that indicates an intolerance or allergy, keep a diary as this will help the doctor when you go to them.

· When your child rejects a whole food group or whose eating restricts family meal times especially by the time that they have started school.

Finally try and see it all in proportion, don’t make mealtimes a battleground, have fun and relax and keep serving a wide variety of foods, after 18 years my child finally decided that rice was OK!

When you feel at the end of your tether remember, it takes the average human 67 days to starve to death if they are drinking water, so missing a meal won’t affect your child much and everyone feels different levels of hunger at different times. It’s the pattern that makes up the picture, not one meal.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Did you know we are on Instagram too? Check us out: @beachbabiesnursery

Tracy