For so many of my parent friends the dinner table is a battlefield, where each bite is a negotiation.
There’s nothing that brings more joy to a parent (besides free babysitting) than watching their kids eat well.
We're hooked the moment they slurp down that first bowl of pureed carrots.
So when our happy little eaters decide to live on bread and air, it’s like being flicked in the heart.
Luckily, my kids eat everything from fish to Indian food...actually, it's not luck.
It's because we follow some simple food guidelines.
Hey, if you have a picky eater, it’s not your fault. Kids are finicky.
But you can totally turn it around!
Here’s how to raise a good eater…without having to go to war.
Be a role model
Your greatest tool is showing your kids how to eat well.
If my kids saw me packing away a Powerbar and Diet Coke for lunch, I couldn’t blame them for wanting sugary snacks instead of meals or looking at a vegetable like an alien.
It doesn’t matter what you put on their plate, it’s always what’s on your plate they’re paying attention to.
Don’t reward with junk
Go pee on the potty: you get an M&M! Behave at mommy’s appointment: you get an M&M!
We’re not training our kids to be well behaved, we’re training them to have a sugar addiction.
Try rewarding with healthy snacks or small toys. I would always have mini toy cars and pills that turn into sponges on hand.
Be a parent not a slave
If your kids don’t like what’s for dinner, they don’t have to eat it. And if they say they’re hungry two minutes before bedtime, tough.
It’s not an all night buffet.
It sounds harsh but I promise they won’t starve.
If you’re really worried, say they can have a banana or a carrot. Make it a quick, no-frills snack. If they’re hungry, they will eat!
You wouldn’t let your child decide when bedtime is, so don’t let them decide when dinner is.
If holding out will get them something better like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, instead of the chicken and veggies you made, they will hold out way longer than you can!
“But my kid’s underweight!”
Even greater reason not to continue bad food habits.
Unless your child is sickly, the “Eating something is better than nothing” philosophy is not doing them any favors.
Giving them a jelly sandwich on white bread instead of a real nutritious meal only feeds their sugar addiction and makes it harder for their palate to adjust to real food that’s not highly processed.
It also doesn’t benefit their brain development, creates inflammation in their body(allergies, skin irritation) and worsens behavioral problems.
Get in the kitchen
Get them involved with preparing food. More than anything, good eaters are created in the kitchen.
Give them a plastic knife and let them cut up avocados for dinner or place the ingredients in a bowl.
Let them graze on what they’re cutting up to spark their appetite.
My son loves pulling up a chair to the sink, filling it up with bubbles and doing dishes. He makes a soapy mess but he also loves mealtime, so it’s a fair tradeoff.
Don’t make the dinner table a battlefield
If they’re not eating the gorgeous asparagus you just roasted, keep your cool and ignore it or better yet, make a game out of eating their vegetables.
If they eat it, give them praise and tell them how much you love it when they’re adventurous.
Kids know what part of their routine to dread or look forward to, so make it fun!
Eat in color
Always throw in color.
Humans are drawn to colorful food, so throw in baby carrots, grape tomatoes and roasted broccoli.
No one wants to sit down to a plate of just white pasta or brown meat.