Every parent knows having a child who is going through their toddler years can be a challenge that will keep you on your toes. Not only is your little one learning to assert themselves more by testing the boundaries of what they can or cannot do, they are also learning that if they don’t want to do something they can simply refuse by an adamant no. The toddler age group typically encompasses children age 2 to five although many children start to exhibit toddler like tendencies a few months before they turn 2.
Feeding your toddler can be a battle which you may never feel you are prepared for. I know when my daughter became a toddler, getting her to eat anything substantial was almost impossible. I would fix her food and coax her to eat and I was lucky if she even ate one bite. I used to wonder where she got all of her energy from for a child who was not eating. Little did I know that toddlers can run off of their own internal battery for days before they may experience the need to wind down and recuperate with or without food. They also like to recharge with sugar which is a big no-no.
There are a couple things you can do to encourage your toddler to eat, and they can be implemented without much preparation. Keep all snacks and treats out of view or you will not succeed. First you have to understand that your toddler does not think of meal time as fun unless they are playing in their food. So what needs to happen is you have to garner their interest in food first. Start with colorful foods first such as carrots, apples, and peas. These are small enough to be considered finger foods and they are very healthy for your toddler as well. One mistake I was constantly making in the beginning was fixing my daughter a small size plate of adult food. After I forced her to take a bite she would refuse to the point of us both being upset at each other with her crying; she wanted to be left alone and I would be crying from sheer frustration. I learned to start with small colorful foods and let her ask for more. I had to start thinking from a toddler’s mind frame.
Your toddler wants to be a big kid meaning they want to eat what you eat; you have to lead by example. I started by using whatever meal I had put on my plate, my daughter had a drastically smaller portion. Say for chicken rice and peas she would have on her plate a small piece of chicken, a spoonful of rice and a handful of peas. I would put her meals on these zoo pals plates which are plates made to look like animal faces. I acted interested in what was on her plate and I would often pretend to want more food but try to take it from her plate. If your toddler is like mine then of course you know they will not share, so she would eat her food to keep me from getting it. I carried little baggies full of baby carrots and apple slices when we were out to curb her need to have chips.
Keep in mind that when your child becomes a toddler you will be caught off guard by the amount of resistance they put up to any type of authority you show them. Relax it is normal and apart of them growing up. While this is not pleasing behavior, it does pass eventually. When it comes to getting your child to eat all you have to remember is you are encouraging your toddler to eat which is in a sense manipulating them to think that they are in control of eating.
Joyce Brister is a loving parent and blogger for the My Baby Blog. Joyce loves writing about situations that parents are often faced with. She would like for you to take a look at her Baby Bedding or her Florida Gators Bar Stools.