“Nooo, I don’t like that greens!”“Mama! I don’t want rice. I want fries!”

Many a time while eating in the public, I’ve come across shout-outs like this from toddlers to their parents. They started to put up a fight with their parents when asked to consume certain diet. It is always the healthy version of diet that toddlers tend to pick on. In this battle between parents and children, need not to say, the winners always go to the little ones.

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Indeed, picky eating is a common behaviour in toddlers aged 1-6 years old. It is part of a child development whereby toddlers are constantly exploring new things and learning their likes and dislikes.

During the first year of life, infants rapidly grow and achieve triple of their birth weights by one year old. However, when they enter the second year of life, they develop food preference and this is when their appetites change causing a slowdown in their weight gain.

Parents often find picky eating a difficult situation to handle especially when toddlers refuse to eat. So how should you tackle this picky eating behaviour in your child?

Here are the ten survival tips for you:

1. EATING TOGETHER

Eating together as a family is important to cultivate a healthy eating habit in children. Toddlers tend to model from their parents. Hence parents should demonstrate a good eating habit by preparing and eating a variety of healthy food themselves.

Eating together with siblings or other peers also make your child less picky when he sees others are eating the same food. Always prepare your toddler the same food as you but in his portion.

However, keep your child away from distractions during meal time. This includes no television, hand phones and even toys. Instead, talk to your toddler to foster a better bonding.

2. MAKE EATING A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE

Always start from small amount when you introduce a new food and increase according to your toddler’s appetite. Praise your child if he managed to finish his food; but avoid scolding your child if he spilled his food. This make eating a fun and enjoyable experience for your child.

While many parents tend to over-react when their children pick on certain food, try to ignore it. Sometimes, your toddler picks on food not because he dislikes it but because you give an interesting response to it. For example, if your toddler dislike green leafy vegetables, you should not make a fuss or give in. Instead, keep trying to offer on different occasions.

3. AVOID BRIBING

Try not to encourage your toddler to finish his portion of meals by offering another food or drinks as a treat. For example, ” If you finish up your vege, mommy will give you sweets/chocolate!”

This may instill a wrong idea to your toddler that he would only eat that particular food if you offer him a reward and encourage even more on his picky eating.

4. AVOID PUNISHMENT

As bad as bribing your toddler, making a fuss or even punish him for not eating a particular food may give a negative impact to your child. He may even develop hatred towards the food.

If your toddler refuse to eat, just take the food away and try again next time.

5. KEEP TRYING

It’s normal for a toddler to refuse new food and it may take up to 10-15 attempts before he decided to give it a try. Hence, never give up if your child refused to eat the first few times. You may try serving the food again the next week.

While making attempts, set a limit to the meal time. For example, if your child hasn’t eaten the food for 20 minutes or more, take it away. But resist yourself from offering him a snack later on.

6. OFFER A VARIETY OF FOOD

At these ages, the 5 main food groups that your child requires are:

Fruits
Vegetables
Proteins
Grains
Dairy

Always provide a balanced and great variety of food choices to your toddlers which consist of all these food groups. You may replace or interchange food from the same group depending on your toddler’s preference. For example, if your child refused to take rice, you may replace it with noodle or spaghetti. Likewise, you may interchange broccoli with any other green leafy vegetables or carrots.

7. MAKE HEALTHY FOOD IN A FUN AND CREATIVE WAY

Just like adults, toddlers’ appetites may be affected by the presentation of food. You may cut vegetables and fruits into different shapes and arrange them in an attractive way.

You may also prepare the same food in different recipes to enhance on the eating experience. For example, you may mash the potato or prepare it in wedges. Bear in mind, your child may like a certain food to be cooked in one way but not another.

8. FOOD BRIDGES/FOOD PAIRING

When your toddler starts to accept a new food, you may then introduce him another new food of the same texture or flavour. For example, if he likes mashed potato, you may introduce him mashed pumpkins. While doing this, always pair unfamiliar taste with a pleasant and familiar one. This may help your child to accept the new food better. For example, when you prepare broccoli (bitter), you may pair it with corn (sweet taste).

9. INVOLVE YOUR CHILD IN MEAL PREPARATION

Children will get more motivated when you involved them in food preparation. This can start from letting your toddler to help in:

Buying the ingredients
Washing and cutting the fruits or vegetables
Choosing a recipe

They tend to be less picky when they are involved in the meal planning. Encouraging your toddler to self-feed from young also reduce the risk of picky eating later.

10. GIVE YOUR CHILD FOOD INDEPENDENCE

Offer few healthy food choices to your toddler and let him decide what to eat. But limit this to 2-3 options as too many options may confuse him. In this way, you are allowing your child to have independence yet at the same time ensuring he is having a range of healthy food.

For example, ” Would you like to eat carrot or tomato?”

Allow your toddler to decide how much to eat but avoid offering him snacks or food until the next planned meal. He will then learn that he can’t be fussy as no food will be offered to him later. Also, avoid filling up your child with drinks or snacks before introducing new food. Toddlers tend to eat better when they are hungry or no other options are given.

If your child remains eating within a small range of food despite all the efforts and not growing according to his age, this is time for you to make a visit to paediatrician nutritionist for further assistance.

At the same time, shop for healthy toddler’s foods and snacks at Motherhood.com.my to ensure that your kids are getting the nutrients that they need.

References: AAP, raisingchildren.net.au