PICKY EATING IS A MYTH – (in the absence of a sensory processing disorder) ⭐
Whether it’s a little mouth ( 👶) or a big mouth ( 💃 ) — picky eating is a behavioral + psychologically conditioned concept w/ a sprinkle (mmm…sprinkles) of innate food preferences.
Your food dislikes likely have meaningful reasons and stories behind them— likely from childhood or an “event” like food poisoning, a specific person, an environment, etc.
Whether your “picky eater” is your husband, your mom, your kid — etc. it’s important to unpack the WHY behind this, and work on “treatment” if appropriate. For babies and kids, like my own 👶 🦋—
Be 🇨🇭- FOOD NEUTRALITY when serving, discussing, or feeding. Also be 🇨🇭 bc evidently today the @confiseriespruengli factory rained 🍫 from the sky.
Accumulate pleasant experiences while eating. You can sing + smile. Banish your 📱 and 💻 . Coo and speak about colors, textures, shapes, where and how food grows 🌍 and all the people involved in the farm to table process.
Never restrict / demand a child eat, take “one more bite”, play ✈️ games (neutral = not praising or novelizing food!), demand a clean 🍴 , or chastise for any food throwing. Simple be ~neutral~ (poker face; as Lady Gaga says 🎶)
Eating is one of the few domains kids can exert some control over. They’re tossed around like 🥔 all day – mealtime is when they know they can enrage you. YOU have the power! Not them. Maintain that neutral flagpole stance and flap in the wind 💨
⬇️ level of pickiness are associated with parents imposing few restrictions on foods and a lack of pressure to eat‼️
Own your Division of Responsibility – you do the feeding and the timing- your kid (or spouse…) does the eating 🥘
Get your 🦋 in the kitchen! 👩🍳 Seeing where the food comes from and getting them to participate in the preparation demystifies it.
Babies will eat anything. Don’t judge food as “gross.” My son has no idea he’s eating bison spinach oat purée with muddled soy butter and raspberries. Don’t impose your OWN food bias (or diet culture) onto your kids.
I have MUCHHHHH more to say about Minimizing Mealtime Mania — and in fact I do a webinar on the topic! Want it broadcast to your school or pod?