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Fussy Eating Digested
Fussy eating is supposed to be a temporary normal phase of children’s development, but how we handle their behaviour during this period dictates how long it is going to last…
UPFs in Early Life
All foods have a place in a fairly balanced diet. Problems appear when variety is replaced with just a few foods. Especially if those foods are UPFs. Even more so if we’re talking about young children’s diet.
Hunger vs Fullness
Many adults find it troubling to trust children’s capacity to follow their body’s hunger signals and feel like they have to make sure the little ones won’t go hungry by pressuring them to eat. This article shows an example of how unnecessary that is.
Mixing isn’t Cooking
Children’s abilities are so often overlooked and dismissed. Early childhood education services are excellent spaces for children to learn cooking skills, but too often times all they do is “mixing”…
Eat the Broccoli!
Is that fart-like smell or the bitter taste that puts kids off eating broccoli and other brassicas? Maybe both? Once again, science comes to the rescue with answers AND tips to get kids to Eat the Broccoli!
Monkey See, Monkey Do! – Role Modelling and Children’s Eating
Showing how it’s done is the best way to teach a young child how to do things. This applies to eating as well. So, how can we expect children to eat their veggies if we don’t eat ours?
The Reasons for Worry and Fuss at Dinner
A child who struggles to eat has a reason for that behaviour. A mother who worries about it also has a reason to worry. They both need support from those who know better and have the opportunity to help mother and child to do better at mealtimes.
Food Refusal
It’s not about the food. There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to children’s food refusal. Let’s have a look at a few reasons children may refuse to eat their meals.
How To Create (And “Fix”) A Fussy Eater
With the intent of making sure children are well nourished, we may be driving them in the exact opposite direction in their journey of healthy eating. What is it that we can do wrong, and what would be the right thing to do then?
“I Want Something Else”: How to Handle Meal Replacements
The frustration of having to put a sandwich together in a flash because your little one doesn’t want to eat dinner, they “want something else”. There’s a cost, high in the long run, with this habit. This article gives you a bit more insight and reassurance about how to handle it.
How to Approach Fussy Eating with Families
Early learning professionals often ask me for suggestions on how to approach parents to talk about their children’s avoidant eating behaviour. I wrote some in this article.
Strategies For Conflict-Free Dinners
Conflict, arguments, tears at dinner time are a constant in many households with young children. Even parents who will only have occasional dramatic episodes of dinner refusal know very well how difficult it can be to keep cool. This article shows some strategies that you can use to avoid it to happen in the first place.
Not A Fussy Eater, But Still Making A Fuss.
Children aren’t natural fussy eaters. There is always a reason (or reasons) for their “bad” behaviour at the table and it is the adult’s job to find out what it is and address it appropriately to support their little one’s development.
