Your Toddler's Eating Habits

A child whose diet consists of dry cereal and juice will leave the parent frustrated and discomfited; these emotions will not go without being seen by the child and will have a knock on effect. In the case of a faddy eater this may cause the situation to get worse.

Faddy eating is a normal stage in your child's growth. A basic fact is that most children will go through a stage of faddy eating. This usually occurs during the toddler years when they go through a stage of being a bit obsessive about most things in their life.

Most children go through an obsessive stage when they will only wear clothes of a certain color or they will only eat one type of food. You should remember that it is a very normal stage and it will soon go by in case if the parent does not focus too much on the problem.

The best approach to faddy eating is to stay calm. Knowing that the child is drinking a lot of fluids and eating some food during the day you can be sure that he should be okay.

The ting that you'd better make sure about is if your child is getting the appropriate amount of vitamins and minerals, you can do this by putting a vitamin and mineral supplement into his drink. Most children will grow out of this phase.

All experts advise to keep all stress and arguments over food to a minimum. The more you focus on this the more you are maddening the problem. Keep calm and undertake the situation as it is. Some practical tips to help you through this phase are:

• You know that it is useful for toddlers to drink one pint of milk per day. Measure up a pint glass of milk and leave this in the refrigerator to be drawn from through out the day.

• At meal times try not to give your child a drink until the meal is finished since the fluids will give the sensation of being full and they will eat less food. This should encourage them to eat what's on their plate.

The changing of a child's eating pattern will not happen over night. Be ready that it will take some time and patience. But be sure that very soon you will make gradual progress with this phase and overcome it.

If your child refuses to sit down to a plate of food don't worry too much. Your child doesn't have to get all its necessary food supplies at meal times. Instead a child can get all his food requirements from small nutritious snacks at regular intervals throughout the day. If your child accepts healthy snacks then these will help supply the range of nutrients they need.

Don't take your child's eating habits personally. Sometimes a parent will get frustrated if their child is eating at another parent's house or anywhere else. But this can't be accepted as a reflection on you or your cooking. Sometimes a child will eat when they see another child eating, as they will imitate their peers.

If you are concerned about the effects these eating habits are having on your child's health, don't hesitate to seek the advice of your doctor.

Maybe during this period your child will require a supplement to provide some of the nutrients they are currently missing out on. All supplements are not the same so make sure to get advice from your pharmacist or family doctor.

Anyway you shouldn't be to persistent with your toddler but still you have to watch and correct all his eating habits as the state of health so much dependent on them.