- Even the best of eaters go through a period
of fussiness and food refusal.
What parents often don't realize though
is that they have done nothing wrong.
This is completely normal behavior for toddlers.
The important thing to remember though
is that the way we react as parents
when our toddlers are going through this phase
can make it better or worse.
So in this video I'm gonna cover
the common mistakes parents make
when they're trying to encourage
their little one to eat new food
and what to do instead.
By avoiding these mistakes you are going to make that period
of time that they are fussy eaters, shorter.
It is going to make this time easier to manage.
And your little one is going to be more willing
to try a wider variety of food.
The first mistake parents naturally
fall into is, using bribes.
So the parent might say to the little one,
"Once you eat this carrot,
you get to have yummy dessert."
Now, what this does is actually decreases
your child's preference for that new food,
because it reinforces their idea that the new food is unpleasant
and they need to get a reward for eating it.
So it does the complete opposite.
Instead of encouraging your little one to eat that food
it tells them, "Don't eat that food because it's not nice."
The second mistake parents often use is
that they use pressure to get their little one to eat.
Now, this might be in a variety of different forms.
So you might just be pressuring them
to finish the meal on their plate.
You might be trying to coax them by saying,
"If you just have one more bite,
I'm gonna be so happy."
Or you might use punishment so,
"You're not allowed to leave this table
and go and play until you eat that carrot."
Or finally, you might force feed them.
So you might be placing the food physically
in their mouth when they don't want it.
Now, applying pressure to your little one
might work in that moment.
They might eat that one more carrot
or that one more spoonful.
But it does not help in the long run
and it actually makes fussy eating worse.
And that is because when you are applying pressure
to your little one to eat,
they become anxious and stressed around mealtime.
So in the lead up to a meal
your little one will start to become stressed.
And what happens when your little one is stressed,
is that their brain goes into that fight, flight
or freeze mode, which is when it automatically
releases lots of hormones including adrenaline and cortisol.
And what happens in response to that
is that their digestive system shuts down.
So effectively, it reduces any hunger that they might have
and suppresses their appetite.
So they are no longer willing or needing to eat
because they're no longer hungry.
And therefore they're not motivated to try and eat food.
Also, when we encourage our little one to have one more bite
of food or keep eating until we are satisfied as parents,
it is telling them that they need to start
ignoring those internal signals that they are having
that they are hungry and that they are full.
And that is because they need to keep eating
until we tell them it is enough.
Now, as a result of this,
your little one will start to ignore those internal signals
and feelings, and this can lead to overeating in the future
and then leading to them becoming
more likely to be overweight.
As parents we need to remember
that our little one's stomachs are only the size
of their clenched fist.
So, they aren't that large
and they don't need a large amount of food.
So we need to trust our little ones
to know that they will eat until they are satisfied
so they no longer need food.
It is really important to know that our role as parents
is to provide the food but it is our child's role
to actually choose how much of that food they will eat.
The third mistake parents often make is hiding new food
inside a toddler's favorite food.
Now I know we naturally fall into this habit
because we just wanna get them some form of vegetables
and if we just hide it in their favorite food,
they won't notice.
Now this isn't true.
New food should never be hidden
in your child's favorite food for multiple reasons.
Firstly, your child is going to notice
that it either tastes different,
it feels different in their mouth or it looks different.
And when they notice this they are going to stop eating
that favorite food, as well as, that new food.
They also learn that they can no longer trust you.
So any food that you give them
might have hidden food in it that they don't want to eat.
So you run the risk that they're not gonna want to
eat any food that you give them.
Also, if you want your toddler to eat any new food
and develop a preference for that food
they need to be able to know what that food looks like
and what that food tastes like.
So hiding it inside their favorite food
is not going to help them accept this new food.
Another mistake we often fall into,
is letting our little ones fill up
on milk, juice or sugary drinks.
Now, if your little one is having a large amount
of these liquids throughout the day,
then it suppresses their appetite
and they are no longer hungry or motivated to try new food.
And it could become a bit of a negative cycle.
So your little one gets up in the morning
tells you that they're hungry, but refuses the food.
Then you give them some milk
because you want them to at least have something.
And then as a result they're no longer willing
to try that food or needing to try that food
because they're not hungry.
What we often don't realize is that toddlers only
need two to three servings of dairy per day.
And dairy can be in multiple forms.
It can be cheese, milk, yogurt and other forms of dairy.
Now one cup of milk is actually one serving of dairy.
So if your little one is having two cups
of milk or 16 ounces of milk
then that is a essentially their serving of dairy
that they need for that day
and they don't need any more milk.
Using distraction is also another technique
that we often use with our toddlers to get them to eat.
And the most common distraction we use is screens.
Now, when your toddler is watching a screen while eating,
they are more likely to eat vegetables and fruit
and you might get more into them.
But what happens when they're doing that
is that they aren't actually focusing on what the taste
of the food is, what it smells like, what it looks like.
And they are also not tuning in
to what their body is telling them.
So whether or not they're hungry or full.
Now this often results in
when you take that screen away
the toddler becomes extremely distressed when you present
the same food to them, because this food is new.
They haven't looked at it before
and they haven't really focused on
what it tastes or feels like in their mouth.
So you are going to make that picky eating worse.
Instead of using a distraction to get your little one
to eat food, it's better if you get them
to sit at a table where you all have the same meal,
so you have family style meals.
Now this helps to reduce the risk of choking.
It also ensures that your little one is able to focus
on what those internal feelings are
when they're hungry and when they're full.
It gives them the opportunity to see you eating
that "new food," so they're going to be more likely
to eat it themselves because if you are eating it,
then of course it's safe.
And it also gives them an opportunity to explore
and interact with that food, which is going to mean
that it's easier for them to progress to eating it.
Another mistake we often make
is letting our little ones graze throughout the day.
Now grazing is when they're constantly eating
throughout the day, rather than having distinct meals.
And what typically happens when a little one is
grazing is they don't eat the most nourishing of food.
It tends to be snacks or really quick food.
And they also just take the edge off their hunger.
So they just have a little bit of food
to suppress their appetite.
Now, what happens as a result is when you serve up a meal,
your little one is not going to be motivated to eat that meal
because they are not hungry.
So to encourage a little one to sit at the table
and eat a meal and actually try new food,
what you want to do is space out their meals.
So you want to have three distinct meals
as well as one to two snacks throughout the day.
And generally the spacing is two to three hours apart.
And this will ensure that it gives you a little one
enough time to build up a bit of an appetite
and become hungry enough to eat food.
Another mistake we often fall into
is only giving our little ones the foods
that we know they will eat and stop presenting the food
that we know they're not going to eat.
Now, this makes total sense
because it helps to reduce the waste of food.
It also helps to reduce any kind of meltdowns
that might happen when you produce new food
to your little one.
As well as keep the meal times pleasant.
But what happens is if your child never sees the new food,
then they're never gone to eat that food.
For a toddler to eat new food,
research shows that they actually need to be shown
that same piece of food 10 to 20 times
before they're even willing to try it.
So the key point in getting your little one to try new food
and overcome that picky eating is continually exposing
them to the food even if they're not eating it.
Now, if your little one refuses to come to the table,
if you've got new food on their plate
or pushes their plate away when you put new food
on their plate or tells you their food is contaminated
because the new food touched it,
then you definitely want to check out this video
where I tell you what the solution is
and how to get your little one to come
to the table and try that new food.
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next week
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.
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