A common mistake with fussy eaters

I have spoken to many parents who get in touch because when they go away on holiday it really shines a negative light on their child’s eating. In fact, it may not even be a holiday, it may be a restaurant, or the neighbours, or a relative’s house.

Often, when we’re at home, we make all sorts of accommodations for our child. Unfortunately, this is a common mistake with fussy eaters. Over time we stop even being conscious about how much we are compromising.

Being in a new environment, especially when surrounded by friends or relatives, suddenly shows us how far from “ideal” our child’s eating is.

Turning around that common mistake with fussy eaters

When we do make these compromises we are accidentally often hindering rather than helping our picky eater. My advice is always to ask ourselves “are we enabling or are we supporting” in any situation regarding our child and their fussy eating.

Is what we’re doing enabling our child to continue being as fussy around food? For example, if we have a child who loves Cocopops and we serve that every morning, this reinforces their fussy behaviour. Especially if they are also able to eat Weetbix but just prefer the Cocopops, for example (who doesn’t prefer chocolate!)

As parents it’s easy to fall into a routine where we make our child happy, ensure they put something in the tummy and have firm favourites we revolve weekly.

How can we not make that common mistake with fussy eaters?

1. Happy is good. Making our child happy is important and in fact, creating comfort around food is a core goal. But there is a big difference between serving them foods that they are able to eat and only serving favourites.

It’s good to take a step back and look at whether we are focused on making them happy, but at the expense of variety. The less foods they tackle on a weekly basis the more narrow their diet can become.