How to improve your baby's picky eating How to deal with your baby's picky eating

When babies eat, they will inevitably show symptoms of picky eating. Today I will talk to you about how we can improve the baby's picky eating habits.

What to do if your baby is picky about food

Improve dining environment

1. Eat with your children

Nowadays, parents are always busy with work and social activities, and the children in the family are often only children. Children who often eat without their parents or other relatives will develop a sense of loneliness and abandonment, which will affect the healthy development of their personality. Moreover, children who eat alone will generally choose food according to their own preferences because they have no parental discipline and guidance. They will eat more of the food they think is delicious and leave the rest alone. Children who eat with their parents and other relatives will not only develop good hygiene habits, but also stimulate their appetite when they see others eating with relish, and will unconsciously eat more food.

2. Help children focus

Before eating, parents should try not to arrange for their children to watch TV, listen to the radio, read books, play with toys, etc. They should turn off the TV and put away the toys and books. Do not blame the children at the table to avoid making them depressed and diverting their attention.

3. Create a harmonious atmosphere

Parents can ask their children to follow the necessary dining rules and set an example for them; parents should not quarrel during meals and turn the dining table into a battlefield; parents should not use violent means (such as scolding, beating, and intimidation) to force children to eat certain foods, and parents should not interfere too much when children are eating. A harmonious and peaceful dining atmosphere can reduce children's tension and rebelliousness and promote their appetite.

Act as a role model

1. Parents’ enlightenment role

Research results by British nutrition experts show that 80% of mothers have partial eating habits, and they also have a wrong understanding of what foods their children should eat. Many of the children's eating habits are related to their parents. The father has a particularly great influence on the children, and the children always like to imitate their father's behavior. To change the children's partial eating and anorexia, parents should first set an example by not being picky about food, eating less snacks, smiling when eating, and not being overly picky about food in front of their children.

2. The educational role of teachers

In the eyes of children, teachers are one of the most trustworthy people and are the authority figures in the children's world. Teachers should play the role of teaching and educating people, educate children to develop good eating habits from an early age, not to be picky eaters or lose their appetite, help children to share their meals, encourage children to supervise each other, and ensure that meals are clean and there are no leftovers.

3. Children’s competitive roles

The power of role models is infinite. Parents can often invite some children to their home as guests and eat with their children. Children have a strong competitive mentality. When they see others eating with relish, they will not want to fall behind. Parents can also praise children who are not picky eaters or have anorexia, let children know that they will be praised for eating well, so that children will actively imitate them out of envy.

Develop good habits

1. Take away snacks from the fridge

Although many parents know that eating too many snacks is harmful to health and that puffed foods, beverages, and pickled foods have low nutritional value, they lack good self-control. The refrigerator is filled with fried foods, pickled foods, desserts, ice cream, chocolate and other high-fat and high-sugar foods. Children face these foods every day and naturally cannot resist the temptation to eat a lot. As a result, the main meal becomes a decoration, leading to the appearance of partial eclipse and anorexia. Parents can often buy natural and healthy foods and put them in the refrigerator as snacks for their children, such as milk, yogurt, whole wheat bread, low-sugar biscuits, fruits, etc. These foods are healthy and delicious, and can also cultivate children's good eating habits; at the same time, do not provide snacks to children before meals, and usually let children reduce the consumption of overly sweet, salty, cold, spicy, and greasy snacks to avoid causing gastrointestinal digestive disorders and insufficient secretion of digestive juices during meals, which leads to anorexia.

2. Fixed time, fixed quantity, fixed location

Parents should scientifically arrange the three meals according to the physiological characteristics of their children, and should not decide the meal time according to the mood of their children. Children should not eat as long as they want for a meal. They should be given a maximum of one hour to eat, and the food should be removed after the time limit. Only when the three meals are regular can the digestive system function in an orderly manner. Parents should decide the amount of food to be consumed according to the appetite, physical condition and mood of their children, educate their children to cherish food and try not to leave leftovers; require children to eat at the dining table, let them sit on a high chair, and treat eating as a big thing.

3. Go to bed early, get up early and exercise more

As the saying goes, "Good sleep leads to good food." Sufficient sleep can relieve a day's fatigue and help soothe the nervous system. Children are in good spirits and naturally have a good appetite. Parents can spend more time playing games with their children and taking them out for exercise. Riding a bicycle, playing with a ball, running, skipping rope, and walking are all good choices. However, parents should be careful not to let their children eat immediately after strenuous exercise. They can let their children wash their hands first and sit quietly for a while before giving them food.

