As a parent it is inevitable to be concerned
about your child's attitude of not eating a selection of foods, or total aversion
for all food. Many children turn out to be picky
eaters when they are toddlers and the
parents find it difficult to resist fretting over their toddler’s fussy eating habits. It gets worst if your experience is not of a partial fussy
attitude but a total and a complete picky eating habit.
My experience was daunting at first but I
gradually started learning tactics to handle the situation even though it is
not yet completely over. My toddler wouldn’t eat almost all food willingly, without
talks and persuasions. She thinks that she is doing me a favor to eat. She is
not moved to eat even with other children around eating and family eating
together. She would rather play and drink and share her portion of food to
other children than eat. She is above three years and would hardly eat on her
own. If you put food for her without having to talk at intervals, asking her to
eat a spoon or take a bite or sip, she would leave the food. When she does eat,
it takes ages for her to finish a small portion of food.
When you want to feed her, she would either
refuse to open her mouth, cover her mouth, run about the house or give you
excuses. Sometimes, she goes as far as inventing cough or trying to pour the
food out. At other times, she would take the food carry it in her mouth without
chewing or swallowing it for a long time. It could take her about 2 hours for
an example to finish a slice of bread. Because of her complete fussy eating
habit, we have made feeding time fun time; employing different means to ensure
that she have some food in her tummy.
The purpose of this article together with the
subsequent ones I am going to write is to gradually share my experience, the
ups and downs that we’ve been through, the lessons learn, the mistakes made and
the improvements made etc. It is also an avenue to let other moms with fussy
eating toddler know that they are not alone, offer some advice to them as well
as provide room for them or other women and experts to share their experience
or what they think about fussy eating
children and offer any type of help they could.
It is always said that parents should not be
overly anxious about their toddlers’ fussy eating habits but the reality is
that it is not easy not to worry at such times. A lot of self discipline and self restrain is
required to be able to achieve a relaxed mind for such situation, I must confess.
Some of the reasons why some children are picky eaters are the toddlers may
have a very strong repulsive feelings concerning definite flavors, textures,
colors, and regularity in food recipes. It always worries parents why their
children are fussy eaters, what they could do to get their children to eat and
how to encourage their children to be willing to give new and unfamiliar food a
try.
There are varieties of reasons why children
are picky eaters. Some of the
reasons are that they are having accelerated growth and their stomachs are
still smaller.
The majority of children pass through stages
of picky eating habits or stages where they even avoid food altogether. When it
does happen parents ought not to be overly disturbed in so far as the child’s
health is not affected. What parents
should do at such times is to offer different choices and tastes of food to the
child. With varieties of food for the child to choose from, he or she may eat
better. Sometimes when a child refuses to eat food, it is just the child’s
little way of declaring his or her autonomy and self-determination.
There are few things a parent can do to make
their fussy toddler eat better without having to force them. I tried this
option when my toddler could not eat but got tired because it got me more
frustrated and worried. It is recommended
not to force your toddler to eat because it will still make him or her less
able to eat. Also, when your toddler eats do not applaud him; you will not get
positive result from doing so.
It is also not advisable to treat a child due to the
fact that he or she eats better. It will make her less able to eat in order to
be treated next time she eats. It is not abnormal or unusual for children to be
picky eaters. It is advisable to offer to a child any newly introduced food a
couple of times before he or she is comfortable to eat it. Parents should endeavor
to resist being angry with their child about being fussy eaters and must not reprimand or threaten the child.
Allowing the child to be part of meal planning is also very good and helpful.
