Photo by Brightbabyhood.com

We’ve all been there – the stubborn head shake, the raised voices, food on the floor, and finally the exasperated sighs, pleadings and reprimands. When mealtimes become battlegrounds is a situation many parents, or those looking after children routinely face, and it can be an exhausting affair. However, it is a commonplace problem, and luckily there do exist some solutions to get your fussy eater to, well, eat. Remember, these things don’t happen overnight but with patience, care and love you can succeed!

Keep Calm and Carry On!

Some of the biggest dinner table crises can be avoided if you simply refuse to allow things to escalate. Raised voices will simply exacerbate the problem, and leave both you and your child upset. Rather than forcing your child to eat when they shake their head no, just excuse them from the table. Remind them of proper behavior at mealtimes, and tell them that you expect better from them at next time. N.B. ‘Disappointment’ is so much more effective than anger!

Do Not Resort To Bribes!

When you’re at the end of your tether, the temptation to resort to that most deliciously uncomplicated parenting trick can be strong (“If you finish all your vegetables…you can have ice cream/watch your favourite TV show/play video games later). But be strong and resist! Tricks like these distract your child from her own hunger cues, turning eating into reward system rather than the nourishing activity it is.

Children must learn to enjoy eating healthily for what it is, rather than for some promised ‘prize’. Rewarding children for eating healthily with sweets or some other desired snack simply increases their desire for such foods, as opposed to the central point of creating desire in your child for healthy foods.

Bit By Bit

Many parents or caretakers of children achieve success by simply taking it slooooowly with new foods. Children find it much easier to deal with tiny increments of culinary complexity as opposed to dishing out a full plate of greens on day one. Start with a basic food that they love (e.g. bread) and keep adding extra items (bread with a bit of cheese, bread with a bit of cheese and egg, bread with a bit of cheese, egg and avocado etc.) Techniques like this will help the child build ‘trust’ in what you put down in front of them.

Make it Fun!

We play games with feeding our babies from day one, so there’s no need to stop as they begin to grow. By making eating fun, with songs, mimes, make-believe and so on, can create positive associations in your child’s mind with eating healthy foods. Pretend to be dinosaurs eating trees when you eat broccoli, create exciting names for foods (‘Penguin pasta bake’), allowing your child to help you with the cooking – anything you can think of to make it more enjoyable will help you enormously in the long run.

Breastfeeding is a beautifully natural way to give your baby the perfect start in life and has been proven time and again to result in healthier babies and a closer bond between you and your child. It can be a scary prospect for first time mom’s so I wanted to put this little list of tips together to help you overcome any fears and give your baby the best start in life.

Join a Group

Many hospitals and local centers offer support groups to breastfeeding mom’s, here you can be offered professional information on tips and techniques and receive support from other mom’s. One woman’s experience will differ from another’s but with a support network you can be sure that someone has experienced any problems that you are going through.

Don’t Panic

If the milk flow isn’t right or your baby is having difficulty latching on remember that there are plenty of options and technical aides to help you. My first one latched on with no problems in the hospital but eventually we found it difficult to continue, the hardest thing but the most helpful to remember is just relax.

Do Your Research

Similar to support groups it’s vital that before you begin you do some research into things such as breast pumping, nipple care, encouraging your baby and much more. It is important that you are prepared for it all, remember forewarned is forearmed and if you are ready for anything you can deal with it far better.

Take Care of Your Nipples

The nipples can take a hammering during breastfeeding so it is important to take good care of them. There is a whole host of ointments and creams that will help you avoid, or at least, minimize the dreaded cracked nipple. Also remember that your nipples are likely to leak so make sure you have nipple pads at all times to avoid any awkward moments when out and about.

Dress Sensibly

The amount of retailers who now offer fashionable tops with a breastfeeding ‘function’ is staggering, shop around and make sure you look good and feel ready for whenever baby is hungry.

Don’t Be Ashamed

There is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about when breastfeeding despite what a minority of people say. Much has been made of public breastfeeding and it’s sad to see, if you are breastfeeding in a public place my advice would just be to do it tactfully. Being bold and brash and an ‘I don’t care who sees me attitude’ could result in unnecessary stress in public, but do not hide away all the time. My view is that a tactful feed in public keeps everyone happy and keeps you and baby calm.

Just remember that you are not alone and if something goes wrong it is imperative that you don’t get down on yourself, read, ask and relax, you’ll be just fine.