We all want our children to eat well, eat independently and eat healthy. It all depends on us how we can accomplish it. How many of us actually trust our child to eat their food and even finish it? We think that the child will or will not eat properly and this can hinder their growth and development. Well, while we cannot deny this dilemma but at the same time getting into the habit of eating your own food has its advantages. It helps them explore their hunger, develop a taste for taste and eat independently to understand how much is enough and how much to eat. The challenge is how to execute it correctly to achieve the desired results. The absolute challenge is “How to motivate them to finish their food?”
Let us explore some simple rules that can help us beat this challenge:
Food Rules
As soon as the baby starts eating solids, it is important that we ensure the rule of “eating while sitting in one place”. You bet it will be challenging but then patience and consistency are the magic words. It would be a good idea to start with a high chair, car seat, or booster seat. You will get help during the journey also. Once this is done, half your work is done. It will really help if the child is able to have at least two meals a day with other family members at the dining table.
Meals on time
Toddlers eat small meals at frequent intervals. It is very important to set their meal time and stick to it. This kind of set helps their body clock and us to plan well for eating in those dedicated hours. We just need to ensure that they are not fed intermittently. Usually by the age of two, they eat six regular small meals.
Food is the only food
Do we look for easy distractions like phones or TV during mealtimes and want to get the work done? It is very important to do an active task at mealtime and not a passive one. It helps the baby to focus on his food, locate it and be alert about it. Some assertive and playful conversation is a better approach.
Diversity is the key
Children love colors and shapes, then why not make their food colorful and in different shapes? It is important to introduce all types of healthy textures, colors and tastes to children in food in the first 3-4 years of development. It creates a curiosity in them to explore the taste and texture. Don’t mess up. This is their way of finding food. This helps them develop tastes and ultimately makes them less fussy.
Pay attention to the parts
Children have small stomachs. A healthy and active child will always eat when he is hungry and stop eating when he is full. It is very important that we provide the right amount of food. Excess food can overwhelm the baby and the fuss will never end. We can always provide a refill if needed.
Say No to Power Play and Bribery
“If you finish your meal, I’ll let you watch some TV”. Does this sound familiar? Bribing a child to finish eating is a very short-term solution. Losing patience or fighting again to finish the meal doesn’t help in the long run. Learn to be patient. Take it easy, take it slow and always follow the mealtime protocol.
Watch and learn
Children imitate best. It is important that family members ensure that they finish their meals. Toddlers will look up to them and understand the importance of finishing food, especially from peers and siblings.
Appreciation
Every child comes with a different attention span and temperament. Don’t stress! It is important to acknowledge the child after they have finished their meal with praise such as “Good job,” “You are doing well,” or “Well done.” If they leave a little we should still appreciate it by saying “you did well and you can do better”. It motivates them to do better. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect 10 on 10 results, don’t you think?
All days are not equal
There are days when the child is stressed or tired and may not eat well or finish eating. It’s okay if they eat less or skip meals on occasions because they want to relax. Once their body clock comes back into routine. Take rest.
Be consistent and patient
We all know that raising a child is not an easy task. It is always a work in progress. The battle is won by being consistent in following the rules of mealtime. Understand that young children can be the most disciplined human beings. Just remember patience is the key to endurance and persistence is a key characteristic of parenting.
With kids, it’s important to keep their schedules and meal times as an alternating schedule. When kids are active, they are bound to feel hungry and when they feel hungry they will definitely eat the desired portion. It is up to us to analyze whether our child is good enough and give him a fair share and the freedom to say “no” when he is full. The idea is not to force feed just for finishing. The idea is to ensure that the child eats well enough, eats healthy and remains active. Just follow this rule – Run, Patience and Perseverance.