Toddler Feeding Techniques: Tips and Strategies

Team AckoFeb 8, 2024

As a parent, it is common to always be on a lookout for toddler feeding techniques and tips. Toddlers begin exploring as they are exposed to many exciting things around. It becomes quite normal for them to lose interest in food. Their growth rate slows down making their appetite smaller.

Down the line, there are different techniques to be researched and decided which strategies are appropriate in which situations.

Tips and strategies to make your toddler eat better 

Here are a few tips and strategies that can help fast-track your toddler from fussy to a foodie.

How to start foodie fix to your toddler?

Follow these guidelines:

Be an examiner:

Parents must first rule out any underlying medical reasons for their toddler to refuse foods. Consult your paediatrician and if something is identified, kindly handle them first.

It is advisable to get to the root of why your toddler is refusing foods and work strategies from there. 

Maintain a stress-free atmosphere; be calm and supportive to your toddler during mealtime.

Do not use any force on your toddler to mouth, bite, chew, swallow, lick or taste any foods.

Keep in mind that toddler’s food refusal may be of very real fear. Respect this fear and support her through it.

2. Before meal-time:

Establish a routine for feeding time. It is ritual for your toddler to first wash her hands with hand-wash and wipe them dry with a napkin. This routine works in following instructions, sequencing and independence in future.

If necessary, first, talk about the food and you can even encourage her to explore it.

Demonstrate the steps involved in eating such as bite, chew, swallow and then repeat the actions with words.

Involve your toddler in the kitchen chores such as laying plates on the dining table, placing the glasses for water.

Ensure that your toddler sits comfortably on the chair resting her back flat against the back of the chair.

Insist having meals sitting in the dining table and not in front of TV., a system or playing games in the gadgets. 

Let your toddler decide the quantity:

Babies’ brains can sense the fullness of the stomach much earlier than an adult can sense and that is the reason they say ‘no’ to further eating.

Expect for your toddler’s appetite to vary from meal to meal and from day to day.

Provide her with three meals and two to three snacks a day.

Plan the meals and snack time before well in advance and offer your toddler before she becomes hungry and tired.

Remember no healthy toddler will starve themselves by refusing food. 

Healthy toddlers will not usually eat before they are hungry. 

Research shows that most toddlers even ‘the fussy eaters’ are eating sufficiently to meet their needs.

You decide the quality:

Offering healthy foods must be the prime concern of every parent.

A regular balanced meal will provide all the energy she needs during the day.

Practise regular family dinners:

Plan balanced dinner meals with all family members for most days of the week. 

Research says this participation of your toddler in regular family dinners imposes her to eat more nutritious diets, perform better in school, have lesser behavioural problems and less likely to be obese. 

The art of sharing and caring is also developed during family dinners.

Encourage your tot to assist you in planning and preparing food:

At this age, toddlers are always on the move and readily love to help when provided an opportunity.

Drive your toddler to the supermarket and offer her the chance to pick the provisions, veggies and fruits of her choice. At the same time, do monitor her that she doesn’t pick any junk foods.

In the kitchen, involve her to assist you to prepare the dish using the ingredients of her choice. This will elevate her to great altitudes,

Make food time 'fun time':

Provide space for mealtime to be happy and relaxed.

Play the game ‘Feed me’. Encourage your toddler to feed you when you say her words ‘Feed me’ while you do the same to her.

Let the meal time be an active interaction session.

Give foods playful names like smiley banana, Sunny cookies and so on. 

Be creative:

Offer foods in different shapes and colours. 

To begin with, offer a small serve. She can always ask for more.

Offer a small portion of a new food to try with foods she already likes.

Be creative to offer foods with new look, taste or texture.

For example, if your toddler loves cheese, spread some on a cracker and offer her.

Be a role model and show her that you enjoy eating a variety of new healthy foods.

Provide choices to choose from:

Sometimes toddlers must be allowed to choose their own food. 

Let her choose the plate and the spoon

Offer her a choice only between two. Ask her whether she wants water or juice.

She will experience some independence.

Keep fun foods in moderation:

Research says that children when restricted with some palatable fun foods, they eat more when it is available.

You can include the fun foods like the cookies and chips thrice in a week as a part of balanced diet. You can give your toddler cookies with milk on Mondays and Fridays. Potato chips in sandwiches on Wednesdays.

Tip to remember about feeding your toddler

Assisting a toddler through feeding problems can be a long process. Each toddler is unique and there are several tips and strategies for feeding techniques. Research, review, through innovation and creativeness, and observe what best suits your toddler and follow the lead.

Happy feeding with tons of fun!

 

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only, based on industry experience and secondary sources. It is not a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a qualified expert for health or insurance-related decisions. Content is subject to change, refer to current policy wordings for specific ACKO details.