After a long day and preparing your family a nice hot meal, you sit down at the table to hear these words come out from your child’s mouth ‘I don’t want this, I’m full. Can I have chocolate instead?’. What do you do? You probably just whispered something under your breath as this is a common reality for some parents. Fussy eaters can be exhausting especially when you have more than one child and they are both fussy eaters. You end up cooking 3 separate meals to accommodate everyone’s wants and we all know that this is just unnecessary stress. So, what measures can be taken to reduce the complaints from our mini food critics?
The first step is consistency. You cannot give in sometimes and other times be very firm as this is confusing to a child. Also, be consistent with the time you have meals. This way children will be expecting food. If you give up once, they will try and get this result every time.
Offer a variety of food. This means giving them 2 things they like on their plate and 1 thing they don’t like so much. This way they aren’t eating a whole meal they don’t like, just a small portion of something they do not like this week and will probably be fine with tomorrow.
Sneak food into meals. This can sound a bit deceptive but what they don’t know doesn’t hurt them or you. Try grating up veggies into sauces as most of the time they will go unnoticed making for a much smoother meal time.
Eat as a family. We have mentioned the importance of family mealtime in other blogs but this will also help when feeding fussy eaters. Not only will you have a full view of what is going on but you will also get to use a good distraction technique. As soon as you hear ‘I don’t like this’ or ‘I want to eat nuggets instead’ change the subject ask them how school was or how they are doing in their favourite subject at school. By changing the topic, your child will most likely forget about what they are even eating and stop complaining.
Finally, praise your children. Tell them that you are proud they ate everything but avoid doling this very common mistake. Praise by rewarding with dessert. By giving your child desserts a reward, you are basically saying that desserts are superior food. This is the wrong message to give. All food should be equal and enjoyed in moderation.