Many of you are into at least a month of quarantining at home. While we’re adjusting to this new normal more and more every day, I know it isn’t easy to be stuck at home with a child who is anything but easy to feed.
The bottom line is that there is nothing easy about this time. But if you are struggling with mealtimes, don’t know what to feed your child, or are worried about what could happen if you can’t find their favorite foods, there are things you can do to make feeding easier.
These recommendations for feeding a picky eater during quarantine are intended to both troubleshoot struggles you may be encountering and to optimize mealtimes to help improve picky eating and make feeding easier.
9 Solutions for Effectively Feeding Picky Eating During Quarantine
Limit snacking between meals
It’s easy to have an open door policy to the kitchen when you’re home all day long. While frequent grazing may provide a few moments of relief for you and a bit of entertainment for your child, it tends to sabotage mealtimes. Kids who eat all day tend not to be hungry at meal times. Ultimately, this leads to more frustration, more consumption of less nutritionally favorable foods, and less consumption of mealtime foods. This means kids are less likely to be interested in new foods and more likely to be in an uncomfortable cycle of kind of but not very hungry.
To avoid this, I suggest sticking to set meal and snack times. The timing doesn’t have to be exact every day. The goal is to determine a set number of meals and snacks for each day and to avoid eating opportunities between those times. Many younger kids need 3 meals and 3 snacks while older kids might only need 1-2 snacks.
Sticking to set meal times can bring structure to your day and also makes it more likely that your child will eat well at mealtimes. That means more nutritious foods and possibly new foods as well.
Plan the menu ahead of time
While it may be more work up front, I truly believe this habit helps both you and your child tremendously, especially now when there is so much uncertainty. Planning ahead limits those last-minute panics and means you’re less likely to rely on the easy solution and more likely to incorporate new and healthier foods.
For your child, knowing the menu ahead of time can train their expectations and can limit their disappointment on days they don’t see a favorite food on the menu.
Bonus: involve your child in menu planning.
Make extra of new foods so you can serve them throughout the week
I recommend serving one new food at every meal. To make this extra easy, try making a little extra of something that’s already on your menu for the week. That way, you’ll always have a new food ready to go.
If this doesn’t work for you or if you need to supplement, I love relying on frozen foods, especially veggies and fruits. These are easy to defrost and prepare in whatever portion you need so you minimize prep time and waste.
Eat family meals whenever possible
Eating together has so many benefits – from improved communication and social skills to better performance in school and healthier food preferences. It’s not only a great way to demonstrate eating skills to your family, but a simple way to end the day with a sense of routine and togetherness that will feel especially comforting in times like these.
Though dinner tends to come to mind when we think about eating together, gathering for any meal or snack is just as effective.
Get kids involved in cooking
This is one of my favorite recommendations no matter what’s going on in the world. The benefits of cooking with kids are hard to beat. Invite your child to help you with simple meal prep tasks or set aside some dedicated time for cooking over the weekend. These are some of my favorite recipes and ideas for kids.
Try looking at the whole week instead of one meal
It’s easy to stress about the outcome of one particular meal. But doing so won’t get you anywhere. And, honestly, one meal in and of itself doesn’t really make a difference. Even a few weeks of less than ideal nutrition won’t have a big impact on your child’s wellbeing in the long run. Stepping back to see the bigger picture can help minimize your daily stress. Try to look instead at how your child ate throughout the whole week. Even then, be easy on yourself. Some will be better than others.
Even while you’re doing this, I still recommend celebrating the small wins. Your child touched a new food? Celebrate! She licked a veggie? Hurray!
Continue to serve familiar meals and foods
Normalcy feels very important about a sense of normalcy right now. As best you can, continue your usual routines and continue to offer the brands and meals you relied on pre-Corona virus.
Be transparent
As things are, you may not be able to get every item on your grocery list, which may mean you return home without some of your child’s safe foods. If you are unable to find your child’s favorites, explain that they are not gone forever. Together, try to think of an alternative. This is a great opportunity to give them more input in menu planning, which may help ease the stress of not having their favorite foods.
Let go of high expectations
It’s a weird time. You might have had grand intentions and high expectations for your extended time at home, but that’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself and your family. Instead, give yourself permission to take it easy and not have everything be so perfect or elaborate. That might mean eggs for breakfast and dinner or serving the same meal two days in a row. Don’t try to be the best, just try to do the best you can.
Recap
Staying at home during the Corona virus outbreak is anything but calm and easy. A bit of structure, planning, and routine can make feeding your children during quarantine easier and more successful. Try planning the menu ahead of time, involving your kids in mealtime decisions, and of course, going easy on yourself.
Homework
What area can you most improve on? Select one to focus on this week.
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