Preschooler’s Diet

like most moms of preschoolers, I have this constant niggling doubts about whether my son is eating enough? is he getting adequate nutrition? To my eyes he seems to be growing thinner and thinner, although his Docs assure me he is fine and that its just a phase
Also, how do you coax a child who refuses to eat, Do you reward him for eating or threaten him with consequences? Do you divert him with TV  so you can feed him on the sly without him even noticing it? Do you force food into his mouth along with a barrage of  criticism about what a bad boy he is for not eating? To borrow from Shakespeare, “whether tis nobler to just put a plate in front of him at periodic intervals as most Doctors recommend or to run behind him with a plate in your hand as grandma recommends?  How exactly do you get a child to eat food that he should be eating, (About food that he should not be eating, it’s a different story altogether!!! no coaxing required there)
I am at this phase where I pour through information to know which fruits and vegetables have which vitamins and think of various ways in which I can think of to get him to eat them. So if he refuses a serving of vegetables at lunchtime, they are pureed into soup and offered. If he refuses rice, then its chapatti with jam or at tea. Most of the snacking is aimed at filling nutritional needs, such as oat bar or fruits. However despite our best intentions, kiddo espies  bottles full of candy at the medical store and throws a tantrum till you buy them in self defense, or you happen to walk past the ice-cream counter at the grocery and same story repeats itself. Despite your best intentions you end up giving him stuff you know you should not, Another scenario is when all adults at home are snacking on something unhealthy, how do you convince the child he should not eat it when everyone around him is eating it? Answers anyone???

Comments

  1. hmm...start him off on a story series and give all veggies names for him to befriend. then Katy carrot would be missing her friend Tommy Tomato which baby ate last meal... so could he please eat up katy so she can play with tommy in baby's tummy :-) am sure you can cook a better tale than that...but you get the drift :-)

    as for people snacking unhelathy at times...well they make for good 'scary' stories too...

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  2. yes akka i started off telling him a story about how a farmer takes his tractor and plows the land and grows veggies which daddy buys and mummy cooks and he is now eating..worked for a while...now your story theme sounds like what im going to start next :)

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  3. And please care to share your kitchen adventures :) lovely post!!!

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