As you all know I am the proud owner of my very own fussy eater and I am constantly thinking of ways to get him to eat a wider variety of food than he currently eats. Therefore I turned to an expert, Kerry Secker, for her thoughts. Kerry has 18 years experience helping parents feed their children and overcoming their fads and fussiness and she gave me some great advice so I asked her to share her wisdom with all my lovely MyMiniMeals friends. I hope you find this as useful as I did so Kerry – it’s over to you!

“Kerry Secker – Kerry Cares Parenting”

Nothing is guaranteed to get a parent more stressed out and frustrated than dealing with a “fussy eater”. I know only too well from experience the frustration, anger and hair pulling that comes from having spent time preparing a delicious meal, only for them to look at it with distain, pick at it or worse, refuse even a mouthful!

Here are my tips to get even the most reluctant of eaters chowing down and enjoying their food!

1)  Meal Preparation

Food Phases

Most children will go through a fussy or refusal stage at some point. Teething, illness or even a change in their routine can have an effect on their appetite. If this is the case keep offering foods and don’t force it, it too shall pass once they are through it.

Fussy Or Full?

You would be surprised how many parents think they have a fussy eater because they aren’t eating what they feel is a big enough portion for them. Children have very small tummies and get full quickly. They may not be fussy they just may be full! Trust your child’s appetite – our portion sizes today are way out of proportion for our children.

Keep A Diet Diary

The first thing I always get parents to do is write down all the separate foods they will eat and the meals plus quantity they have eaten over a week period. This way you can clearly see what the child is taking in and you may be surprised just how varied it is!

Show Them How To Eat

Children do as they see and that starts with you! Let them see you eating a varied and healthy diet and really enjoying it. Eating should be a pleasure and something to look forward to, so eat try and eat with them when you can and talk about your day and the food you are eating.

Get Them Involved

Let them pick a recipe from a book, write the shopping list and then enjoy the supermarket together. If you are feeling brave you could let them pick a food of their choice and then cook it together.

Menu Plan

For older ones you could give them some control over it and plan a menu for the week together, then stick to it! For some fabulous and delicious recipe ideas that are great for fussy eaters look no further than this site!

New With Old

Introduce new flavours and foods with food you know they like. It can take 20 appearances before it is accepted so don’t give up if refused at first but keep on putting a small portion on the plate. With older ones you could have them make a chart of all the new foods they are going to try and have them put a smiley face when they have tried it and a tick when they like it!

2) Eating Etiquette

After the preparation comes the actual eating:

Try to keep meals to regular times. A baby or child that is tired will be less likely to eat well.

Keep meal time calm and low key.

Eat and chat with them.

Present food well and keep portions smaller than you think. For a real fuss pot I would just offer little bits so as not to overwhelm them.

Don’t watch them like a hawk to see if they eat.

If they don’t eat or don’t eat as much as you think they should, don’t force, bribe or cajole them. Respect their appetite.

Keep negative talk away from the table.

Keep all of your emotions away from the table. If it is bothering you it is best not to let them see it does.

Encourage and praise when they do eat but don’t go over the top. Saying how lovely does the food taste is better than telling them how good they are for eating.

When they have clearly had enough and start to push it around or play with it, wrap it up. Don’t wait for them to get distressed. Don’t comment on how little, badly they have eaten.

One Last Very Important Thing

If your baby or child is bright eyed and bushy tailed they are likely to be getting enough nutrients and eating enough. If your child starts to lose weight or lacking energy please get in touch with your GP.

For more information or to get in touch for a friendly chat with Kerry please visit:

www.kerrycaresparenting.com