Читать книгу The Health Optimist - Hanlie Combrinck - Страница 24

Today I would like to share some strategies I used in coaxing my young one to eating well at the table. David did all the normal and age-appropriate things like looking me right in the eye and dropping his food on the floor off the high chair. Well, dear exasperated friends, there is hope. This is a phase which will pass. I kept my cool and sometimes took him out of the high chair and let him sit on my lap to eat.

At other times I had his favourite car on his tray and told him: “Look, McQueen wants to have a bite too, he will be sad if you drop it on the floor!” I found that saying ‘No’ repeatedly, just made him test me even more, so sometimes I just ignored the behaviour. Another trick I eventually learned, is that D is not hungry or ready to eat right away when he wakes up. So I give him 20-30 minutes to play or watch something on TV while I work in the kitchen, and then I offer breakfast. Then he is happy to eat. So timing is also a factor.

The same goes at night; he should not have a snack too late in the afternoon, otherwise he will not be happy to eat dinner with us. I also made a list in my smart-phone of all his favourite foods which could also be eaten by hand, and I always asked the daycare mom about his meals and likes, so I could try the same at home. It helped me a lot to have a strong partnership with my wonderful day-mom.

When David went to a bigger daycare centre, I continued to get the skinny on his eating habits daily, and his ‘list’ is still growing. Lately he has graduated to sitting on a bench at our kitchen table. Last night he enjoyed his chicken, rice and beets with his fork, and also had apple crumble afterwards, all by himself. Lots of praise from both mom and dad made him beam with pride, and will hopefully reinforce such great dinner success.

Here is a haiku that I wrote when he was younger (from my book ‘Scallywag: Confessions of a multi-mom’, available at all online retailers).

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You test us, challenge us, make us smile;

You try us, delight us when you enjoy your meal;

You teach us more about truth and trust

and give us an excuse to munch finger foods.

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