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Meal times are such a crucial part of your child’s development. A good diet is essential for providing them the nutrients they need to flourish and develop, and poor eating habits can quickly lead to a plethora of problems.
Unfortunately, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are often fraught with conflict and frustration. Having to deal with a picky eater is an extremely common occurrence for new parents, and many feel at a loss for where to turn.
It doesn’t have to be this way, though. There’s plenty that can be done to help your children learn to enjoy a wider variety of foods, and in this article, we’re going to explore a few of the best strategies.
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Change Your Approach to Mealtimes
When a child builds a negative association with food, everything around mealtimes can become an anxiety-inducing problem for them. It’s also a stressful situation for you, and they can pick up on that. As such, a key component is changing the foundational attitudes towards mealtimes.
A good place to start is to let your child choose what they’d like to eat. They’re often resistant to eating because they feel it’s being forced upon them, so select a variety of healthy meal options and see what resonates.
In general, do your best to keep the mood light and try not to put your own worry onto them.
Don’t Use Food as a Reward or Punishment
Using food as either a reward or a punishment creates a link between eating and your child’s behaviour, and when trying to help your child improve their habits, it’s important not to add any emotional charge to the situation.
It goes without saying that you should never try to force a child to eat a certain food because they did something bad, but you should also refrain from taking away a food item as punishment. In a similar vein, don’t do something like offering dessert as a reward for eating their vegetables – you should instead be trying to facilitate the enjoyment of nutritious foods, rather than having them be a means to an end.
Always Be Patient
It’s important to remember that positive changes take time, and that’s especially the case when it comes to problems around eating.
This will be a long journey for both you and your child, so remain patient and do your best not to get frustrated. A new food may be rejected several times before it’s finally considered, and at no point during this process should you get annoyed, as this can easily mean a step backwards.
Remain encouraging, even when refusals happen; you never want to make your child feel like they’ve done something wrong or make a big deal out of the fact that they haven’t eaten what you want them to.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, you now have a good idea of how to help your child on their journey to better eating habits.
If you’re really struggling, you may want to consider feeding therapy with an organisation like MetroEHS. They can help you break down barriers that at first seem insurmountable. Good luck!
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