{"id":2967,"date":"2021-03-22T07:00:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T14:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/?p=2967"},"modified":"2021-03-05T14:32:42","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T22:32:42","slug":"peaceful-mealtimes-with-toddlers-try-these-9-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/peaceful-mealtimes-with-toddlers-try-these-9-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Peaceful Mealtimes with Toddlers? Try These 9 Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the things I feel most passionate about is the importance of peaceful and connected family mealtimes. Nothing\u2019s better at the end of a long day than enjoying a meal and talking together.<\/p>\n<p>However, our busy lives can make it hard to have those idyllic dinners. More often, dinnertime is a blur of hurried cooking, complaining, and cleaning up!<\/p>\n<p>To help parents with this, I\u2019ve written about how to <a href=\"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/fun-family-dinners-heres-how\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">make family meals fun<\/a> for parents with kids of all ages.<\/p>\n<p>Meals with toddlers can be challenging. Here are 9 tips to help you enjoy them:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eat together as a family often. This helps picky toddlers focus on eating and learn from family members about trying new foods. If mom, dad, or a big sibling likes it, maybe they\u2019ll try it too!<\/li>\n<li>Have your child use a high chair until they can sit in your kitchen chairs. They may need to transition to a booster chair. I remember sitting on the huge family dictionary when I outgrew my high chair!<\/li>\n<li>Be ready for mess and don\u2019t worry too much about it. Put a shower curtain on the floor under your baby or toddler. Or get a Labrador \u2013 they make dinnertime cleanup easy!<\/li>\n<li>Keep a meal\/snack schedule. Avoiding grazing or eating too close to mealtimes keeps kids hungry and ready to eat.<\/li>\n<li>Skip the background TV. Now, I\u2019m not perfect and my kids have eaten a few meals while watching TV as a treat. But try to reduce background noise to keep mealtime important and allow conversations. This also helps your child focus on food and their feelings of hunger and fullness.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/healthy-meals-kids-serve-choose\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">You choose what foods to offer, they choose which and how much to eat.<\/a> Once you\u2019ve made the meal, sit back and enjoy being together as a family. Try to not focus much on what your kids are choosing to eat.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t offer special \u201ckid foods.\u201d Of course, you\u2019re not offering <a href=\"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/how-to-save-a-life-prevent-choking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">choking hazards<\/a> to young children and are avoiding very spicy foods. Beyond these, everything is fair game to feed a toddler. Skip the kid\u2019s menu in restaurants and let them have a portion your order! They\u2019ll be less picky later about foods \u2013 even mildly spicy ones.<\/li>\n<li>Offer one meal with minimal \u201ccustomization.\u201d Definitely don\u2019t act as a short-order chef by cooking different meals for kids! I usually make one crowd pleaser and don\u2019t worry about the rest of the meal. For example, I\u2019ll serve chicken (safe bet) with roasted Brussels sprouts (some of us love \u2019em, some of us will eventually).<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t enforce rules to clean their plate. To make this easier \u2013 serve very small portions to young kids. A good rule of thumb is that a serving size is one tablespoon per year of age.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you think it will encourage your kiddo to try new foods, consider having a \u201cone bite\u201d rule. I actually tried it with 3 bites. Think about what will work best with your family. It\u2019s not worth turning it into a battle, or forcing a child to remain at their seat after dinner.<\/p>\n<p>Remember, the goal is to enjoy peaceful, connected and fun family meals!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nothing\u2019s better at the end of a long day than enjoying a meal and talking together. But &#8211; meals with picky toddlers can be challenging. Here are 9 tips to help you enjoy them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[100,49,274],"class_list":["post-2967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-life","tag-family-dinners","tag-family-meals","tag-picky-eaters","ages-toddler"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1614984809:8"],"_edit_last":["8"],"slide_template":["default"],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_custom_body_class":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["60"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["60"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["289"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":["family mealtimes"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["family mealtimes"],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["58"],"qode_seo_title":["Tips for Making Family Mealtimes with Toddlers Peaceful "],"qode_seo_keywords":["meals with toddlers, family mealtimes, peaceful mealtimes, special foods, picky eaters, toddlers, eating together as a family"],"qode_seo_description":["Meals with toddlers can be challenging. Here are 9 tips to make mealtimes peaceful. Eat together as a family often. Have your child use a high chair until they can sit in your kitchen chairs. Be ready for mess and don\u2019t worry too much about it. Keep a meal\/snack schedule. Avoiding grazing or eating too close to mealtimes. \r\nSkip the background TV. You choose what foods to offer, they choose which and how much to eat. Don\u2019t offer special \u201ckid foods.\u201d Skip the kid\u2019s menu in restaurants and let them have a portion your order! Don't cook different meals for kids! Don\u2019t enforce rules to clean their plate. 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