STICK TO A SCHEDULE
Regular meal and snack times help establish a healthy family routine:
- Offer meals and snacks 3 to 4 hours apart at the same time every day
- Limit the duration of meals — about 20 to 30 minutes or 15 if your child is not eating
- Avoid unscheduled snacking between meals
- Provide only water between meals
- Always feed your child in a high chair or at a table
- Encourage your child to eat what the family is eating, even if it's a small amount, rather than cooking a separate meal for him
INVOLVE YOUR KID
Pick recipes, grocery-shop, and cook with your kid – he is more likely to eat the food he participated in preparing and you'll have help in the kitchen!
With a toddler:
- Introduce names of ingredients at the grocery store
- Add pre-measured ingredients to recipes
- Hold down buttons on kitchen appliances to help out
With a preschooler:
- Describe tastes and textures and discuss the meal
- Measure and weigh ingredients
- Stir ingredients
BE PORTION SAVVY
Start with small portions and let him ask for more. When introducing new foods, give your kid a choice about which new food he is going to try and make sure to couple it with a favourite.
- Serve age-appropriate foods and portions
- Introduce new foods one at a time
- Teach eating to fullness by serving small portions repeatedly and offering a new helping as soon as the previous one is consumed
MAKE MEALTIME FUN
Play with foods—serve a sandwich in the shape of a heart or use food to make fun faces or animals on your child's plate.
- Encourage independent feeding and tolerate age-appropriate messiness
- Forget the “Clean Plate Club” and encourage your child to take a bite of everything on his plate. The more often he tries it, the more likely he will be to eat it willingly
BE A POSITIVE ROLE MODEL
Kids will often follow your lead and are more likely to enjoy a variety of foods if you do.
- Feed your child with the family so other family members can act as role models
- Praise self-feeding skills, but maintain a neutral attitude about your child's food intake
- Never pressure your child to eat
- Try to serve food without emotion
- Don't beg, plead, or bargain with your child to try something
- Discourage disruptive behaviours and distractions such as toys, books, tablets, or TV during meals
- If a food is rejected by your child, don’t get hung up on it and try again another day