Things to note when eating picky food

Change up your food

1. The fillings are very interesting

If children do not like to eat vegetables or meat, then chop the vegetables and meat into small pieces, make stuffing, and wrap them in dumplings, buns, wontons, cakes, and spring rolls. Children will not be able to see them and will not refuse them. These stuffed foods are easy for children to chew, swallow, digest, and absorb. They are delicious and nutritious. Moreover, because of the combination of meat and vegetables, the flavors are different, which can stimulate children's appetite.

2. Side dishes are both beautiful and nutritious

Make the ingredients that children don't like into side dishes for the main dish. You can put lively animals, plants, and landscapes on the plate to make the food colorful. Children are attracted by the vivid shapes of food and will try to eat it. For example, if children don't like tomatoes, parents can cut them into petal shapes, add some green vegetables as decoration, and put them next to the food that children like.

3. Combination of Chinese and Western medicine for high nutrition

Parents can learn some basic Western cooking methods to give their children a new look at the food they see. If children don't like to eat vegetables and fruits, cut them into small cubes and mix them with yogurt to make salad. Borscht and mixed meat and vegetables are also good choices. These dishes contain a variety of ingredients and can supplement the various nutrients needed for children's growth and development.

4. The variety of staple foods is very appealing

Many children don't like staple foods because they are always cooked the same way and they get tired of eating them after a long time. Parents may try to change the way they cook, which can both increase their children's appetite and provide them with nutrition. For example, cut vegetables into thin strips and cook them together with rice, steam buns into the shape of rabbits or hedgehogs, and add fish balls, nuts, eggs and other ingredients when cooking porridge.

5. Color, aroma, taste and shape should be comprehensive

Color, fragrance, taste and shape are good ways to stimulate children's appetite. Diversified and artistic meals are most popular with children. Children usually like dishes with ketchup, sweet and sour flavors, and braised flavors. Using methods such as boiling, steaming, simmering, stewing, and blanching according to the different characteristics of different ingredients can make food soft and easy to chew, and can also maintain the nutrition of the ingredients. Compared with cooking methods such as stir-frying and frying, it is more scientific and more in line with children's dietary characteristics.

Other ways to solve picky eating

5. Supplement nutrients

1. Zinc

Zinc is an indispensable element in the human body and plays an important physiological role. Zinc participates in the composition of many metal enzymes in the human body, promotes the growth and development of the body and tissue regeneration, improves the body's immunity, enhances appetite, and maintains a normal taste system. When children are zinc deficient, they will experience growth stagnation, loss of taste, loss of appetite, and even pica. The main food sources of zinc are oysters, fish, lean meat, liver, cheese, nuts, eggs, and beans. Children with severe zinc deficiency can take zinc supplements such as yeast zinc and protein zinc under the guidance of a doctor.

2. Iron

Iron is an important part of hemoglobin. It can catalyze the conversion of β-carotene into vitamin A, promote the synthesis of purine and collagen, promote the production of antibodies, the transport of lipids from the blood and the detoxification of drugs in the liver, improve the body's immunity, increase the phagocytic function of neutrophils and macrophages, and also enhance the body's ability to resist infection. Iron deficiency in the human body can greatly damage health, causing anemia, tongue pain, loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue or weakness. Children will have low cognitive ability, low immunity and low infection resistance. Parents should pay attention to supplement their children with iron-rich foods. Livestock and poultry meat, animal whole blood, animal liver, soy products, sesame paste, black fungus, tomatoes, cherries, red dates, etc. are rich in iron. Parents can choose their children's favorite foods and provide them to them regularly.

3. Vitamin B1

Vitamin B1 has powerful physiological functions, which can help digestion, promote growth, improve mental state, maintain normal activities of nerve tissue, muscles and heart, and relieve the pain of airsickness and seasickness. If the human body lacks vitamin B1, symptoms such as loss of appetite, muscle weakness, limb pain and paresthesia, edema, decreased blood pressure and body temperature will appear. Foods rich in vitamin B1 include milk, rice bran, whole wheat, oats, peanuts, pork, etc. Parents should arrange the diet reasonably and choose foods rich in vitamin B1 for cooking to improve children's appetite and promote digestion.

6. Cater to children's psychology

1. Keep a happy mood before meals

Psychological research shows that a happy mood helps the secretion of digestive juices and increases appetite. Before a meal, parents can play some relaxing music for their children and tell some jokes to make them happy, so that their children can have a happy mood before the meal and bring this mood to the table, so that they will not be hostile to food they don't like.

