What Do Picky Eaters Need Their Parents to Know?
There’s a high possibility that you’ve got picky eaters in your family or know of one which does. From refusal to eat vegetables through to only wanting to eat yellow food, the preferences and quirks between picky eaters are immense. As parents, the frustrations are huge. You’ve done your best and prepared food for your toddler or child and they refuse to eat it. Are they just being annoying, or is there a real problem? Here’s what your picky eater needs you to know.
4 Things Picky Eaters Need Parents to Know
Quite likely your picky eater is both vocal and expressive when it comes to giving you feedback on their food. The words no and yucky are probably very common in your family. The problem as parents is that this isn’t enough feedback for you to truly understand why they’re refusing to eat. So, we’ve put together a list of four things picky eaters want parents to know:
- I’m scared of new food shapes, colours, tastes and textures – trying new food can be scary and kids are reluctant to give it a go. This can be blamed on evolution, when it was important kids didn’t try new foods to avoid being poisoned.
- Some flavours are enormous – there are some foods which have very strong flavours, and others which don’t. As your child’s taste buds are developing, they are more sensitive to stronger flavours.
- Sometimes I’m hungry; other times I’m not – your child’s appetite will change from day to day. As they hit a growth spurt, they’ll want to eat more. At other times, they’re not hungry. Let your child be your guide.
- I want to be the boss – during the toddler years, a child starts to realise they are a separate person, unattached to their parents. Because of this, they want to test the limits and make decisions for themselves. Controlling their food is one way to do this.
Now you know what your child is telling you, let’s move on to the best ways to manage picky eaters.
How to Best Manage Picky Eaters
The best news I can give you is that it is a well-known fact that picky eating peaks around two to three years of age. It can only get better from then on (hopefully). You are best to remain calm, keep offering a wide variety of foods, and keep portion sizes small. You can even bring playtime to meals which encourages even the most reluctant eater to join in.
Our Constructive Eating ranges are the perfect tools to make mealtimes fun. Available in Construction, Dinosaurs and Garden Fairy themes, your child can enjoy eating with an excavator, a spade or a Stegosaurus! Just give us a picky eater who can say no to any of those…
