{"id":6017,"date":"2016-01-07T20:22:04","date_gmt":"2016-01-07T10:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thenutritionguruandthechef.com\/?p=6017"},"modified":"2019-06-03T11:25:01","modified_gmt":"2019-06-03T01:25:01","slug":"is-your-child-a-fussy-eater-this-trick-might-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thenutritionguruandthechef.com\/2016\/01\/07\/is-your-child-a-fussy-eater-this-trick-might-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Child a Fussy Eater? This Trick Might Help"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Do you have a fussy eater?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Believe it or not, most children go through a fussy eating phase as they learn the skills of eating and start to exert their independence over the food that they eat. For the parents, this can be a frustrating, exhausting and worrying time.
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\nSo how can you break the fussy cycle?\u00a0Firstly, it helps to understand what’s happening inside your little one’s head<\/strong>. Secondly, there’s a trick you can try using – it’s called a ‘special plate.’<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Put yourself in their shoes<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Imagine you are holidaying in a remote jungle village. Your hosts have just served you a hot bowl of donkey\u2019s intestines and boiled snake.\u00a0<\/strong>Did you just get a bit squeamish reading that?<\/p>\n

For most of us adults, being served that dish would make us anxious. We would be nervously wondering what it will taste like. Thoughts such as \u2018What texture it will be? Maybe it will be absolutely horrible? Will it make me throw up?\u2019 would be running through our mind.<\/p>\n

For many children, the task of trying new foods or eating foods they dislike can bring on these exact same feelings that we feel if we are being asked to eat donkey’s intestines. Disgust, anxiety and fear of the unknown. Except our children aren’t an adult, and understandably they don’t know how to make sense of or control these feelings and emotions. Instead, they throw it on the floor, kick and scream, cry, yell, and just flat out refuse to eat it. Because they don’t understand it.<\/p>\n

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Remove the fear<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Making these foods \u2018normal\u2019 and therefore removing this fear of the unknown, can really help to break the fussy eating cycle.<\/strong>\u00a0You can remove this fear of the unknown\u00a0 by gradually and gently exposing children to the disliked foods.<\/p>\n

It is important not to force a child to eat a food they dislike<\/strong>. Research has shown that forcing a child to eat a certain food (using either bribes or threats)actually causes the child to dislike that food even more. This dislike then carries with them into adulthood. The aim in childhood is to create healthy habits which promote eating a wide variety of foods to ensure optimal nutrition and health into adulthood.<\/p>\n

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Use the ‘Special Plate Trick’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is a multi-step process which takes time, patience and understanding. It won’t happen overnight, but introducing this special plate may be the trick to breaking the ‘I hate broccoli’ phase.<\/p>\n

Try these steps:<\/h3>\n
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  1. Purchase a special plate. This can be any plate your child might find fun. Dora the Explorer, Thomas the Tank, you get the drift. Place a small amount of the disliked food (let’s use pumpkin as an example) on this\u00a0special <\/strong>plate which you sit just\u00a0to the side<\/strong> of your little one\u2019s normal dinner plate.\u00a0 Explain that they don\u2019t have to eat the food<\/strong>; it\u2019s just there to try if they feel like it.<\/li>\n
  2. During this process, the adults must eat the food too. By modelling the behaviour, you are teaching by \u2018doing\u2019 instead of just telling them what to do. They will copy you and watching you eat the food will bring normality to that food. So, even if you don’t like pumpkin and never eat it, you have to start. They have to see you eating the food with their own eyes.<\/li>\n
  3. After one week of doing this, ask the child to pick up a piece of that food from their special plate and play with it<\/strong>. Don\u2019t worry about mess, get the child to explore the food and ask them to tell you what it feels like in their hands. Ask questions about the food \u2013 \u201cIs it squishy? Hard, soft? What does it smell like?\u201d Remember, they don\u2019t have to eat it. Get them to squish it, sniff it, chop it, as much tactile experience as you can.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  4. After a week of this, ask them to take a piece of this food off the special plate, and put it on their main dinner plate<\/strong> with the rest of their food. Again, tell them they don\u2019t have to eat it. They just have to become comfortable with it in closer proximity to them. For some children who refuse to have pumpkin anywhere near them, becoming comfortable with it on their plate without drama can be a big step and a huge milestone. Again, get them to explore the food with their hands and continue asking them questions about the food.<\/li>\n
  5. Over time, start to serve this food on their main plate. Don\u2019t bring attention to this, simply leave it there for them to quietly explore.<\/li>\n
  6. It is likely that one day, you\u2019ll see the child pick up the food and try it of their own accord. If they don\u2019t, that\u2019s ok. Ask them gently to take a bite and continue to ask them questions about the food.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This is a process that will take time<\/strong> but will be worth the wait for the long-term health benefits, and it might just save some arguments at the dinner table! It’s all about removing the fear of the unknown.<\/p>\n

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    More Tips<\/strong><\/h2>\n