| Rule #1 Make Every Bite Count! | | | | at the table by themselves until they finished their peas, |
| Everything your child eats should be nutritious. Children | | | | theylearned to eat them without protest. |
| can be picky andinconsistent, so make sure that what | | | | We now know how destructive this can be. Many |
| they do eat is really good for them. That way ifthey | | | | adult eating disorders began inchildhood, and many |
| end up having two bites of potato for dinner, you can | | | | sufferers can remember these episodes at the dinner |
| be confident that they atleast had a great lunch, snack, | | | | table as achild. |
| etc. | | | | Respecting that your child's tastebuds and moods are |
| "Where's the fun?" you ask. There is not much room in | | | | as different from yours as isyour spouse's, or your |
| that little tummy, thinkcarefully before filling it with junk. | | | | neighbour's means learning to break the rules of the |
| And ask yourself why you are offering chocolatebars | | | | "familymeal" from time to time. |
| or cookies at snack time. It is often the parent | | | | Let your child have a "creative" meal made up of |
| caregiver who is derivingpleasure from seeing children | | | | healthy foods they like, while therest of the family has |
| gleefully down a non-nutritious treat. Your child | | | | their casserole, curry, or stirfry. So long as it is healthy, |
| canderive smiles and joy from many other places - it | | | | anddoesn't happen every night of the week, letting a |
| doesn't have to be junk food. | | | | child choose their own mealsusually won't create the |
| Rule #2 Ban the word "dessert" from your | | | | problems our parents thought it would. It will more |
| food-vocabulary, and use "treat" carefully. | | | | likelyfoster a respect for healthy eating rather than an |
| Make desserts healthy(not just fun) so that things like | | | | unhealthy association withmealtime. |
| fruit, nuts, and yogurtbecome part of the meal, not the | | | | Rule # 5 Everyone Needs Breakfast |
| reward for finishing it. All good foods can betreats, but | | | | Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for |
| we often think of only junk as such - so use the word | | | | many, if not all, children. |
| judiciously. | | | | Missing breakfast can set the tone for their entire day |
| By isolating foods under these categories, you may | | | | and create a downward spiralof too tired to eat vs. |
| negate their nutritional value toyour child if you are | | | | too hungry to nap... and so on. What adult doesn't love |
| following Rule #1. Again it is usually a caregiver that | | | | tohave a hungry and tired child on their hands? |
| delights inserving a "dessert' or "treat" more than the | | | | Many studies, and many caregivers, will attest to the |
| two-year-old who probably wouldn'tcare otherwise if | | | | fact that a good breakfasthelps children function better |
| they've never had triple chocolate cake with whipped | | | | mentally. While most studies lean toward school |
| cream. | | | | agechildren, this fact should be applied to babies and |
| Rule #3 Be persistent, not insistent. | | | | toddlers as well. |
| It may take a child a while to warm up to a new food. | | | | Many signs of the stereotypic "terrible-two" year-old is |
| Just introduce foods gentlytime and time again until | | | | often hunger. Breakfastshould contain some protein for |
| they try it. Never insist that they try something they | | | | lasting energy, helping to offset the |
| don'twant to, and certainly never insist that they finish | | | | midmorningmeltdown. Prevention is the key because a |
| their plate. Mealtime should notbe battletime. They will | | | | miserable child often won't eat, and youwon't obtain |
| eat if they need to. | | | | your objective of feeding them well. |
| If you begin a power struggle over meals, you risk it | | | | Rule # 6 Learn from your child |
| becoming long-term. The pointis to get them to eat | | | | Our children know best more often than we give them |
| healthfully, not develop an association between food | | | | credit for. Some tummies arereally good at letting their |
| andcontrol. This is one reason why developing healthy | | | | owners know when to eat, and how much to eat. |
| eating habits early on is soimportant. | | | | Letchildren learn how to listen to their bodies - many |
| Rule # 4 Break the rules our parents taught us. | | | | adults have forgotten. Childrennever fit into one mold, |
| Many of us can remember moms putting food on our | | | | and another person's rules (such as the preceding 5) |
| plates and expecting us to eatit - or not. There were | | | | usuallyneed to be modified to fit your family. Learn to |
| few struggles back then because children quickly | | | | follow your child's rules from time totime... they may |
| learnedthat if they didn't eat what was served to them, | | | | surprise you. |
| they would go hungry. And after afew nights of sitting | | | | |