Author: Splash Creative

If your child is a picky eater, getting them to eat well-balanced meals and healthy foods can feel like an everyday battle! It’s especially common for toddlers and young children to be picky eaters. Children can develop food preferences from an early age and trying new things can cause mealtime conflicts. However, there are many strategies that can help kids break out of picky eating patterns.

 

One tip that is always recommended is to eat together as a family as often as possible and with no distractions, such as using media devices or cell phones or watching television. When you eat together as a family, you have an opportunity to model healthy eating. Children are more likely to develop good eating habits when they see the rest of the family following them. At mealtime, it’s helpful to add at least one food your child likes. This will encourage them to eat their entire meal when they have something on their plate that they enjoy. We advise against offering food bribes, such as a treat or dessert if your child finishes their meal. While it is okay to let your child enjoy an occasional treat or dessert, making it part of a reward system for finishing their meal can turn eating healthy into an unpleasant chore rather than a normal routine. 

 

Making food fun can entice your kids to eat the foods you give them. Consider cutting foods into fun shapes or arranging them in creative ways so that they’re more exciting. Try adding flavors or mixing up the foods to make them tasty. For example, you might want to offer your child a fun dip to go along with their vegetables or add sauce, herbs, or spices to their meals. Sometimes changing the texture can help. For example, if your child doesn’t like eating raw carrots, you can try heating and mashing them. It might take some trial and error to see what flavors and textures your child prefers. The key is to be patient during the process and keep trying to add new foods as well as foods your child previously had an aversion to. It takes time for kids’ taste buds to evolve. 

 

When your child refuses to eat the food that you give them, avoid fighting them over it. Pressuring kids can make them more adamant about not eating or dislike the food even more. Substitute the food for something else that provides the same nutrients. For example, if your child hates radishes, try giving them Brussels sprouts instead. Another method that can be helpful is the food bridge method. This is using a food your child already likes as a bridge to introduce a new food. An example is if they like mashed potatoes, serve some with broccoli and cheese. Once they can accept that, you can then offer broccoli with cheese alone. 

 

Lastly, we recommend involving kids in the meal planning process. Let them have a say in some of the ingredients you use and the fruits and vegetables you pick out. Give them a menu of healthy options and make sure that the different food groups are included, i.e. grains, protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fat, vegetables, etc. 

 

If you’re still struggling with picky eaters in your household and you’re concerned that your child is not getting enough nutrients, contact our office to speak to our pediatrician for the best course of action to take.  

As kids enjoy their summer break, it’s important that they also maintain and grow their skills so that they’re prepared for the new school year ahead. You can help them set routines and participate in activities that will not only keep them learning but also make it fun so it doesn’t feel like a boring chore! We have tips to encourage your children to grow their physical, mental, and emotional skills.

 

Physical activity is essential for children as it strengthens their body and helps keep them at a healthy weight. It also teaches your kids valuable skills. For example, when kids play sports, they learn teamwork, coordination, and problem-solving. It is recommended that children get at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day, so try to engage your kids in activities and games that they like, i.e. roller blading, bike riding, soccer, baseball, etc. Swimming, in particular, is a great sport for kids to learn because they also develop water survival skills that can protect them from drowning.

 

In addition to physical activity, it’s also good for kids to spend time outdoors and in nature. Consider taking walks with them and point things out to spark their curiosity. A walk in nature can enhance children’s understanding of their environment and develop language skills as they learn how to describe their observations. You can also play fun games with young children like having them count the number of animals or trees they see to maintain mathematical skills.

 

Indoor activities during the summer are beneficial too. Encourage your children’s creativity by having them draw or paint pictures, using clay or Play-Doh to make art, learning how to play an instrument, or participating in games like charades and dance challenges. Creativity can strengthen academic skills and improve your child’s learning abilities for when they start or go back to school. It is also recommended that kids spend time reading books. Reading teaches kids new vocabulary, grammar, and writing, introduces them to world and life concepts, and grows their language and cognitive abilities. It’s an important skill to maintain during summer vacation so that they are ready for a more advanced level of reading when they begin the next new grade in school.

 

Another fun way to enrich your children’s learning is to take them to a museum. Going to the museum is a great opportunity for education while also being an interactive and engaging experience for kids to learn new topics or retain knowledge of things they learned in school. There are also a variety of summer camps and classes for kids to spend time out of the house, interact with their peers, and build relationships. Try to find workshops and camps that suit your kids’ interests, i.e. art, music, STEM (Science, Technology, Math, and Engineering), etc. 

 

We also recommend doing things at home together as a family like cooking meals and baking. Cooking engages your children’s senses as they get to explore different tastes, smells, and food textures. It’s an opportunity to teach kids about nutrition and healthy habits as well. Make sure to talk about the different food groups and ways to balance them as you create recipes together. 

 

Remember, learning can be fun and done through enriching activities that inspire your kids to continue building their skills so that they are prepared and ready to start the new school year!

Do you have concerns that your child is not meeting the developmental milestones expected at their age? Tracking and monitoring your child’s development is important for detecting possible delays to ensure an early intervention for the chance of achieving the best outcomes. We advise all our families to stay up-to-date with the AAP’s recommended checkups so that we can monitor if your baby’s development is on track and intervene if needed. Here’s what families need to know about developmental delays.

 

Developmental milestones include behavioral and physical skills and capabilities expected during certain stages of a child’s life, such as motor, sensory, communication, and feeding skills. Motor milestones can be your baby using their hands to support themselves, being able to sit up, crawling, standing, and walking. Sensory milestones involve the senses, such as noticing and tracking objects, making sounds to express feelings, and observing different shapes, textures, and sizes of objects. Communication milestones include language and social skills such as recognizing words, using gestures like nodding or shaking the head, and developing speech. Feeding milestones include latching onto the nipple/bottle for breastfeeding/feeding and beginning finger foods and solids.

 

The most common type of developmental delays found in children is communication and language. However, speech delays can be temporary and will typically resolve on their own. If your child has a speech delay, we recommend interacting and playing with them often, reading books to them, and sharing different gestures and sounds that they can make to communicate and express themselves. When these do not resolve a language delay on their own, your child may need additional support from a speech therapist. 

 

There is no single cause of developmental delays, but complications at birth, your child’s environment, or medical conditions can be contributing risk factors. Some delays like speech might indicate a sign of hearing loss or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, it’s important to note that there’s a difference between developmental delays and developmental disabilities. While developmental delays can eventually be outgrown, developmental disabilities are lifelong. If you’re unsure if your child has a developmental delay or a disability, call our office so that we can screen and evaluate them to determine if they have either one. 

 

You can find a helpful resource to use for a list of milestones that are expected in each age group during the infant and toddler years on the Pathways website here.  If your child was born prematurely, you will need to adjust their age when tracking their milestones. To do this, take your baby’s actual age in weeks and subtract it from the number of weeks they were preterm. For example, if your baby was born 10 weeks ago but 2 weeks earlier than their due date, the corrected age is 8 weeks. In this case, you would assess your child’s development based on what’s expected at 8 weeks.  

 

If you have any concerns about possible developmental delays, schedule a visit with us. We can advise you on the best course of action to take and the type of therapy your child might need to help with their delay with the goal being to give them the supports they need to help them thrive and succeed!