When your children have difficulty eating it can be due to being highly sensitive. Here are a few pointers to help you tackle this. It will not solve the problem over-night but with patience, you can see change little by little:
Top 10 Tips...
when you havepicky eaters:
I am by no means a doctor nor nurse or health specialist. These tips are taken from my experiences as a mother of five.
- Put a small portion on the plate at first. As little as you dare, to still manage to say: "Well done". It is easier to eat a little and then have seconds than to eat one large portion.
- Arrange the food nicely on the plate and do not mix the foods; keep everything separate on the plate.
- Make 'kid's food', like lasagna, tortilla wraps with minced beef, meatballs with potatoes, chicken with rice, egg & bacon, and spaghetti Bolognese.
- Have vegetables along with every dinner. You can boil carrots along with potatoes to make it more interesting. Or you can cut cucumber, pepper fruit, and carrot sticks or even have canned corn. Anything that will make it easier to start eating a little at first. It will help increase the appetite.
- Have different colours on the plate. For instance cucumber, red pepper, and corn along with pita bread. Other ideas are broccoli, olives, tomatoes, and yellow peppers.
- Be a good example and eat those vegetables as well...!
- Have them help you with cutting vegetables. Depending on the child, they should be able to use a sharpish knife from about the age of six. It will create a feeling of accomplishment and pride - and you should experience fewer complaints about eating it.
- Do not make them eat up out of principle - especially if they did not choose what is on the plate. It can make them resent food and make it worse over time.
- Do not expect too much. Know that children, at times, do not eat much. It is completely normal. And my experience is that most children from 3 - 10 years old have periods of pickiness. As long as they are not full from eating sweets or crisps, that is. This brings me to the last one:
- Cut down on anything sweet and salty, like sweets, ice cream, chocolate bars, crisps, chips, juice, squash, and the like. It will fill up those little tummies and leave little space for real - and healthy, food.
As a parent/grandparent, what tips do you have to make children eat more (of the good stuff)?
Drop me an e-mail or write a comment on Facebook.
If I get a bunch, I'll write the top 10 in a new blog.