Feeding your toddler (2)
In my previous article “Feeding your infant and toddler”, I mentioned my daughter and her being fussy a eater.
She was a bit difficult compared to my son. I could not see what was wrong, she would have a couple of spoons of food and that would be it; nothing more. When we were vacationing in Mexico, I noticed she had more appetite and enjoyed sitting and eating with us. I had this opportunity to observe the difference in her behavior from back home. She had less bottle-feeding sessions, and she at our table with out a separate high chair tray. I think best of all, she was feeding herself.
When we came back from vacation, I tried to make the situation as it was in Mexico. No more highchair tray, and most of the times I let her feed herself. The fussiness is better now but not over. She still does not want to try new foods, but I guess that’s just her personality.
A major thing I discovered recently is that she now gets hungry at a different time than our family mealtime. I have noticed that at breakfast she plays with her cereal, eats a little, throws a little and then at around 10:30 - 11 am she get her snack and between 12 and 1pm her lunch.
I guess here is the problem, she is not that hungry at lunch time, she eats a couple of spoon full and she’s done, but at around 2pm she goes for the snack cabinet (of course it’s a wall cabinet so she can’t reach it) and cries for a snack. The other day I gave her leftover lunch at that time and she ate it all.
I now understand her new behavior, because she is now more mobile, tries to express herself more and asks for things.
- Here are some checkpoints that helped me to overcome my daughters eating problem:
- check if she had too many bottles through out the day
- check if she had a bottle or a snack shortly before meal time
- check for behavioural reactions, if she likes to feed herself or sit in her favourite chair, etc.
- pay attention to her likes and dislikes;
- pay attention to see when exactly she gets hungry
- Make the meal time a fun family time
I am still working at this and changing my approach daily to make her a better eater. I hope my personal experiences make you feel better about your situation. I know I always feel better when I know I’m not alone with my problem and that there are other mom’s dealing with the same problems and that they are doing fine.
Until next time,