My little one is not interested in eating at meal timeโฆ
Aug 18, 2021This is something I quite commonly hear from parents about their little one’s when we get started with sleep support.
Your little one might be 6 months, 12 months or 18 months + and meal times just feel like an absolute fight.
You feel anxious leading into meal times, you already can forsee that your little one isn’t even going to try most of the food you’ve prepared for them and they’ll just be really disinterested. They might just throw it all on the floor (or at you). You might be offering them extra milk or liquid meals (smoothies) to try and get extra calories into them during the day.
This is sooo frustrating for parents and I totally feel your frustration.
So what can we do about this? How can we make meal times more pleasant and enjoyable for everyone involved? How can we encourage our little one’s to try food that we offer them?
๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ ๐จ๐ค๐ค๐ค ๐ข๐ช๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐. ๐ ๐ข๐๐ฎ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค ๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค ๐ ๐&๐ผ ๐จ๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐.
1. Sleep and feeding go hand in hand.
When our little ones are overtired - they’re just not as likely to eat well and be interested in meal times and can become fussy quickly. It’s no coincidence that once parents make some changes during sleep support and their little one sleep improves - often their eating and drinking (milk and food) both improve in leaps and bounds as well. Book in a 15 minute chat if your little one’s having some challenges with sleep and feeding.
2. The more we ‘try’ to get our little ones to eat - it actually seems to have the opposite effect and they’ll eat even less.
My top tips:
Prepare your little ones meal (if 6 months + include finger food options as well as some mushy food) and pop it down in front of them. Offer a few different options within the meal.
Leave them to it for a good minute of two and let them explore, make a mess and trial things.
If your baby is able to bring food to their mouth or bring the spoon to their mouth then leave them to it!
Sit with them and have a cup of tea or even better eat with them
Tell a story or sing a song (dont focus on the food)
If spoon-feeding, follow their cues. If they’re opening their mouth for more - offer more. If they’re turning their head away or not opening their mouth when you present the spoon, don’t keep trying to get it into their mouth.
Offer sips of water before during and after the meal
Avoid continuing to get other options out of the fridge or pantry if they aren’t eating what you’ve offered (I know this is tempting!)
Once they are showing they are done, pack away the food, say something positive like ‘that was a yummy lunch wasn’t it, you loved that carrot and turkey!’, clean their hands and face and move on with the day!
3. The extra calories we sneak in throughout the day due to feeling panicked they haven’t eaten any solid foods actually then can reduce their appetite for the next meal or milk feed and lead to ‘snacking’. I'd suggest following a routine for the day with sleep and feeding to help your little one build up some appetite in between meals and feel well rested too. Check out the Let's Sleep routine eBooks to help you with this!
๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ’๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฑ๐ - ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฃ, ๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ.
๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐’๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐.
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