How many of you feel like mealtime at your home is nothing short of a visit to the zoo? Do your kids jump around like monkeys? Stick their noses up at the food you serve? Do they eat the same food for every meal? If this describes your home, try some of the following tips to make mealtime less like the zoo and more like a walk in the park!
Give a warning prior to mealtime. Example: "Sam, we are going to have dinner in ten minutes." By giving your child a pre-mealtime warning, you can help them prepare for the upcoming activity and you will notice less fighting when coming to the table.
Follow a routine for coming to the table. For example, jump to the sink, wash hands with bubbles, jump to the table. This will help prepare them from a physical and sensory standpoint. Make mealtime fun! Children have short attention spans and love to engage in fun activities. Cut food into fun shapes, use fun utensils like toothpicks, appetizer swords, corn on the cob holders, build object out of food and then eat it up!
Talk, talk, and talk about food! Instead of asking your child, "do you want a bite?" or "will you eat this?" talk about the food. Talk about the color, the shape, how it feels in your mouth when you chew it. Let your child listen as you describe properties about the food. Always offer at least one food that the child really enjoys at each meal. A meal full of new foods can be overwhelming!
Start each meal with a preferred food, and then offer a new or maybe less preferred food, then end with a preferred food again.
At each meal and snack offer a protein, starch, and fruit or vegetable. Children need variety in their diet and they need to get used to seeing food on their plate, even if they don't eat it all right away.
Have reasonable expectations about meal time! Children need to be exposed to new foods often and may not engage in taking a bite of new food until it is presented multiple times. Do not become frustrated! Just because they did not eat the new food does not mean that mealtime was a failure!
Remember to give praise when your child does something new with a food you presented! We all like to hear when we have done something good. For example, "Sam, I though that it was great that you licked your broccoli tonight! Doesn't if feel bumpy on your tongue? It makes me laugh!"
Say "good-bye" to your food at the end of a meal. Have the child "kiss" the food good-bye as they throw it away. Sometimes this is the closest they will bring that food to their mouths during the meal.
Good luck and happy eating!!
(Article adapted from Kids On The Move Fall/Winter 2012 Newsletter)
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