A child’s appetite is a sensitive topic in every household, especially for parents whose children are picky eaters. Parents have immense responsibility to ensure that their children eat healthy and get all the required nutrients in their body to ensure growth and well-being. Listed below are a few tips that are sure to help you if your toddler is a picky eater:
1. You should respect their preferences
If your child doesn’t like certain foods, you should respect their choices and not force them into eating things they don’t like. If you do so, your child is likely to equate mealtime with anxiety and feeling pressured, and may lose their appetite altogether. Either ask your child what they want to eat and offer that to them, or give them healthy food options in small proportions from time to time.
2. Opt for healthy store-bought food
While healthy and store-bought do not often go together, there are certain options that parents can opt for. Not only are those options healthy, they are also delicious and come in attractive colors that are sure to attract your child and increase his/her appetite. The best baby food pouches in Australia are by Funch Food which include the highest quality fruits and grains which contain all the ingredients required for your toddler’s healthy growth.
3. Establish a routine
You need to establish a set mealtime routine for your picky toddler. This is because if they have regular snack times, they are likely to eat more, know that they are supposed to eat in a certain time frame, and are also likely to refrain from acting up during mealtimes.
4. Progress not perfection
If you are planning to feed your child newer ingredients, you need to start slow and small. Remember progress is what matters and not perfection, hence you should start with making your toddler get acquainted with the ingredient before feeding it to them. Allow them to touch, see and smell it, and eat it in smaller portions.
5. Make eating fun
Try to make eating new foods fun for your toddlers – make them eat foods that are rich in colors, vary in textures, have different aromas and different tastes. It your child doesn’t like carrots, for instance, introduce them to eating carrots with a dip that they like. Cut foods into different shapes using a cookie cutter. You can also use food picks to make eating fun for your child. Kids are also fond of eating food on a stick and you can make fruit sticks or cut vegetables into little cubes and add them on sticks to attract your child towards eating.
While it is very common for parents to get tried and give in to their child’s eating preferences, in the long run this is likely to affect their child’s preferences. They are likely to be more stubborn and fond of getting what they want in all contexts. Hence, parents should really make an active effort to alter their child’s eating habits.