Toddler Food and Eating Problems

Toddler food and eating problems can sometimes make meal times very tricky. If your toddler is a fussy eater we have some great tips that will hopefully help your toddler meals be more relaxed.

Food is a matter of life and death, it's crucial for healthy growth and if your toddler is not eating or is a very fussy eater then your toddler food can become a major issue. It is easy for parents to compromise or give in simply to get your child to eat something, anything at all. And if children "go off" their food it's easy to give in to their demands just for a quiet life.

Children learn about food and about eating from your attitudes and behaviour towards food. Family meals are a great time to share what has happened in your day as well as giving your child an opportunity to copy how you eat and the expectations around meal times.

Here are some useful facts about toddler food and toddler eating:

Making the transfer from your child being a baby to your child being a toddler can be difficult for parents. You gradually will need to allow your child to be a toddler. So that could mean giving him opportunities to drink from a beaker or cup, using their spoon and feeding themselves and letting your toddler sit in a booster chair or a normal chair rather than a high chair.

Inevitable this will make food time messy for you. Prepare with a plastic sheet around the chair so that you do not need to be anxious about your toddler making a mess. Let him eat his toddler food with his fingers and don't worry if he gets messy - at the end of the meal simply give him a little wash or wipe with a warm, clean flannel.

If you are anxious about mess your toddler will pick up on your anxiety and will become anxious himself. This will hamper his opportunity to learn how to feed himself and can also go on to cause difficult issues around eating. Anxiety can trigger the "flight or fight" response: if your child fights he will become agressive towards you and if your child takes the "flight" option he might withdraw and stop eating.

Be aware of how you react to your toddler's behaviour around food. If his fussiness results in you giving him lots of attention (even if it your frustrated, negative attention) then he may be being fussy simply to get your attention. Check that you are giving him lots of positive attention throughout his day, relax with him and the security that he will receive from your positive attention will help his eating habits. Whilst he is eating, sit down with him and eat too, talk about the day and fun things.

As with bedtime, routine about eating is very important. Here are some great toddler food and eating tips:

• keep eating time relaxed and friendly and new habits will form by themselves. If parents become cross, "Eat with your mouth closed!", "Stop playing with your food and eat!" meal times will be not be enjoyable. Take away the anxiety of how to eat and your child will learn how to eat nicely by themselves.
• communicate about your expectations and your child will come to expect them too
• make supper time at the same time each night (as with bedtime)
• have a rule of "no snacks" before meal times so that your toddler will be ready to eat
• make meatimes an eating time - no playing with toys, no watching telly. Focus on the pleasure of the food and social interaction or sitting round a table.
• eat only at the table. If your child eats whilst playing or wandering around you won't know how much he has eaten.
• if you need to distract your toddler's attention to keep him at the table, make up stories (do not use books which will distract him from his food) - keep your toddler's attention on the food and on you, so you could make up a story about the food he is eating e.g. putting the train into the tunnel, the car into the garage, etc.
• eat with your child so that they can pick up how to eat from you. Do not criticise how your toddler eats, be patient whilst your child is picking up skills over time.
• relax with your child at the table - there's no need to stare at him whilst he eats willing him to eat and give him space.
• let your toddler feel his food as when he is familiar with it he is more likely to taste it
• let your toddler use his fingers to eat. Over time he will want to use a spoon, a fork and knife because he will see you use them.
• when your child comes to use cutlery show him how to use it but if he doesn't use it quite rightly nevermind - the key is that he is enjoying his food.
• eat with your child so that you can model the behaviour that you would like. Take a little bit of food, taste it and say something like, ""Mmmm, this is delicious, mmm, I'd really like some more.." and smile.
• create and opportunity where your child can eat with other children. Children learn from each other and will copy what they see.

You can make the toddler food more fun and exciting. Try:

• cutting up toddler food into fun shapes, such as faces, animals and vehicles.
• call each bit of food a name, like Mr Pea, and you could say, "let's gobble him up!" Children will love it.
• make food with your toddler e.g. a straightforward sandwich. Have everything ready, you spread the bread and then your toddler can put in the filling and pat it down. You then cut it into a shape that your toddler chooses.

If you have a toddler who hates mess (he may have picked this up from you unwittingly) then one idea is to have a messy meal time - where you have a variety of foods, such as yoghurts, anything shaped like a hoop, jelly - fun food that they you can dip your finger in, dab your nose, put over your ear - anything messy! The idea is to help your toddler to know that it's okay to be messy, and food can be messy. At the same time your toddler is able to experience foods of different textures, smells and shapes.

Hopefully some of these toddler food and eating tips will help in any of your toddler eating issues. Persevere with patience and committment and hopefully you will be soon enjoying your meals together rather than battling over them.