Hi, everyone.
My name's Tara.
I'm the dietician here at Little Ones.
Today I'm gonna be answering the question
how can I get my picky eater to eat more healthy foods.
I get asked this almost every day in the Nutrition Village,
so I definitely have some tips and tricks up my sleeve
that might help you with your little one.
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We have amazing videos coming out each week
with new tips and tricks around nutrition and sleep.
Hi, I'm Tara, a credited practicing dietician
and mom to two cheeky little boys
that love to keep me on my toes.
I've been working at Little Ones for a while now,
and in that time, have helped thousands of families
just like yours with the what, why,
and how of infant nutrition.
And if you're interested in looking into our sleep programs,
then click the link in the bio below.
Our comprehensive sleep and nutrition programs
actually give you access to the sleep and nutrition villages
where you can chat to qualified sleep consultants
and also to myself with any of those burning sleep
or nutrition questions that you might have.
Tip number one, never, ever, ever force feed your child.
It's really, really important
that children have autonomy over their eating,
and they're not feeling that pressure from us to be eating.
I know that it can be really tempting
to want to sneak a spoonful in sometimes,
but this can set things back a few steps,
because we want them to be exploring food on their own
and getting to feel comfortable with that food on their own
and not being forced to eat it.
So it's important to always trust
that they are gonna eventually explore that food
and not try and sneak in a spoonful
or not try and force them to eat food
or make the situation uncomfortable for them in any way
because they're feeling pressure.
Tip number two.
I would always recommend offering three foods at every meal,
one that you know they're gonna accept.
Hopefully, there's a bit of variety there,
so you're not just offering the same food every time.
And if you can,
make sure that there's some kind of iron-rich food,
iron-rich element of the food,
so that you can make sure they're getting that iron in,
'cause it is important for children,
especially under the age of two, to have iron.
So one that they always accept,
one that they usually accept,
so trying to continue that exposure
to foods that they sometimes accept,
and one that is new or that they haven't accepted yet.
This will make sure
that they're getting exposure to new foods,
but also they're getting something
that they are definitely gonna eat.
Tip number three.
So if you find that your child's not eating a lot
from one of the five food groups
or two of the five food groups,
check on the other food groups,
and see if they might be maybe overcompensating
in one of those food groups,
which might be displacing another food group.
So for example,
if a child's not eating fruit and vegetables,
sometimes it can be because they're overdoing it
a little bit in the dairy category.
We do want to make sure
that we're getting all of the five food groups,
which are meat and meat alternatives,
dairy and dairy alternatives,
fruit, vegetables and whole grains.
But we want to make sure
that we're not having too much from each,
because then that can displace the other ones,
meaning that a child might be so full from one
that they're not really interested.
They're getting energy from one of the food groups.
They're not gonna be as interested in the other food groups.
One that can commonly be overcompensated,
that can displace other food groups is dairy.
So check on the dairy, 'cause often kids will be having,
after 12 month, more than 500 mils of full-fat cow's milk
and/or formula per day,
and then they might be having 200 grams of yogurt
and also 40 grams of cheese,
and this would be, usually by most recommendations,
they do vary, depending on where you are in the world,
but this usually will be more than the recommended serves
per day for a child between one and three.
So that can mean that they're getting energy
from that food group,
and maybe a bit too much,
and that means that they're not as interested
in trying the other food groups
or they're too full for the other food groups.
Tip number four.
Check in with tiredness.
Often little ones can be really tired at mealtimes,
and this can be difficult for them
because they're not wanting to try new things.
It's hard to focus and it's hard,
yeah, it's hard to be exposed to new things,
when you're feeling tired.
Checking in with that, and thinking, okay,
could I offer their meal 15 minutes earlier,
when they are a bit more awake,
have a little bit more energy.
Also, if they seem to be more confident
in trying foods at snack times,
then perhaps trying a more main meal meal at the snack time,
and then a snack at the main meal time, if that makes sense.
So a lighter, lighter meal
when they would normally have their lunch, say,
and then a more lunch-like meal
when they'd have their morning snack.
This can work for some little ones
because it's purely about they're feeling lethargic.
They're not really that interested in trying new things
around their lunch time or around their dinner time.
So swapping that around can help.
Also, make sure that their highchair's comfortable for them.
Are they sitting supported completely
with their back upright?
Do they have support behind that they're not having
to constantly support themselves?
And making sure that they have a footrest
that they can rest their feet flat against,
so that they can really find that grounding
and be really, really comfortable.
And finally,
tip number five is exposure, exposure, exposure.
So this is the most important tip
that I'm gonna give today.
Little ones aren't just going to try a new food
and accept that straightaway, necessarily.
Some foods they might.
You might think, oh,
but they tried yogurt for the first time,
and they were completely fine having that.
Yes, there's different levels of...
There's different amounts of times that little ones need
to be exposed to different foods,
and especially with some of the bitter vegetable flavors
and the more complex textures of fruits and vegetables.
They're textures that aren't as uniform.
Something like a yogurt, it's very uniform texture.
They know what they're getting every time.
Whereas fruits and vegetables,
they can come in different textures.
They can be soft and smooshy one day,
and they can be hard the next day.
It's really variable,
and that can be hard for little ones
'cause they find it hard to accept new things
in all areas of life, but especially with foods.
They can really fear those new things.
Exposure can be through cooking, through serving,
through smelling, touching, having a little taste.
It doesn't have to be through eating.
So make sure that if your little one says,
"Okay, I don't really want broccoli.
I don't like broccoli,"
try saying, "Okay, well you don't like broccoli yet."
And adding that yet,
so that they feel confident that in the future,
they might be willing to try that food again.
And also, so that you have in your head,
okay, I'm not gonna stop offering that food.
Make sure that I still put broccoli
in the middle of the table.
Expose them to it.
Make them feel confident that it's still a food,
that we still eat it.
Often parents will think,
okay, my child doesn't like that.
Take that off the table.
They'll never be exposed to it again.
And then suddenly, when it comes back onto the table,
it can be really scary for the child
to try this new thing.
So yeah, making sure they're involved in cooking,
touching of the food, even if they're not trying,
that's exposure, and that is that one step closer
to them trying that food
and having that healthy variety of foods
in their diet when they're older.
Okay, that's it for me today, guys.
Thank you so much for the wonderful question.
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check out both our sleep and nutrition programs
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Have a nice day.