Comments on: How to Get Kids to Eat Real Food https://ohlardy.com/how-to-get-kids-to-eat-real-food/ Learn. Nourish. Live. Tue, 20 Sep 2016 22:50:25 +0000 hourly 1 By: MrsAmyL https://ohlardy.com/how-to-get-kids-to-eat-real-food/#comment-561700 Tue, 23 Sep 2014 21:49:15 +0000 https://ohlardy.com/?p=9845#comment-561700 This is really good. Thanks for sharing.

]]> By: Tatyana @ Baby Meal Plans https://ohlardy.com/how-to-get-kids-to-eat-real-food/#comment-551140 Thu, 15 May 2014 01:21:13 +0000 https://ohlardy.com/?p=9845#comment-551140 Amen to that!!! I can only do #3 with my baby right now. I would also add #6 to begin with the end in mind, and teach babies to love to eat everything. One of the biggest reasons I make baby food at home.

My baby has tried such variety of foods that I could have never reproduced with off-the-shelf commercial baby food. Babies are so open to new flavors, colors, and textures, it’s a perfect time to start introduction to real food. It’s harder if your baby has been eating commercial processed blah for 1.5-2 years to then expect them to love real food all of a sudden. Why create a problem in the first place?

]]> By: Tamara Mannelly https://ohlardy.com/how-to-get-kids-to-eat-real-food/#comment-551139 Thu, 15 May 2014 01:06:11 +0000 https://ohlardy.com/?p=9845#comment-551139 In reply to Keira.

Good question! In our house, the ‘not finishing the food’ usually was being obstinate and refusing to eat. We don’t make our daughter ‘finish’ the meal…but if she chooses not to eat what is served (this particularly happened at dinner), she couldn’t have a snack until the next meal. I guess there were times when she didn’t ‘finish’ breakfast but made a good attempt. In those cases I would use my best judgement. For us, there would be arguments at dinner. There was no way she was going to have a snack before bed because she was ‘hungry’ and chose not to eat what was served at dinner.

We definitely do snacks in our house. It is always a struggle finding balance and finding what strategy works best for you! A friend of mine did the ‘have to eat the same meal forever until it is done’ thing for a bit and it worked for her. To me, that seemed too hard core!

Like everything with parenting, we try our best, right??

]]> By: Keira https://ohlardy.com/how-to-get-kids-to-eat-real-food/#comment-551138 Thu, 15 May 2014 00:05:23 +0000 https://ohlardy.com/?p=9845#comment-551138 My husband and I have the same values in our home – our kids do not get to be picky eaters. But, we’ve been inconsistent, especially in the past, at HOW we uphold these standards. We’ve gone from sending our son to bed if he won’t eat to making him eat the same food at every meal until he finishes a decent amount. Those were terrible ideas! We’ve recently decided that he has to eat as many bites of each item as he is old. He’s four, so he eats four bites of each dish. It has been amazing! We haven’t had a single fight over eating since we started! It’s been amazing. I do have one question for you, though. You say that if your kids don’t finish their food they can’t eat until the next meal. Is a snack included, in your mind, as a meal or do they have to wait till the next main meal? My son rarely finishes his food and then asks for a snack very shortly after. We make him eat the rest of his food at that point. But, if he doesn’t finish and doesn’t ask for a snack for a couple of hours, I’m more likely to believe he was actually full and give him a healthy snack. What do you do? We’re still trying to figure out these details.

]]> By: Tamara Mannelly https://ohlardy.com/how-to-get-kids-to-eat-real-food/#comment-551136 Mon, 05 May 2014 16:54:43 +0000 https://ohlardy.com/?p=9845#comment-551136 In reply to Jennifer.

Looks like we are like minded people, Jennifer!!! 🙂

]]> By: Jennifer https://ohlardy.com/how-to-get-kids-to-eat-real-food/#comment-551135 Sun, 04 May 2014 12:36:49 +0000 https://ohlardy.com/?p=9845#comment-551135 Thanks for such a great post! Parents allowing their children to completely dictate their food choices is also a pet peeve of mine… What a lot of parents don’t seem to realize is that they encourage that type of behavior by assuming that their children won’t like certain foods – creating two categories of food (kid v. adult) is a HUGE mistake! And also, making things a power struggle just encourages the picky eating – what you said about offering the food is so right on.

Your tips are so great – I think it’s important to create a healthy food-culture for our children!

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