When it comes to nurturing your toddler’s growth, dinner plays a pivotal role, though many toddlers are less than enthusiastic about mealtime. My little one, for instance, begins her daily hunger strike around 3 PM and won’t eat again until morning. Despite my mother’s well-meaning suggestion to simply serve a dinner my daughter enjoys, I had to remind her that my older sister often fell asleep at the dinner table rather than take a single bite. Memory can be quite deceptive.
Here’s a structured approach to feeding a toddler dinner in 18 straightforward steps:
- Prepare a meal that is guaranteed to please your toddler, such as buttered noodles (sans sauce), chicken (which must not resemble chicken!), and peas (that must not touch anything else on the plate).
- In a moment of misguided ambition, add a tiny piece of salad to the plate to encourage a more diverse palate.
- Place the dinner in front of your toddler and immediately regret the addition of the salad, fervently hoping to the toddler deities—Dora, Daniel Tiger, and Elmo—that they won’t notice it. Please, just overlook the salad!
- Naturally, they spot the salad.
- A wave of hysteria ensues, leaving you with two options: A) Abandon the situation to salvage your own dinner and sanity, or B) Adopt a firm stance and attempt to teach your child that exclamations like “Yucky! Gross! Call Grandma!” are inappropriate when facing their dinner.
- Opting for the latter, you brace yourself, knowing readers expect you to persevere. You remind yourself of the consequences of giving up at this crucial point in the salad saga.
- As a result of your firmness, your toddler enters time-out approximately 20 times in the next 45 minutes. Just in time for the rest of the family to enjoy their meal!
- You endeavor to savor your dinner amid the heart-wrenching sobs, which, oddly enough, provide a sense of satisfaction as you ponder whether an important lesson is being learned.
- You ruefully recall that you tell yourself this very thing every night.
- The rest of the family finishes dinner, tidies up, and enjoys some leisure time, leaving you in a state of mild envy.
- Your toddler then declares they are full and demand dessert, immediately!
- A glance at their plate reveals they have consumed virtually nothing.
- You find yourself saying, “You need to eat three bites and try your salad before dessert.” Sometimes, you open your mouth, and your mother’s voice emerges.
- Unfazed, your toddler counters with, “No, five bites!”
- Your older child begins to point out that five is more than three, but you give them a look that communicates, “Your screen time depends on your next comment.”
- The family collectively avoids eye contact with the toddler, as they, like a timid giraffe, refuse to eat while being observed.
- Miraculously, your toddler consumes five bites (and dares to try the salad!) all alone at the table, three hours post-dinner.
- They might just earn some dessert, as you remind yourself that you included oatmeal in that cookie, which may ensure their survival for another day.
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In summary, feeding a toddler can feel like a daunting task, but with patience and determination, you can navigate the challenges of mealtime. Remember, toddlers may surprise you by eventually trying new foods—even if it takes a bit of time and a lot of persistence.