Screaming, crying and having a meltdown every time your child is having a meal is normal? Then this article has been written for you. It can be very frustrating to constantly run around your child to make them finish their food.
Every parent wants their kid to be independent and adapt to basic life skills with time. However, here are some tricks to make your kids finish their vegetables
at every meal:
- Lead by example:
This may sound like very cliché advice. However, when your children see the elders enjoying a meal together and “without them”, they will get curious. They will want to join you all because kids are always trying to emulate the elders around them. Children will not want to feel like the odd one out and will try to finish their food as well.
- Have the right environment:
It is important that you do not be disrespectful to anyone who has made the meal just because you do not like it. The kind of behavior you have towards the food and the people who made it will be emulated by the children as well.
- Give children a choice:
Immunity boosting foods for kids may not always be too exciting for children. Instead of asking them what they want to eat, ask them, do you want the carrots or the salad first? This allows them to control when they eat while finishing all the food that has been prepared.
- Include them in the cooking process:
Whether it is making the children identify the vegetables and ingredients you are adding to the dish or making them add in the ingredients, they will be much more invested in the food. They will respect the food a lot more as they know the kind of preparations that went behind it.
- Give them reasons:
If your children are slightly older in age, tell them in clear terms how different foods will help them in their daily lives. This will make them conscious of their daily nutrition intake and take charge of a healthy food chart for kids themselves.
It is important that you respect their choices and let them create boundaries. When they see that they are able to choose what they are eating technically, they will be more receptive to understanding their options again and again.
This may be a slow process. It is important that you, as a parent, do not lose your patience in the process. Understand that this is just a phase. However, you have to keep a check on immunity boosting foods on the way too.
Conclusion:
It is not enough to scold or shout at the children when they do not eat. It will rarely work. More importantly, they will create an unhealthy mindset about food. Try not to keep foods in a hierarchy, either. Dessert should not be treated as a reward. The child has to choose to eat their chicken first or one scoop of ice cream. Keep positive and negative reinforcements in place as well.
