Food and mealtimes

Mealtimes with a small child are rarely calm and never predictable. One week they eat everything, the next week they live on toast and refuse a food they loved on Monday. These guides cover the questions that come up most: what to do when vegetables are refused, how to get through snacks without a standoff, how to start cooking together, and what a good enough day of eating actually looks like. None of them promise a child who suddenly eats broccoli. They give you a few things to try, why each tends to help, and two or three activities from the library that fit the moment. Read the short version first, then the rest if you want it.

Drinks, cups and giving up the bottle illustration Drinks, cups and giving up the bottle The AAP suggests finishing the move from bottle to cup between 12 and 18 months. Only wants the same three foods illustration Only wants the same three foods Keep the safe foods on the plate. Removing them raises the stakes. What a good enough day of eating looks like illustration What a good enough day of eating looks like Three meals and two or three snacks is the usual shape of the day. When they refuse vegetables illustration When they refuse vegetables Keep offering the same vegetable, without asking them to eat it. Getting started cooking together illustration Getting started cooking together Pick one job out of a recipe you were cooking anyway. Snacks that hold them over without a fight illustration Snacks that hold them over without a fight Two planned snacks a day beat grazing all afternoon. Mealtime without the iPad illustration Mealtime without the iPad Change one meal first, not all three. Throwing food: what it means and what to do illustration Throwing food: what it means and what to do Throwing is usually finished, bored, or testing what happens. Eating out without dreading it illustration Eating out without dreading it Go early, before the rush and before anyone is starving. Helping in the kitchen safely illustration Helping in the kitchen safely Give them a fixed spot, away from the stovetop and out of the walkway.

Activities that fit

Everyday helper activities · Sensory activities