HOW TO FEED A TODDLER

 Well, the biggest question and all-time worry in the mind of mothers, that How To Feed A Toddler. And this was the same question I struggled on too when I became a mother of twins. That question keep hitting my mind all the time when I started giving my twins solids. And I know most of us who are mothers surely struggling with this kind of question too. In today's world, we all are so occupied with so many things that we barely get time to cook food properly or like our mothers who used to serve us - proper meals. Well, I don't know about others but my mother used to give me a full plate, which includes salad, sabzi, dahi, papad, and a roti. She always used to say that she is not worried about chapati, we finish it or not, but her main concern was always the rest of the items. We were not allowed to leave the dining table without finishing our plates.

       Now you must be wondering and recollecting your memories that yes when you were a kid you also used to follow some rules made by your parents. But kids these days are too much to handle.
          So, before I explain the topic of the day which is How To Feed A Toddler it is necessary to realize the basic requirements of a child before feeding them up to their nose. Do you know how many calories and fat a child requires in a day in different age groups? I'll tell you the answer in a very simple n specific way, which I bet no one is going to tell you. But what you all will surprised after knowing is we do count their calories and fat intake on daily basis but the kids consume them on weekly basis. That means when you will start counting their fat n calorie intake regularly you might be upset any alternate day that the consumption is low but on the other alternative day you will be surprised how they have consumed it. They are not going to add or subtract any ingredients in their food on their own of course. But they play with our biggest worry and frustration which is today he ate well or today he didn't eat at all. That is why most of the Drs recommend making their weekly chart of consumption of fats and calories rather than calculating it on daily basis.

       So the question here is how What should be the total calorie and fat intake of your child. That as per child with age group 1-3 years needs approx 1000 to 1300 calories and fat intake about of 30-35 percent of total calorie consumption. And for the age group of 4-12 years needs approx 1200-1600/calorie and fat intake about 25-35 percent of total calorie consumption. Now we need to understand based on the above few tricks and tips How To Feed A Toddler.

1) Avoid forceful feeding.

Most of the mothers including me think that if the plate is not yet finished, it means their child is still hungry but showing only tantrums in eating food. Now you tell me if you will be hungry or any of us will be hungry why we would be throwing the tantrums. One reason is - food is not tasty and the other - WE ARE NOT HUNGRY ANYMORE. Yes. You read it right. If we go with the first option then why the child will eat either one or two spoons. They will never eat even a single spoon, they will end up spilling out if they didn't like the food, nobody will eat it either. So, the question arrives they might not be hungry anymore. We need to understand that their stomach is as small as their palm size. So they can only consume food as per that size. If they aren't eating or ending up eating in 4 to 5 spoons only then try after half an hour or maybe after one hour because they might not be hungry at that time. Because understand when you forcefully feed your child they will get irritated and start to avoid eating even their favorite food.

2) Avoid water intake.

Yes, this is the major reason why your child is not eating enough, because they have already filled their stomach with water. I know when your child will ask for water in between the meal, the reasons could be many - may be food is too spicy,

- may they have start hiccups,

Or just because they are now already habitual of it.

If the food is spicy try tasting it before offering it to your child, you can add curd in it or a basic tomato puree to make it a little less spicy. So if the food will be less spicy, they will not ask for water in between. But our concern here is neither spicy food nor the hiccups because they are like once in a blue moon. How you are going to tackle the habits already inbuilt in your child. HAVING WATER IN BETWEEN THE MEALS. This is the most common mistake we generally do to give water in between the meals, we should always try avoiding it. If your child is asking for the water, try to change their mindset from water to another thing. For example, when my twins ask for water at mealtime, I start playing with them and stop feeding them for a minute or two. Once they are again settled down and forgot about the water I start again. Trust me, ladies, initially, this mission was extremely difficult for me too, I was coping up with two monsters at a time, and as the sibling, the rule says if one is the irritating mother the second one will help first to irritate more. But as I always say that as a mother we tend to cope with all these. We should never give up. If we can give them birth we can cope with them up.

3) Screen time or No screen time.

Aah, this is the major question Drs and mothers are struggling with and having debates every time we go for vaccination of our child. Doctors say no screen time while eating and mothers say without mobile my child will not eat. Now, how has this mobile habit started? Ever wondered? Because we mothers these days are busy and stuck in work from home or work and home life. We have much less time to even eat our food, so how we are managing to feed our child only we know it. But ladies, we need to understand here that for what reason we are working day and night, why do we need to earn so much money? The answer is that we need to give our children a secure future. But have you ever thought if we are not even helping them live their present a fit life, why we are worrying about the future? Why don't we have time to even feed them? So for me, yes I am also against mobile screen time. And even my kids don't even ask for mobile phones because I have never given them mobiles as a toy but I personally don't care about the screen time or no screen time I let my kids enjoy their food with TV or without TV, that's their choice, until and unless they are having their food without mobiles. Because when are watching TV, I keep talking with them, or asking them what is happening in the Video or song they are listening to and they do revert to my questions because they are not completely sunk in screen. Whereas when a child is watching videos in mobile phones they are so badly sunk in the screen, that they will not answer your question is one thing, they will get irritated to because you are disturbing them.  

