Family mealtimes should be relaxed and happy \u2013 it is a time when you can all connect and be together. Creating an enjoyable atmosphere around the dining table requires patience, understanding, and a few simple strategies to encourage positive interactions. Try these tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let your child explore their food \u2013 and expect some mess!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most important aspects of introducing children to new foods is allowing them to explore the food with their senses. Encourage your child to touch, smell, and even play with their food. This can help toddlers get used to different textures and flavours, ultimately leading to a more adventurous palate and enjoyment of a greater variety of foods. Expect some mess along the way \u2013 it\u2019s a natural part of the learning process. Lay a towel down on the floor at your child\u2019s end of the table if you are worried about ruining the carpet \u2013 and make sure they are wearing clothes that won\u2019t get ruined. You\u2019ll find a range of tasty supper recipes that will introduce new flavours and textures to your toddler under the Quick + Easy Recipe<\/a> tab on the Squish website, including Cheesy Veg Balls<\/a>, Chicken Curry,<\/a> and Sweet Potato Risotto<\/a>. Squish 100% Fruit and Veg<\/strong> Purees are made using quality fruit and vegetables and contain no preservatives, flavourants or colourants \u2013 and have no added sugar or starch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let children feed themselves and give help if needed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Empowering your child to feed themselves fosters independence and builds confidence. Provide age-appropriate utensils and encourage your child to take control of their own meal. However, be prepared to step in and offer help if needed, especially with challenging foods or tricky utensils. Strike a balance between encouraging autonomy and providing support to ensure a happy mealtime experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eat together so toddlers can watch and copy you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Children learn by observing and imitating others, so involving them in family meals allows them to mimic your behaviour and enjoy new foods. Encourage them to taste food from your plate \u2013 and if you are eating family style with bowls in the middle of the table, encourage them to help serve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t have too many distractions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Minimise distractions during mealtimes to promote focused eating. Turn off the TV and put away electronic devices to create a calm and peaceful atmosphere. Eliminating distractions allows everyone to savour their food and engage in meaningful conversations with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Offer encouragement, but don\u2019t argue or force your child to eat No stress<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no need to rush through dinnertime as this can make a toddler feel stressed. Mealtime conversations should extend beyond just discussing food. This will also take the pressure off. Use this opportunity to engage with your toddler on a variety of topics, from their day at playschool to their favourite activities as they enjoy this quality time with you and their meal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Family mealtimes should be relaxed and happy \u2013 it is a time when you can all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-6mnths","odd","has-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3657"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3659,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions\/3659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/strong>Encouragement and positive reinforcement can go a long way in fostering healthy eating habits. Praise your child for trying new foods or eating well but avoid coercion or arguments around mealtime. Pressuring children to eat certain foods can create negative associations with mealtime and lead to resistance. Instead, focus on providing nutritious options and allowing your child to make their own choices. One way to do this is to tell your child they must choose two of the three dishes on offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n