How do I get my child to eat? Healthy eating, allergic child, safety tips. I was frequently told by Mom’s at my child’s nursery school……my child is such a fussy eater….I don’t know what to do…how do I get her to eat well … established habit to break……. So let's start at the beginning……  A baby whose mother is totally relaxed while breastfeeding/ bottle-feeding…that feeding is a happy experience is getting the first step in the right direction. Once the baby has matured enough to start solid foods….the second most important step….babies will react totally differently to the experience of having a spoon put in their mouth…imagine for a moment the only hunger satisfaction you have ever known is the warm soft skin of your mother’s breast ( or bottle teat) supplying a “filling warm substance that takes away all the hunger pangs"…..SUDDENLY you have this hard flat thing (spoon) put in your mouth with a thick creamy substance that tastes like nothing you have ever tasted before…..what would your response be? SPIT IT OUT! AND EVEN THOUGH YOU REACTED LIKE THIS IT COMES AGAIN AND AGAIN!!!! No wonder THE EXPERIENCED Mom knows to cover-up and take courage. But seriously, don’t expect your baby to necessarily take to the spoon immediately. Like all new tasks it takes a while to master them!!!  How to introduce solids Be relaxed, expect a mess and count on milk being the major form of nourishment until feeding is established.  Once the baby has adjusted to having a spoon in his mouth, slowly introduce a variety of FLAVOURS….savoury not sweet.  By the time baby is eating from the spoon happily, (probably within a few weeks of starting solids) start to give him a variety of TEXTURES as well as taste. This is very important to start early as it is one of the keys to getting good habits started. Do not puree everything to a pulp/soup texture, but rather like a bolognaise sauce texture and then stiffer . By the time the baby is 9 or 10 months old he should be able to manage dishes with the consistency of cottage pie as adults would eat.  During the period of 6 to 12 months he is very much in the oral phase of life and he is also teething, so give him lots of FINGER FOODS. This not only assists in dealing with the need to chew, it gives some pain relief. Use carrot sticks, celery sticks. You can specifically give him something like this at meal times to hold and gnaw between mouthfuls of food that you give him on a spoon. This is how he starts to learn to feed himself. By the age of 9 or 10 months he can be holding a spoon  and trying to feed himself and you feed him in-between……he needs to master the hand co-ordination…….IT’S A MESSY PROCESS!!!  Let the baby be part of FAMILY MEALS   Babies and children learn BY EXAMPLE. The only way they are going to discover what good manners and good eating habits are by seeing them….Include him in conversations at the table and the fun. (It might be more practical to feed him first and then eat yourself, while he gnaws on a carrot stick) but keep him up at the table on his high chair so that he can be a part of the social interaction.  Once he has established the skill of being able to feed himself (1year plus) at the table/ in his highchair then make sure you give him SMALL HELPINGS. Rather give a tiny helping of everything and give him lots of praise for finishing and offer a second helping. • He needs to feel in control. But you want eating to be a positive interaction….not a battlefield. As soon a the child indicates he has had enough accept it and that is the end of the meal…let the child get down from the table.  NEVER get into a POWER PLAY over food, you will never win. Be assured a child will never voluntarily starve themselves. You will never succeed in forcing a child to eat. What is important to consider is what the child has eaten in a 24 hour period and over a 7 day period……do not get “strung up” on what baby ate hour to hour (unless there are indicators that the child is sick and then take appropriate action).   Have some basic rules that the whole family adheres to consistently…e.g. finish main course before pudding. Only get sweets after you have finished lunch (do not give sweets if the child has not finished lunch). If children misbehave, they must get down from the table and they can only come back if they are going to behave.  Parents, do not get angry, he is making his own choice, therefore he must face the consequences…no sweets, no company.. Do not feel sorry for him he made the choice.  A plea form a nursery school teacher, “EVERTHING IN MODERATION” . Many parents have very strict rules about no sweets , no cakes, no chips etc. These foods in excess are of course no good to anyone. However, what happens if children are “deprived “ of these foods, when they are available at parties or friends homes these children “BINGE” ON THESE FOODS. It is all part of healthy eating habits to teach our children everything in moderation. Teach them by example, a limited amount of sweets chips etc. By not exposing him to these foods he does not know how to deal with them. So give him a good example to follow. Teach him about “good foods and bad foods” and be truthful!! Explain to him that chips are not healthy but they are fun to have at parties, offer your friends first etc.  The Allergic child:  It is important to watch your child’s response to foods as you introduce new ones…if he seems to have an adverse reaction to a specific food e.g. stomach cramps, diarrhoea, skin reaction, take note. Try the food  a few days later and watch carefully to see if he has a similar reaction.  Doctors who specialise in allergies say that children will often avoid the foods that they are allergic to. But it is also important to build up their tolerance of basic foods. If you think you may have an allergic child, especially if you have allergies in your family, please take your child to your General Practitioner and seek professional advice about allergies. Do not ignore the signs. Hope you have fun in the kitchen! Email this article to a friend Back to Articles on Child Care...