We've all been there before I'm sure.
You have nothing but good intentions to feed your child a healthy, wholesome, homemade meal. You try with everything in you to put something together you are sure they will eat. Perhaps you will spend hours in the kitchen preparing said meal. You might even make enough that you can batch freeze. With all this careful preparation, you must be winning at this feeding your toddler business.
And then it comes time to sit down and eat. Your toddler looks at what you've put in front of them with a screwed up nose. They refuse to let any of the meal touch their mouth. They cry. They throw the food on the floor. They take a bite and then spit it out. There is no getting them to eat their meal.
You feel like a failure and you are most definitely not winning any toddler feeding awards. It sounds like such a funny thing to say but it can really be soul destroying, especially if it happens at the end of a particularly stressful day.
I've had this scenario, more days than I could count. It's been a year since introducing solids and at the start Baby Girl ate everything. At 6 months old I was calling her a foodie and felt blessed that she would appreciate whatever I put in front of her. A few months down the line and she was the most fussy eater I knew. I never know day to day what she will eat, because one day she will eat something and the next day she won't.
The health visitor told us not to worry. She would consume what she needed and if she doesn't want dinner one night just leave her and she will make up for it the next day. Guess what? The health visitor wasn't there at 3am when Baby Girl woke up screaming in hunger. Starving her wasn't an option for us.
Over time, we have learnt a number of things that have worked for us. I'll put in a disclaimer right here that sometimes still, no matter what we try she will still flat out refuse her meals, but here are some successful ways that have encouraged her to eat:
You have nothing but good intentions to feed your child a healthy, wholesome, homemade meal. You try with everything in you to put something together you are sure they will eat. Perhaps you will spend hours in the kitchen preparing said meal. You might even make enough that you can batch freeze. With all this careful preparation, you must be winning at this feeding your toddler business.
And then it comes time to sit down and eat. Your toddler looks at what you've put in front of them with a screwed up nose. They refuse to let any of the meal touch their mouth. They cry. They throw the food on the floor. They take a bite and then spit it out. There is no getting them to eat their meal.
You feel like a failure and you are most definitely not winning any toddler feeding awards. It sounds like such a funny thing to say but it can really be soul destroying, especially if it happens at the end of a particularly stressful day.
I've had this scenario, more days than I could count. It's been a year since introducing solids and at the start Baby Girl ate everything. At 6 months old I was calling her a foodie and felt blessed that she would appreciate whatever I put in front of her. A few months down the line and she was the most fussy eater I knew. I never know day to day what she will eat, because one day she will eat something and the next day she won't.
The health visitor told us not to worry. She would consume what she needed and if she doesn't want dinner one night just leave her and she will make up for it the next day. Guess what? The health visitor wasn't there at 3am when Baby Girl woke up screaming in hunger. Starving her wasn't an option for us.
Over time, we have learnt a number of things that have worked for us. I'll put in a disclaimer right here that sometimes still, no matter what we try she will still flat out refuse her meals, but here are some successful ways that have encouraged her to eat:
