A: My first question back to you is, do you like every food you eat? We all have foods that we just can’t stand and children are no different. However children also have to know that our kitchens and dining rooms are not restaurants where we can order whatever we want. The first step in trying to get our kids to eat is be patient. DO NOT E V E R force feed a child. Not only is this cruel and can potential harm the child, but will give the child a bad memory of that food and will turn them off more. Let not make this into a power struggle. The key is to be patient. Next is to be creative with how to make them eat. There is the “your 5 years old so all you need to take is 5 bites of (insert bad food here) and you are done”. Or “for every 2 bites of (food they love) you need to take 1 bite of (food they do not like)”. It will also help if you eat the same food with them, at the same time. Once they start to eat the food it is a good idea to give them some praise, however overdoing it for something that they should be doing may lead to more headaches in the future. If this still does not work there is one last hope that works in our home every time…ketchup. Kids love ketchup, or Ranch, or BBQ sauce. As long as they can dip it, they are sold.
Living the Scream
Saturday 31st of July 2010
This is great advice. My girls get so drama about some meals I make it's hilarious then they finally take a bite and they love it lol
alankarshilpa
Friday 30th of July 2010
I think involving kids make a big difference. It takes a little bit of planning and patience from the parent/care taker's part but it is well worth it. The things that worked with me:1. Play a game with what vegetables you like and what he likes. This could be done through pictures, or concrete objects. Who has more? You can do all sorts of activities that do not involve eating at that point.
2. Involve cooking something with them in the kitchen with them. You can involve him in finding out recipes, in the preparation and serving to others.. Simple peanut butter on celery stick boats, Broccoli trees on mashed potato etc are nutritious fun food.
3. Respect the child's dislike for some foods if he really gags at the thought of them but also expect the same respect from him not to reject every thing he is offered .The fact that even if you don't like certain new things you must give it a try must be introduced through role modeling, discussions and feed backs..
4. Give him only two choices not more than that. Don't ask what do you want for break fast and then force him to eat what you make. Rather give him two choices that you can live with - after that he may may have a choice to eat or not.
5. My relaxed attitude also helped sometimes. It is okay if a child does not eat all full meals all the time as long as there are nutritious food available in the long run.
Ditahttp://www.bead-z-mommys-business.com