Successful Mealtimes with Toddlers .

Toddlers often go through a phase of food refusal. Busy children will often happily drink milk or a smoothie rather than sit down to chew and swallow food. Drinks fill a tummy quickly and leaves more time for the important things, like playing with friends and toys.

Most toddlers have good and bad days. Days when they will eat well, or refuse foods they have previously accepted. Some toddlers are more difficult around food than others and this is a problem that concerns parents when they are trying to follow healthy eating advice.

Toddlers learn by copying adults and other children. Encouraging the family to eat together can be an important way of learning about new foods. Successful management of toddler eating behaviours require a number of skills that parents may need to learn. It is significant that many faddy toddlers eat better in nursery or day care where staff may be more skilled at mealtime management.

Recognizing that a child is satisfied.

Toddlers are saying that they don't want any more food when they;-

• Say no
• Keep their mouth shut when food is offered.
• Turn their head away from the spoon.
• Push away a plate, spoon, or bowl containing food.
• Hold food in their mouth but refuse to swallow.
• Gag or retch .
• Cry Shout or scream

Toddlers showing these behaviors are trying to avoid being fed. One reason for this is that some parents may expect the child to eat more than they need to. Continuing with spoon feeding long after a child has learned to spoon feed themselves can also have this result. In these cases as long as the child is growing well there is no need to be concerned. Children use food as fuel and seldom starve themselves. They seldom eat for comfort as adults may do.

Six to eight drinks per day is usually enough for a toddler. If they have had too many calories from milk or sweetened drinks they may not be hungry. Feeding in bottles should be phased out by 12 months and an average drink alongside a meal should be about 120mls in a cup or beaker.

If you have concerns about your child's eating contact us;-
info@dream-angus.com

Toddler Issues

Poor Eating/Food Refusal
Many young children go through a phase of faddish eating when they limit the foods they are prepared to eat. This is rarely longlasting and if the child is growing appropriately it is unlikely that this is significant.

Often parents expectations of their child's weight gain and food requirements are unrealistic.
On average a child gains about 6kg (15lbs) in the first year of life. Over the following second, third and fourth year the average weight gain is only 2kg (5lbs) The rapid growth and constant increases in the demand for food does not continue as it did in the first year. It is important to discover what the child is actually eating. Taking a detailed food diary can be very revealing. Most children will take enough food to sustain their growth and energy expenditure and this is apparent when the diary is reviewed.

Many children prefer drinking to eating and will readily fill themselves up with drinks. It can be helpful to avoid offering drinks an hour before mealtimes and offer a drink, in a cup, after a meal. Three cups of milk a day plus some on cereal is ample.
A cup of milk and a packet of crisps mid morning will stop most toddlers eating lunch. It would be better to offer a cup of juice and a plain biscuit or half a banana.

No healthy child offered appropriate food at mealtimes will starve. Battles over meals should be avoided, mealtimes should be happy social occasions where there are minimal distractions.