4) Exploration is the Key to Success. 

Yes, I believe in the above statement. How? Well, you will start believing it too after reading this. If you are one of the mothers who is getting irritated because your child is not sitting at the dining table or on the high chair to eat, then you are wasting your energy dear. They are in the age of exploration and you have already explored many things. That is why you are tired and sitting at a place where they have so so many things yet to explore every single minute. Every corner in the room or the house is new to them let them explore. They will play and eat food this will take time to finish their meal but trust me the results are amazing. Play with them while they are exploring, or amaze with their expressions of happiness when they find something amazing to do. This could lead to many benefits, and one of them is they are off-screen time. They are busy with you, spending time with your child will create an amazing bond between the two of you as well. Try feeding them that time and let them enjoy their food and fun. Like my daughter loves eating her food when she is sliding her slide in the living room. Every time she slides and comes to me for the next bite with an open mouth and ended up with the last bite. That is a happy moment for both of us.

5) Teach them responsibility.

This point here is something my favorite point. If you have a sibling to handle and feed. Give them a responsibility to feed each other. Yeah! I do it. My Twins are 2 years old now and I give them a responsibility to feed each other and they are now experts in this. Yes, things take time But do happen one day. Tell them to feed each other and who's plate is empty will get a gift or reward them with something they would love to have. See how they will feed each other and most importantly, this will grow their bond too. Try this, you will not believe but this is magical. 

6) Alternate Food

If you are doing this mistake, it is better to stop right here. Yes, most of us create monsters while doing this mistake. Kids are really smart and their brain works 1000 times faster than yours. You will not even notice something and they will grab that thing in microseconds. Once they will understand your pattern of giving them alternate food, they will start throwing tantrums at every food they hate to eat. If your child is not eating his/her food at the time you are serving to them, it is OK maybe they are not hungry that time, or maybe they don't want to eat that time. Also, one big reason could be that food is not their favorite food. IT IS COMPLETELY OK. But don't offer them alternative food all the time, once they will be hungry they will eat that food on their own, but stop giving them alternatives because then you will never be able to feed them the food of your choice. Patience is the key here, and as our ancestors said - No one can fight with hunger. Wait and watch, you need to be a bit stronger in your decision of not giving them food of their choice all the time.

 7) Change The Name Game. 

So, It's a trick and treats game. Have you ever noticed that sometimes we taste food in a restaurant or at someone's place we don't know the name of or maybe they have given name in such a way that doesn't describe the vegetable in it? For example - Lasagne, a person who has never seen the making of lasagne can never ever imagine that this amazing and yummy-looking food can have zucchini in it.  Yes, Sometimes changing the name completely can lead to success. Like my mother has given me an apple gourd to me with the name of Green potato curry and I started eating it just after changing the name. Because I never tasted that vegetable just by listening to the name tinde ki sabzi. I mean who eats that? But immediately name changed to Green Potato Curry sounds very fancy to me. And yes fool of me, I start loving that vegetable too. 

8) Say No To Distractions.

Ok, so this is the biggest hurdle in my journey or my daily exercise of feeding my twins. I cope with this situation every time I serve them food. If your toddler is big enough to feed himself/herself but gets distracted easily and leaves food. Then this point is for you. For this, you need to be a little strict with others. Tell them whenever kids have food or whosoever feeding them, leave them alone. Because there are only two person's roles - One who is feeding and the second - to whom they are feeding. The Third-person here is a total distraction.  To practice this, it is always better to be alone with your child while you are feeding them because anyways your child will find his/her distraction even in a small hole, but once you allow others to enter his/her mind with some other distraction. THE GAME IS OVER. They can let them remember water again - what you have removed from your child's brain a minute ago, or they can come with any of the distractions you will hate because then your child 100% move on. 

Even though I tried hard to give you options and suggestions in my above blog, there are and there will be too many reasons kids can end up showing interest in food. But as I always say we as a mother, we have so much tendency to deal with them, if we can give them birth, we can turn them into beautiful person. Kids are like clay, so mold them with your love and time and never end up trying new things and new ideas on them. And remember - THINGS DON'T CHANGE OVERNIGHT. WE NEED TO CHANGE THEM SLOWLY AND GRADUALLY.  

In my upcoming blog, I will be explaining all the pros and cons for all above mention points. So Don't miss out.