Try Something Different

Posted by Dacia on Feb 8, 2010 in Tips and Tricks | 0 comments

Some days even the best eaters just don’t want to eat. Neko has recently discovered the joy of carbohydrates, and if I let her, she will ignore all veggies and protein on her plate and make an entire meal of pasta, bread or, as was the case last night, tortilla chips.

So when it looked like she was going to repeat that act today with leftover focaccia, I got inventive. Usually I just plead with her, but that has a very low success rate. The other night I bribed her into eating all of her broccoli with an ice cream reward, but I don’t want to always have to do that.

What worked for us today (and I am well aware that this won’t work every time) was extreme creativity. Once we started playing “How many peas can we get on a fork?” she suddenly became very interested in eating her peas. And when she did, I reacted like she had just singlehandedly solved global warming. Cheers, clapping, all the things the toddler ego loves so dearly.

I also have had success in creating new combinations with some of her favorite foods. I like to give Neko blueberries for dessert. She has been very happy to snack on them plain until recently. When it looked like the last pint of berries I bought were going to wither away in the fridge, I tried serving them to her on a dollop of Greek yogurt. That did the trick. She ate two bowls of berries that night, happily dipping each one into the yogurt.

When your kid refuses to eat, it’s easy to get frustrated and give up. And sometimes I do shrug my shoulders and let Neko eat bread for dinner. Because at least she’s eating something. But I don’t want to make that the norm. Kids are smart and once you let them do something, they remember and want to do it again and again. (This is why I now hide from Neko when applying chapstick.)

My hope is that eventually I won’t have to praise my kid for every bite she takes, but for now, we take it day to day and do what works for us. So if you’ll excuse me … Neko just ate a slice of pineapple and I need to put her on my shoulders and make a few parade laps around the living room.