Just thinking about sitting down to breakfast with my kids makes me want to stay in my bed forever. I have one child who eats everything in sight, while my older child doesn’t eat enough to keep a bird alive. Life as a mom doesn’t have very many dull moments. Especially because our precious children become difficult very quickly when they realize that “hey, now is probably a bad time to be difficult.”
One of those times is mealtime. Kids (and especially toddlers) can be very picky. You’ve spent all afternoon making a dish so beautiful that you don’t know whether to send it to Parent’s Magazine or Southern Living. All of that hard work only for your creation to be refused and pushed away by those tiny little hands.
Pediatrician and Author Dr. Orlena Kerek shares that the keys to feeding a toddler a healthy diet are patience and persistence. Moms should offer children healthy meals and snacks at scheduled times each day. An example of a schedule would be breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and then dinner. Offer your child healthy foods each time, but don’t force it or bribe them to eat. It’s hard for most parents to accept this- but if your child doesn’t eat, a little hunger isn’t going to kill them. The next chance to eat is only a little while away.
Dr. Kerek summarizes her tips to help children who won’t eat as follows:
- Patience
- Persistence
- Regular healthy eating times
- Don’t pressure or bribe them
- Offer variety
- Family meals (perhaps not all the time, but frequently)
- Trust them (their appetites can be erratic, sometimes they won’t touch lunch, other times they’ll eat three bowls.)
- For Toddlers- let them feed themselves (it’s fine to help if they ask for it but letting them feed themselves fosters independence and lets them feel in control Worry about the mess later!!)
Dr. Orlena Kerek is a pediatric doctor. She is the creator and producer of SnottyNoses, a family and parenting site. Dr. Kerek is passionate about promoting a healthy lifestyle in children, especially healthy eating habits.
She has published a book Crunch! about how to help your children eat a healthy diet and her second book Feeding Toddlers: A Pediatricians Guide to Happy and Healthy Mealtimes was released at the end of August 2016.
About Brittany:
Brittany was born and raised in Alabama. She is a Wife and Mama of two sweet babies- her son John is two years old and her daughter Annie is ten months old. She is pursuing her degree in Home and Family Studies with an emphasis on Child Development from BYU. She is looking forward to writing for Birmingham Mommy in preparation for graduation in the Fall of 2016.
