Regardless of if we think our child is eating too much or not enough, we really need to let it go. This is taking a leap of faith, but trust that your child will eat the amount he/she needs. The vast majority of children are good at this – if you are concerned or your child is not growing well, check with your doctor.

So offer a variety of healthy foods, at the family table, during regular snack and meal times. If your child doesn’t want to eat, fine. If they want more, fine too! Why do we need to let this go? Not only will it decrease stress of everyone around the table, but it will help your child to grow up having a healthy relationship with food. The problem with forcing children to eat is that they aren’t able to listen to their appetite and will have negative views of some foods. And this will carry with them throughout adulthood. For example, who was forced to clean their plates as a child, and now still clears their plate regardless of satiety? Continue to offer them (no pressure!) again and again, and be a good role model by eating a balanced diet yourself.

What is your experience with this?

Are you wondering if it is safe to introduce peanuts to your baby or toddler? In the past, I have recommended that parents wait until a year of age to introduce peanuts to their baby. This is a common recommendation, and different health regions and countries seem to vary somewhere between six months to three years of age for introducing peanuts. But my baby is 9 months old now, and I recently decided to look into this issue a more.

Peanut allergy is the most common allergy among children, with 1.68% of Canadians affected But Canada, there are no current provincial or federal recommended age to introduce peanuts to infants. Some countries (like Britain and Australia) suggest waiting until age three. I think this would be very difficult to do in today’s food system, and it will not prevent the allergy. But it is true that a three year old is more likely to be able to tell you that they are having an allergic reaction, than an 8 month old.

In the United States, the American Academy of Pediatrics used to recommend that babies at risk of developing allergy avoid eggs until two years of age and avoid peanuts, tree nuts, and fish until three years. These guidelines were based on a few limited studies. However, as of 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics reversed its stance on delaying the introduction of dairy, eggs and nuts, as there is “no current convincing evidence that delaying their introduction has significant protective effect on the development of atopic disease” (Greer, F et al. Pediatrics. 2008 Jan;121(1):183-91).

Researchers are now thinking avoiding allergic foods to prevent allergy may actually be counterproductive!  Some countries where children are introduced to peanut products much earlier, have a much lower rate of peanut allergy. Perhaps earlier introduction of the potential allergic protein can actually create tolerance, and prevent an allergy! The Learning Early About Peanuts (LEAP) study is a randomized control trial currently underway to explore this. Results will be ready in 2013, after following high-risk babies for five years. Researchers will compare allergy rates in the early peanut exposure group to the delayed peanut exposure group.

Until then, I would stick with AAP recommendations. A few years ago I waited until my son was a year to introduce peanuts, but I first fed my daughter peanut butter at age 8 months. While I wouldn’t introduce peanuts as your baby’s first food (more on first food here!), peanut butter can be introduced within the first year for most babies. If you have a high-risk baby (a sibling or parent has food allergies), you may feel more comfortable waiting to introduce peanuts, although the age is up to you. And you may want to do a few trials of rubbing peanut butter on your baby’s cheek before introducing it as a food, to watch for rash. Peanuts are such an easy, inexpensive, nutritious & delicious food, so I wish you luck!

NOTE: If your child is under 4 years old, avoid small hard and round items that they could choke on, like popcorn, hard candies, gum, jellybean, nuts, whole grapes, fruit pits, etc.

Banana Split: Spoon yogurt in the centre of a cereal bowl, and place banana halves on either side. Sprinkle with strawberries, pineapple (or any other fruit you have on hand), and granola.

Potato Nachos: Microwave thin slices of sweet potatoes until tender. Top with tomatoes, green peppers, grated cheese and mild salsa. Microwave until cheese melts.

Nutbutter Dip: Puree ½ cup nut butter (peanut butter, almond butter, etc) with 1 cup plain yogurt. Yummy as a dip for fruit.

Mini Pizzas: Toast whole wheat English muffin halves. Top with shredded mozza, tomato sauce and veggies or other favorite pizza toppings (ham, pineapple, mushroom, peppers). Microwave until cheese melts.

Aunts on a Log: Fill celery slices with nut butter, and top with raisins.

Bunny Snack: Use canned pear halves, or cut a fresh pear in half and take out the core. Fill the pear centre with cottage cheese. Add raisins for eyes and a belly button!

If you try to force your child to eat more, again it will backfire and they will probably eat less than they really want to. Children have little control over things in life, and the amount of food they eat is one of the things they can control! This can turn eating into a power struggle between parents and children. Children “win” and everyone ends up frustrated every time they sit at the table.

I am going out on a limb here, to suggest that you don’t SNEAK fruits and veggies into your toddlers diet. This is based on the “Feeding Relationship” principles, which are cornerstone to creating a healthy relationship with food for your child. Here are the basics: the caregiver chooses what is food offered, where, and when. The child chooses  how much, or even if they eat. If the parent sneaks foods into the child’s diet, the child really isn’t the one deciding IF he eats the food. You are. This does not allow your child  to experience that particular food and learn to like (or dislike!) it on their own. And at some point, they will also probably figure you out – possibly leading to distrust,  a stronger dislike of the offending food and power struggles.

There are other ways you can get your children to eat fruits & veggies. Veggies is usually the tough one, as humans usually like sweet foods like fruits – could be because breast milk is sweet? Which is good, as fruits & veggies have many of the same nutrients. Anyways, here you go:

- Get your child involved: let him pick out a new veggie at the grocery store, grow a garden or prepare the food.

- Offer the fruit/veggie at a time when your child is hungriest, and most likely to eat them. This could be snack time, or as an “appetizer” during the witching hour before dinner.

- Give the fruit or veggie a funny name. A recent study shows that if you give a vegetable a catchy name (like “super-sight carrots”), children are more likely to eat them, and eat more of them.

- Be a good role model. Let your child see you eat fruits & veggies. You can also try offering these foods with other children around, as we know kids like to copy each other.

- Serve veggies with a dip or sauce. Everyone has to admit – broccoli tastes better with cheese sauce, celery tastes better with peanut butter, and carrots taste better with ranch dip. Sure, you may just get your child licking off the dip…..at least it’s a step that they’re putting the vegetable into their mouth!

- Offer the food different forms. Like sweet potatoes mashed, baked and in fry form. Or veggies raw, lightly cooked or over-cooked.

- Try and try again. Children can have a fear of new things, called “Neophobia”. They also have changing tastes. It may take up to 15 tries before your child will choose to eat the food, so offer the food whenever you are eating it. Or maybe they will never choose to eat the food – we all have personal likes & dislikes, so you can expect that your child will too. It’s all about respecting them as people : )

Do you agree with me? Disagree? Any tips or your own?