What to do if your 2-year-old baby doesn't like to eat

In life, we often see such scenes: several adults surround a child, especially at mealtimes, the parents will follow behind the child, coaxing him/her for a while and then feeding him/her a mouthful of rice. This not only fails to cultivate good eating habits for the child, but also causes the child to not get enough nutrition. When children are hungry, they will choose to eat snacks. This behavior of parents is not loving their children, but harming them.

Only with good eating habits can we get enough nutrition. The following are the principles and precautions for parents to conduct eating training, which can be practiced at home according to the child's condition.

Set Meal

The Chinese usually have the dining habit of eating set meals, which has the advantage of allowing them to choose their favorite dishes, but it also gives children the opportunity to be picky eaters. If your child is a very picky eater, you can try serving him or her food in a set meal, that is, a plate that includes rice, vegetables, meat and other dishes. This way you can take into account your child's nutrition while also requiring him or her to finish his or her own portion.

In addition, slightly changing the cooking methods of ingredients that children don't like, such as chopping vegetables and mixing them into rice or meat. Usually, cutting fibrous foods into small pieces can improve children's tendency to chew too long.

No snacks outside of meals

In addition to regulating good eating times and habits, children must also be prohibited from eating snacks. If children skip meals and still have snacks to fill their stomachs, they will be even less likely to eat seriously.

In addition to parents, other family members need to cooperate, especially grandparents, who may feel sorry for their children because they are hungry and give them snacks. A short pain is worse than a long one. The cooperation of the whole family can improve the child's eating habits more effectively.

Many families have the habit of watching TV while eating. Children's attention will be drawn to the content of the program and they cannot concentrate on eating. This will not only prolong the meal time, but they will also often "eat with TV" and lose their appetite for the food. Some children will run to play with toys in the middle of eating and forget what they were doing.

It is recommended that parents do not turn on the TV during meals and keep the environment clear, avoid too many toys or items that may distract children, and let children concentrate on eating before doing other activities.

Set meal times

If a child is not focused when eating, or likes to be fed by others instead of eating by himself, it may cause a meal to take several hours. I have even heard of cases where a meal takes three hours. This will seriously affect the daily routines of parents and children. Children learn to use delaying tactics, and parents will easily compromise and start feeding their children.

It is recommended that parents set a standard meal time for their children, such as half an hour or 45 minutes. After the time limit, all food should be put away and not eaten until the next meal. Children are born with the instinct to not let themselves go hungry. If they don’t eat enough for a few meals, they will definitely eat more actively afterwards. You may find that children who don’t like to eat at home eat quickly and well in kindergarten. This shows the importance of "standards".

If your child often complains of a tingling sensation in his mouth when chewing vegetables or meat fibers, and is reluctant to brush his teeth or wash his face, he may have oral or facial sensitivity. In this case, you can give your child a facial massage 15 minutes before meals.

The direction of the massage is to start from the philtrum, circle around the lips, and then from the corners of the mouth to the ears, press on the cheeks with appropriate force, and stay at each point for 5 seconds. After the child can accept it, put the index finger into the mouth, press the cheek muscles together with the thumb, and press the gums at fixed points. If you don’t know how to proceed, you can go to the hospital’s rehabilitation department and ask an occupational therapist or speech therapist.