2. Combining rewards and punishments to promote appetite

Children like to be praised and rewarded, so parents may as well praise them often. When children begin to consciously abide by the dining rules and are willing to try foods they don’t like, parents should give them praise and rewards in a timely manner, such as taking them out to play, buying books, telling stories, etc., but they should not choose to encourage children by rewarding them with food. Parents should not only learn to reward their children, but also learn to use appropriate punishment when their children are misbehaving, and stop the activities they are most interested in, such as watching cartoons and playing with toys. This will allow children to reluctantly accept foods they don’t like. After long-term persistence, children will adapt to the taste of these foods and will no longer have rejection emotions, thus achieving the goal of overcoming picky eating and anorexia.

3. Story games at the table

The dining table is a communication platform between parents and children. Parents should make full use of meal time to interact with their children, write and perform some small stories and play some games. For example, tell the story of how the little white rabbit planted carrots, how it liked to eat carrots, and finally grew up to be very cute to the children who don't like to eat carrots; play war games with the children, call the food marshals, generals, chief of staff, etc. of the enemy, and compete with the children to see who can eat more and faster, so that the children can eat them with great interest.

4. Moderately meet children’s demands

Parents can ask their children for their opinions before meals and let them participate in the process, such as cutting food according to their requirements, arranging tables and chairs, and choosing tableware they like. Children are not very stable and their favorite foods often change. Today they like pumpkin, but tomorrow they may like cucumber. As long as it is healthy food, parents should meet their children's requirements and should not force them to eat food they do not want to eat at the moment.

7. Appropriate hunger therapy

The so-called starvation therapy refers to the use of starvation to examine and treat diseases, which has long been widely used in modern medicine. Starvation therapy is effective in treating diseases of affluenza and children's picky eating and anorexia, and is known as the most effective method to improve children's bad eating behavior. It has become a consensus among many parents that hunger makes food extra sweet. In addition, the use of starvation therapy can also enhance human immunity, remove free radicals in the body, and promote cell renewal. Parents should learn to respect their children's gastrointestinal tract, wait until they are really hungry before providing food, set a time for eating, take away food after the time is exceeded, and tell the children that they will have nothing to eat until the next meal, and keep their words. Don't be soft-hearted because the child cries and makes a fuss, otherwise it will destroy the prestige of parents in the child's heart, and let the child think that crying and making a fuss can solve the problem and achieve the goal. Appropriate hunger can make children experience the happiness of being full, and make children realize that they will starve if they don't eat well. Smart children know how to choose.

8. Mobilize hands-on enthusiasm

1. Help show your skills before meals

Children are lively and active by nature, and like to explore and try new things. Parents can take their children to buy ingredients and give them the right to make their own choices. While ensuring safety, parents can let their children do odd jobs within their ability, such as washing vegetables, picking vegetables, and getting condiments. Help children set up tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks, and let them participate in the labor process. They will feel that the food on the table is the result of their own labor and will have a sense of pride and accomplishment. At this time, parents should encourage and praise them in time, and no matter how much the children hated the food in the past, it will be eaten up.

2. Clean up after dinner

Parents can encourage their children to clean up the dishes and put the tables and chairs back to their original places after meals. This can not only reduce children's aversion to eating and improve their hands-on ability, but also let them realize that eating should be done from beginning to end. They are the little adults in the family and can share the housework with their parents. However, parents should not force their children to do housework. Appropriate encouragement and education are the best methods, otherwise it will only backfire.

9. Reasonable replacement of balanced nutrition

Even though children are partial to certain foods, they still have their favorite foods. Parents do not need to force their children to eat certain nutritious foods on the premise of ensuring balanced nutrition. A tough attitude often causes disgust in children, making partial and anorexia more serious. Choosing foods with similar nutritional values ​​to replace foods that children do not like is a good way to promote children's appetite, ensure nutritional supply, and help correct partial and anorexia habits. For example, if a child does not like pork, parents can replace it with meat foods such as chicken, duck, rabbit, and fish; for children who do not like green vegetables, parents can choose red and yellow vegetables and green fruits instead; children who do not drink milk can provide them with soy milk, soy milk, and peanut milk. As long as parents try patiently, they can always find foods that satisfy their children's appetites and provide rich nutrition to protect their children's growth and development.

10. Use spleen-strengthening and appetite-stimulating drugs

If the child's anorexia is particularly severe, parents can try appropriate medical methods. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that poor spleen and stomach function in children is the main cause of anorexia in children. Parents can give their children some spleen-strengthening and appetite-stimulating drugs under the guidance of a doctor. Children's Xishi syrup, Jianpi Xiaoji oral liquid, Xingpi Yangwei granules and Xiaoerkang are all good choices. In addition, traditional Chinese medicine massage can also treat children's anorexia. Massage can promote gastrointestinal motility and enhance appetite. Parents can take their children to a regular traditional Chinese medicine hospital and ask professional doctors to give their children massage treatment.