Tips from a Norland Nanny to Prevent Fussy Eaters
Norland Nanny, Holly (Nanny Cooks), shares her tips on preventing your children from becoming fussy eaters!
Let’s start from the beginning….
Hi, I am Holly a paediatric food consultant, Norland Nanny, Founder of Nanny Cooks and a food lover!
I have nannied across the world and have supported a fair few eating journeys, starting at the beginning with weaning and I have been faced with many fussy eaters. This has allowed me to create a bank of resources to help deal with the challenges of fussy eaters and test tricks to empower parents and help prevent it.
Along the way, I have reflected on methods that we can use to prevent fussy eating in the first place, as let’s be honest it would be great to be able to eliminate that stress. So… let’s go to the beginning with weaning and explore how we promote curious eaters.
I get it, I have been there at the start of weaning, not sure where to begin and feeling overwhelmed with the amount of information accessible to us. It is easy to be left feeling bombarded. So, I have broken it up into 3 categories that can help to smooth out the process and encourage inquisitive eaters.
1. Believe in your baby
Whilst weaning can be an anxious process for parents, we want to empower babies and promote them to have a positive relationship towards food from day one. Allow your baby to have fun and explore the food that they are eating, using all their senses. Whilst every family is unique and you will find the right approach that works for you and your family’s needs, I have always found a mixture of baby-led and spoon-feed weaning compliment each other well. Giving babies the opportunity to explore the food they are eating and allowing them to discover their own limits, whilst ensuring they are eating enough via a spoon. Babies, will observe your body language and attitude towards food, so it is important that you believe in your babies abilities, whilst monitoring them in a safe environment. It is also important to find a time which is calm, not stressful and works for your family, which brings me on to my next point…
2. Time of day
Family life is extremely fast paced and busy, but finding the right time when initially exposing babies to food is a crucial part of preventing fussy eaters. At the very start, of the weaning process you are providing your baby with their first tastes of food rather than a whole meal, so the timing of this is important. This should be a time in the day when the baby is calm. And not too tired. It should also be a time when the baby isn’t too hungry, as this could easily lead to frustration due to them not receiving the food quick enough. In turn, creating a negative experience and environment around food. When you are planning the time, it is useful to consider when in your day works best for you and a time that supports a positive eating environment for the baby.
3. Mix things up and add a bit of spice
When starting a weaning journey, it is easy to get stuck in a cycle of serving the same food time and time again. I have been there, getting ahead of the game and batch cooking to then have a freezer full of the same 3 dishes. Whilst batch cooking can be extremely helpful, save time and money, it can hinder the exposure of new foods to a baby. I find it helpful to prepare 3 portions of a meal when cooking for babies, this means you always have a go to meal when you are in a rush or just having one of those days, but also encourages you to regularly mix things up. With the help of meal planning, you can ensure all the key nutrients are being hit across the week, whilst trying new dishes and exposing babies to new flavours. Meal planning, can also act as a 2 in 1 in the case of weaning as they provide a log of the food a baby has tried and allows you to track this. It is also beneficial to include herbs and spices in a baby’s food from day 1. For example, adding mild curry powder, nutmeg or cinnamon to a carrot and sweet potato puree. This helps to expose them to new flavours, but also promotes curiosity towards food. Mixing it up can help to build an attitude towards food which is positive and reduces the chances of a child be-coming fussy or choosing to eat a diet which is very restricted further down the line.
I understand that when it comes to weaning it can be hard to know where to begin, who’s advice to follow and what approach to take. However, with the consideration of these three categories above, you can help build the stepping stones for a curious eater. This helps, to reduce stress occurring down the line when you could be faced with the challenges of a fussy eater.
For more information on how I can support you and your family head over to my website www.nannycooks.co.uk
