Fussy eating toddlers .. the whys...? Part 1 of a 2 part series.
Fussy eating toddlers .. the whys...? Part 1 of a 2 part series.
Have you a toddler that won’t eat their veg? Or a toddler that ate everything one day and today - won’t eat anything? Are you always searching for food ideas for your fussy eater, hoping you’ll find the holy grail or healthy, acceptable toddler dinners?!? Are you fit to be tied..?!
There are a number of reasons why toddlers (from age 18 months approx) start refusing food. Even if they have been model eaters up to now….
Reasons why toddlers may become picky eaters:
children grow an enormous amount in their first 12 months. On average, a baby triples their birth weight by their first birthday. Remember those 3 hourly feeds? 24 hours a day in the beginning? Babies need all those feeds so they grow. But the rate of growth from 1-2 years is significantly slower - on average toddlers gain about 5 lbs. in their 2nd year. They don’t need the same amount of food in their second year as their energy requirements are much less. So they might start refusing food … makes sense eh?
toddlers are a bit more independent now - but they still have minimal control over what they wear, where they go, who they see etc. What they do have control over - is what they put in their mouths. So it’s- no thank you broccoli, I’m not having any of you today! Sound familiar? If you’re tearing your hair out trying to research and cook toddler food ideas - sometimes it really won’t matter - as it’s not about the food at all
toddlers have very short attention spans - you’re not a toddler unless you wander away from the table 75 times…!!! So often, they are simply not interested in eating. Or they are not even hungry.
Any of this sound familiar?
Want some suggestions on how to deal with this behaviour in toddlers?
Tune in next week for the second part of this blog!