This week we’re talking about mealtime with toddlers! Many of us have found that our easy-to-please babies have turned into very picky toddlers. Our expert, Jenny Best, founder of Solid Starts, lays out some of the universal parenting meal concerns and how to deal with them.
ASK AN EXPERT: What to do when your child is a picky eater
We sat down with Jenny Best, the Founder of Solid Starts, A Baby Food Revolution. The Solid Starts team consists of parents, feeding therapists, swallowing specialists, pediatricians, an allergist, pediatric dietitians, lactation consultants, and a nutritionist. To learn more, check out their website, Instagram, or brand-new app.
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[This interview had been edited for time and clarity.]
Toddlers present their own challenges when it comes to eating. What’s the best way to approach this age?
Our focus behind all of our toddler guides is preventing picky eating. We’ve all either seen that toddler or have that toddler that maybe ate really well as a baby and all the sudden is super selective. So there’s sort of a special window in toddlerhood, 12-24 months of age and beyond, that’s really important to nudge in the right direction. And this is I think where most of us fall down on the job. And giving in, saying “Ok eat the goldfish, because we have to get going and get out of the house.”
Right because it’s the path of least resistance?
Yes we prioritize the short game over the long game. And we really want to show parents of toddlers that we are thinking about the long game decision.
What do you mean by that?
If you ask a parent of a toddler or baby what their goals are, they will likely say something like: “I want my child to be willing to explore new foods.” “I want my child to eat what I eat, and I want to be able to take them to restaurants and travel and not have a screaming toddler who will only eat McDonalds chicken nuggets when we’re in Italy. And I want the child who will eat some form of vegetables and fresh foods that are healthy for them. It’s pretty universal.”
It doesn’t sound like a lot to ask… but of course things are never simple with toddlers!
The problem is that because toddlerhood is so hard and difficult to navigate, we make a lot of short game decisions– like “Just eat the goldfish or whatever it is so we can get through the day.” But those micro-decisions add up. So if you have a toddler who doesn’t want to eat at the table, who’s standing at the highchair, who’s throwing food, and then twenty minutes later saying they’re hungry after rejecting the dinner you so lovingly made, we’ve got an issue on our hands.
Right, because then parents push back, and so do the toddlers.
Parents start exerting more pressure, and the toddler starts pushing back more. Before you know it you’ve got a battle at the table that’s hard to undo.
Editor’s Note: A big thanks to Jenny Best for taking the time to chat with us. If this sounds like an issue you’re dealing with, in our next edition Best walks us through concrete steps to make mealtime less stressful. To learn more, check out Solid Starts’ website, Instagram, or brand-new app.
