- If you're having trouble
getting your toddler or child to eat,
so they might be refusing to come to the table at all,
or they might be pushing away their plate of food
when they see it,
because there's something yucky on the plate,
which is something my toddler does all the time
when that sneaky cucumber gets onto her plate.
Or you might have a child
who refuses to eat the food that they do like,
because it's now contaminated
by a food that has accidentally touched it,
so some food that they don't like
or a new piece of food.
The good news is that there is actually a solution
and that is exactly what
I'm going to talk about in this video.
Not only will this help your child
come to the table and eat food,
but it will also make it easier for them to try new food.
So to get our toddlers and children to eat,
we first need them to come to the table
and we need to keep them calm.
And the way we do this is by using a learning plate.
Now a learning plate is a small plate
that sits beside the main plate,
and what your child does
is place all the food
that they're happy to eat on that main plate
and the food that they're not yet ready to eat
on their learning plate.
Now, there is no expectation
that the little one is needing to eat the food
that's in their learning plate,
but they are expected to learn about the food
at the end of the meal.
When we use a learning plate,
our little ones are happy to come to the table,
because they know they are not going to be pressured
to eat that new food
that they're not yet ready to explore.
The other thing a learning plate does
is it helps to remove any stress or pressure
that little one is feeling around meal times.
Now this is particularly important
because we want to avoid
our little ones getting stressed at meal times,
because if they get stressed,
it results in the brain releasing a whole wall of hormones,
including adrenaline and cortisol,
because they move into the fight,
flight or freeze response.
And when they're in this response,
their digestive system effectively shuts down
and it suppresses their appetite,
so they're no longer hungry or motivated to try new foods.
So we need them to stay calm,
which is exactly what the learning plate helps to achieve.
The learning plate also provides
a safe opportunity for your toddler or little one
to safely explore and interact with that new food.
Now, this is key and that is because
we know toddlers and children
may need to see a new piece of food 10 to 20 times
before they're even willing to try that food.
Also, we know that when you're going to try
a new piece of food,
you actually progress through a hierarchy of steps
before you're willing to eat it.
So firstly, you need to be
able to tolerate looking at that new food,
then interacting with that new food with the utensil,
and then move on to smelling that food,
touching that food, tasting the food,
and then you will eventually eat the food.
Now you may progress through those steps quickly,
but the learning plate provides
an opportunity for your little one
to move through those steps
and reduce that fear around that new piece of food,
which means that they're going to be
more willing to taste and interact with the food,
and then eventually eat it.
So how do you use a learning plate at home?
I would recommend that you use a learning plate
for at least one meal a day,
and that meal should be a family style meal,
which is where everyone eats together
and they're eating the same food.
Now this is because it's really important
for your little one to see you eating food
that they're not yet eating,
because if they never see you eat
the food that you're expecting them to eat
then of course they're not going to eat it.
They need to see you eating that food
to know that it is safe and okay for them to eat.
Now, what typically happens
is you place all the plates on the table,
you give you a little one that learning plate,
and then you serve out the food.
Now it's important that the food that you are serving
includes at least one of your little ones preferred foods,
because that will bring them to the table
because they know that there is something
that they are able to eat
and they're happy to eat.
And then your little one will direct you
to the food that they don't wanna eat,
and you would place that food in their learning bowl.
Then you would all sit down and eat the food.
There is no pressure to look
at the learning bowl at this point.
The whole point at this time
is to just eat the food that's on your main plate.
Once everyone is finished,
then you focus on the learning plate
and you are guided by how willing your child is
to interact with that food.
So if they're only happy to look at that food,
then that is all you do.
And you just talk about that food.
But if they're happy to look and interact
with that food by poking with a fork,
then that's fantastic.
And you will gradually try and get your child
to move up the steps
so that they're interacting, then smelling,
then touching with their hands,
then tasting, and then finally eating.
But if you're a little one refuses
to go up those steps, that's fine.
You do not push them or pressure them at that point,
because that is going to undo all your good work.
What is the main goal of this exercise
is that your little one
is actually tolerating having the food near them
and gradually moving up those steps.
Now when your little one is interacting with that food,
it is important that you avoid
any negative language around that food.
And that is because if they hear you say
that food is slimy or that food is smelly,
then it infers that the food is kind of not great,
and it's something they should avoid.
Now, there are some great utensils and plates out there
that you can use with your little one,
which will help with the meal time
and they are in the description box below.
Now, if you have introduced the learning plate
and your little one still refuses to sit at the table
or they constantly moving around,
or going up into kneeling,
then it is an indication
that they are not yet supported properly in their chair.
And this is going to have a huge impact
on how willing your little one is to try new food.
So if you want advice on how to make it
a whole lot better and set up that chair,
then check out this link here,
make sure you click on the free PDF document
in the description box below
for those utensils and cutlery items
that is going to make meal times easier.
And I will see you next week,
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.
(gentle music)