Written by: Teri Baldwin M.S. CCC-SLP

Picky eating can go down hill fast….

Be careful:  Picky eaters can reduce the variety of foods they eat rather quickly.  Quite often this happens when the child is not ready for thicker textures and bite sized pieces of food.  The chunky food is introduced and they are not developmentally ready to chew the food safely. After swallowing food whole or gagging, they often stop eating any textured food.

Tips for supporting picky eaters

Feed your baby in a high chair.  Keep feeding in a high chair even into toddlerhood. The high chair keeps your baby in a 90 degree angle which is the safest and most successful position to feed your baby in.

Offer your baby choices….Do you want the pears or the bananas?

Prepare the baby’s food ahead of time if he doesn’t enjoy being in the high chair for too long.

Toddlers eat when they are hungry.  They have not learned to over eat yet.

Have a mealtime routine and make meals social.

Always offer a preferred food with new foods.

Toddlers need less milk as they eat more and more food.

Stick to baby food items.  They are easily dissolved and chewed.

Things to avoid

Avoid giving your baby or toddler adult snacks such as Cheetohs, pretzels, and cookies.  Adult snacks do not dissolve and are not as easily chewed.

*Also, babies and toddlers only eat a limited amount of food in a day.  Every bite they eat should be healthy nutritious food to help their brains and bodies grow.

Avoid force feeding and sneaking food in when they aren’t looking.  You lose     trust with your baby when you do this.

Don’t barter….you don’t want your green bean, do you want my french fry?

Don’t beg… “just take a bite, please.”

Don’t bribe…if you eat your dinner, you can have a cookie or watch t.v.”

Don’t pressure…. “Just taste this, “yay, you took a bite”,

Presenting the spoon…

Present spoon and wait for baby to open mouth.   Put spoon in mouth and wait for baby to close lips around spoon.  Then gently pull out.