“It is a war of wills. He doesn’t budge nor do I. He is a good opponent I can say, he guesses my next move and then just disappears. I am talking about the daily tussle between me and my son to eat. He will eat only aloo and leave the rest. If I mask the carrots in the soup he will smell it and make a dirty face”.
If this common complaint with you too, and are at wits end to how to make your child eat, and then here are some tips to get you going!
Small starts, Small Portions: Don’t intimidate your kid with lots of vegetables and varieties in big quantities. Give him/her small quantities, generally you add one teaspoon, per year of your child. Now, make sure he tries at least one bite of each portions. You will find, with small quantities he takes the plunge and tastes everything and he may also realize that some of it even doesn’t taste that bad after all. The food isn’t wasted, you haven’t raised your voice and everyone is happy.
Don’t forget who is the boss: Several times, the food decisions are made by the kids depending on what they like. This is likely to rob them of what’s good for them. No matter what your child may feel about a particular food, you have to serve him a mixture of fruits, vegetables, cereals and pulses. He will protest and make a fuss but hold your ground and you will find him eating all of it.
Don’t nag and shout: Firstly don’t use food or meal time as a part of your discipline routine. Meal time should remain the same even if he is a saint or a devil that particular day. We may try to prevent them from misbehaving if we don’t give him the special treat but in the long run it doesn’t pay off.
Prepare them: Tell them half an hour before that meal will be served soon. This way, he is ready for it and puts away his toys and his books. He will also not be the cranky self when forewarned.
No distraction, please: If TV was your savior when you used to feed your child, with the cartoons providing the distraction needed to stuff the morsel in his mouth; Stop it. It is not a good idea. When food is eaten with a distracted mind or in a hurry, it is not properly chewed so that well digested. Switch off the TV and make food the activity.
Presentation, Presentation, Presentation: What makes Pasta rule over Poha and Sandwich over Dosa?- Presentation. Kids are convinced that these are cool foods and hence have no trouble eating them. So what do you do? Be creative and create new dishes like- fusion dosas with lots of vegetables, cheese, make Poha colorful, serve upma with sev and give them cool names, for example –Sevai is Grated Rice noodles and doodh is the coolest health drink that keeps superman on his toes etc. Replace superman with whichever is his or her favorite hero.
Meal time, bonding time: Make it a ritual to sit together, put out the plates, serve dishes and eat together. Involve your kids in even the post meal chores like putting away the plates, helping to cleaning up etc. This will make them an active part of the meals process and they will be more responsible as to not waste food and appreciate your efforts in preparing meals.
Treats and desserts: Treats and desserts are special hence you should not make them a norm. If you have a dessert every day, that will be the sole motive for them to finish the meal. Keep treats special and keep them a secret. Some healthy treat options are frozen fruits with custard, flavored curd and kheer with lots of dry fruits. Use these healthy desserts instead of the chocolates and ice creams which contain with lots of sugar but no nutrition.
What’s left, water maybe: Sometimes with all the focus on food, you might forget to pay attention to water. Thirst is many times mistaken as hunger. We drink water only when we are thirsty, we should prevent the thirst in the first place with drinking sips of water regularly. When children get thirst they tend to eat salty food stuff like chips, biscuits, namkeens and junk which further dehydrates them. So in between meals and snacks keep water handy in their favorite cups and bottles.
Thinking smart, being creative, luring the opponent is the way to win this war with your child over food. So, best of luck!
