How do I get my toddler to want to eat?
How do I get my toddler to want to eat?
If you’re beginning a feeding intervention- or starting a feeding routine with your child there are some things you can do to set yourself up for success. First, restrict your child’s snacking throughout the day. If they are going to snack, make sure they’re not eating anything 15-20 minutes before meal times. The same goes for drinks- restricting milk and juice will ensure your child isn’t filling up on liquids.
You can’t force your child to eat - but you can let hunger motivate them! Don’t be afraid that your child is hungry before a meal Hunger is a natural motivating factor that will increase your chances of them taking a bite! Restricting liquid intake and not allowing free reign on the snacking will set yourself up for some mealtime success.
How can I get my child to actually eat food when it’s in front of her at mealtime?
Restricting those snacks and drinks will be a big help! If your child has been filling up on pretzels and apple juice all afternoon- they’re not likely to eat all their veggies at dinner.
Another step that will greatly increase your chances of success is setting up a consistent meal time schedule. The schedule allows consistency in time of day as well as duration of meal times. If your family is eating dinner everyday at say, 4:00 pm and actually engaging in eating for 20-30 minutes your child’s body will naturally begin to feel hungry at this time of day. Research also shows that consistency in schedules decreases problem behavior (like tantrums).
Eating together at the same time is also a great opportunity to model to your child good eating habits! The more foods you eat in front of your child- the larger your child’s food repertoire will be! When you are eating your veggies make sure your face says “THIS IS DELICIOUS”! And make sure you mean it, your child will be able to tell!
Why do I need to collect data?
If you attended the first picky eating seminar, “Just Take a Bite”, you heard Tara talk about keeping a food diary or “food log”. Food logs can be as simple as the date, time and duration of meal, what the child ate and drank. A food log is important because often progress is slow. Keeping data will ensure you can see the progress that your child is making so you know the steps you have taken are in fact working. Any progress should be celebrated!
Why use toys or anything other than social praise to reward a child for eating?
If you are the parent of a picky eater you probably already know that food isn’t rewarding to all kids. Of course, there are many children who love dessert! For those kids, using a preferred food after they eat their veggies works great!
Some other desirables could be a Youtube video, a TV show, or simply leaving the table. Maybe what your child really wants is for dinner to be over. So first they eat the green beans, then they can leave the table! You could even create a treasure box for them to choose a toy from after they take that bite!
Positive reinforcement is proven to increase their behavior. So go ahead and let them watch their favorite Youtube video or play with a special toy after they have eaten all of their carrots!
How do I get my toddlers to eat new foods (like vegetables!)?
You’ve followed all the steps to begin- you’ve restricted snacks and drinks, your family is on a schedule. Great! Still need some tips?!
The food game is a great - fun - way to introduce new food items to your child.
You want to start by designing it to your child’s interests. Do they love Paw Patrol? Paw Patrol food game it is! Is your child always singing “Baby Shark”? Put some sharks on that food game board! The food game uses baby steps in introducing your child to that new food. Holding the food, touching the food, licking the food, etc. And when they get to that step you’ve been working towards...praise your child! Has your child held a brussel sprout that would have previously led to a tantrum? Woo-hoo! It’s all about baby steps, but if a child wants to skip some steps- of course- allow them! Do they want to skip licking and jump to taking a bite? Even more reason for a celebration!
What foods should I introduce first?
It is actually recommended to introduce foods that your child has already successfully eaten in the past. Using foods that are already in your child’s repertoire allows you to begin successful.
How should I handle problem behavior during meal times?
Stay consistent. Problem behavior is bound to happen. Often children learn that if they engage in a tantrum, they’re able to escape or avoid eating. Planned ignoring is an effective strategy to handling problem behavior at meal times. So when your child starts crying because they don’t want their broccoli- keep eating your dinner and ignore the crying. Don’t forget to praise and reward appropriate eating behaviors and model how yummy the broccoli really is!
How can you tell if a child doesn’t like a texture or a flavor?
Remember how we discussed taking data? This is another instance where data is helpful! In a food log you can look for patterns that may indicate flavors or textures your child is aversive to.
Keep in mind, it takes trying a food 15-20 times before an individual can establish a preference. So, be consistent and don’t give up! After an extended amount of time you can explore other similar foods or look into the possibility of a sensory problem.
How to get toddlers to consistently feed themselves?
You can use small steps and positive reinforcement to achieve this! Perhaps you begin with two bites. That is how many bites your child needs to do themselves to get access to a reward. Remember their reward can be a food item (dessert) or it can be a video or toy. When they master taking two bites independently during a meal then you can increase it to three or four. Gradually increase the amount of independent bites required for your child to gain that reward.