Tips to make your little one eat

1. Snack. If you are dealing with someone like my daughter, let them nibble. Don’t expect your kid to eat all 3 meals a day. Sometimes just let them snack on the healthy finger food through the day.
2. Don’t push it. When your baby doesn’t want anymore, let them leave. Otherwise your baby will end up crying, upset, and make other meal times hard and picky.
3. Allow the baby to be independent. Let your baby eat on their own as soon as they can hold, even if it’s messy. Prepare food that sticks to the spoon easily. Poor ones, sometime trying so hard to spoon their meal and it’s just not happening. :) I know the mess they make can be very frustrating sometimes, but totally worthy to watch. The messier their faces the funnier it is. Take a photo, it will bring some good memories later on.
4. Have a family meal together. Keep a happy family time at the table. Talk to your baby, praise them. Babies gladly will try food that you offer when everyone is eating. If not, give a friendly smile.
5. Keep trying. Fussiness is temporary. Continue to offer a wide variety of healthy foods and everything will settle down eventually.
6. Don’t be a chicken. If you want your kids to have good habits in eating veggies, show them that you do. Eat your vegetables at meal-time together. Talk to your toddler about how yummy those veggies they’re eating are.
7. Hide vegetables. If your kid refuses to eat some fruit or vegetable, hide it in the food you are preparing. Bake muffins with vegetables, carrots, pumpkin or even broccoli. Add carrots or even tomato in the smoothies along with the fruits. You can puree broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and add the mixture to spaghetti sauce.
8. No overloading. Never overload their plate. Keep it simple and colorful. Let them ask for more.

Getting challenging veggies in their diet

When we just started with the solids, it went well. She loved her cereals.

But when veggies and meats came along, she chose her favorite ones, and was rejecting anything else. At some point just to let her eat, i will mix banana with any of her lunches. Yikes, i know! So it was chicken with sweet potato and banana, or peas with fish and banana.

I even mixed broccoli (which she hates) with banana, yet it worked like a charm. Of course it wasn’t for long. And i have to come up with something new. But it should work with your little ones for a while until the novelty runs out and they find a new challenge for you.