Dear 3 Boys,
You know mommy adores you, but it's really frustrating when you decide to be picky about your food. Maybe it's because of my Albanian background, or because I don't remember being a picky kid eater, or because I just assumed you'd all be chunkers, but I can't help but be concerned when you decide not to eat something. I've made a ton of mistakes when it comes to feeding my boys, and I wouldn't dare say I have 3 non-picky kid eaters - but I've got some tricks I've been implementing to get the infant twins and my preschooler to not be as picky, or picky on the daily. Here are my 10 "secrets" to keep in mind when you're trying to raise non-picky kid eaters:
1. Introduce the new with the old!
Blend new foods that you are introducing to your kids with "old" ones they are already familiar with or that you know they'll totally eat. I can't begin to tell you all the different fruits and veggies I've blended with oatmeal for the twinsies this year - they'll eat anything with oatmeal. And my preschooler will try any kind of meat if there's ketchup on the side. Try to be creative with your ideas because you know your kid best - when I first introduced whole milk yogurt to the twins at 9 months, I started adding sweet fruits to the yogurt that I know they loved as they got familiar with this new food.
2. Give new foods time
I've reintroduced new foods 10-15 times to the twins before they really started to agree with something - don't give up too soon.
3. Serve small portions
I realize that sometimes I'm just offering them too much - I offer the twins (now 10 and a half months old) 1-2 teaspoons of a certain type of 'new' food. I've noticed when there's a whole plate of the same type of food they're just sometimes not as likely to want to finish it all.
4. Let your kids see mom eating
I am a big advocate of eating altogether as a family, and I've gotten rid of furniture to make space for accommodating all 3 boys in our apartment, but I will never give up our dining table and chairs. We aim to have 1 meal a day altogether as a family and just pull the twins highchairs to our table and let them eat. But with preschool and dad working, having meals altogether each time just doesn't work. So when it's just mom at home when the twins eat, I try to eat something with them so they also see me eating and want to join in on the fun.
5. Let the older sibling feed the younger ones
I don't know what it is or why exactly, but anything big brother David is eating or offers to his younger twin brothers, they just open up their mouths and try - no weird faces or looks. What gives?
6. Let them have fun with their food - be flexible (sometimes)
With this one I just mean that sometimes you need to give kids a chance to explore their food, feel new textures with their own hands (this totally gets my husband super nervous), etc. When I know things are going to get messy I take a plastic trash bag and cut it in half so it opens wide and lay it under their high chairs - makes clean up quicker. When I first became a parent I remember receiving tons of food advice from others moms - one piece that stands out is this idea around introducing savory flavors and veggies before anything sweet or fruits, so that the child doesn't always favor sugary things. I totally did not balance this idea and to this day my David won't even eat a slice of birthday cake or any kind of candies (except a few pieces of Starburst every once in a while).
7. Mix up HOW you serve food
In the beginning when we first started solids with the boys, I definitely used my fingers more often than a spoon to feed them. Now, I definitely use a spoon more often (we started using regular, non-plastic, spoons in this past month). As for my preschooler, that kid always uses a fork or spoon because he's such a neat freak and won't want to get "dirty" eating with his hands! This is a total blessing and curse all at once for me as his mom. A tip I got early on that's been helpful to me when first introducing foods to my kids is to consider where you place the food in baby's mouth, whether you're using a spoon or your fingers. I always try to place the food onto their gums on the side of their mouth, and never directly in the middle of their tongue as they're way more likely to just spit it out...test this one out!
8. Offer water early on
From my ow experience, and concerns as a first time mom, I definitely rarely ever offered my first David anything other than his formula to drink - occasionally, I offered some chamomile tea to help settle his stomach, but that was it. This go-around as a second time mom with the twins, I definitely introduced water a lot earlier on (slightly shy of 6 months old). I started offering 1-2 ounces of water at one of their 'bigger' meals of the day, and now I add 3-4 ounces of water. They're still getting all their nutrients primarily from their formula (as every child should until 12 months old), and I noticed that as they eat they do take a few sips of their water and then get back to munching. (FYI - We use the Avent trainer cups with the rubber spout for water...even with my first son 4 years ago.)
9. Schedule Hunger
You know everyone tells you to have a schedule with kids - and some days this is impossible. But having some general rules around how many meals a day they need is good practice. I am not too strict on following a daily schedule of times meticulously, but I always have my non-negotiables. From 4-8 months I always stood by the rule of thumb of 2 baby 'meals' for the twins each day, and since 8 months we increased that to offering meals 3 times per day to them. This works out well because I always give all 3 boys their meals around the same time frame. When I suggest scheduling hunger, I simply mean that having somewhat of a schedule or time to eat really helps you as the parent to know when to expect that they'll really be the hungriest. You don't want to be loading up the kiddos with a bunch of snacks right before a meal because they won't eat as much - this must sound so obvious, but when you've got 3 boys to feed (who seem to always be hungry), it's really easy for you or someone else who's caring for them to just hand them snacks. So be mindful of this one. And of course, something I still totally struggle with is this idea around it being ok to let them wait and actually feel hunger, but it works in terms of getting them to eat their food.
10. Offer 'real' foods & stop making separate meals for everyone
I constantly have to remind myself each day to stop catering to each of my kids as if I were their personal chef (even though I kind of am) because I fall into this behavior of just making something I know my preschooler will chow down and something different for the twinsies. I've been giving it effort each day to think about and plan at least one dish I want to make for the next day that each of my kids can eat. Also just as important is offering your kids 'real' foods. There are my days where chicken nuggets and mac and cheese are just fine for my preschooler, but there need to be more days where we're eating things that mom or dad actually cooked. With the twins, I find that they really prefer eating the 'real' foods over the baby version foods and show more interest and excitement when eating these. When I make Albanian-style bean soup (grosh), I add some bread into it and I offer it to the twins as well. As long as I know my kids are not going to choke on something, I have offered them absolutely everything (except whole milk) since they turned 9 months old. I definitely offered them many foods before the 9 month mark as well, but have added much more - like more protein with scrambled eggs, shredded chicken, turkey and fish sometimes. So when chicken or beef tacos are on the menu, I just shred the meat a little extra for the twins and that's what they'll eat. We pull their high chairs over to our table and let them dig in and have fun.
Check out some of our favorite photos from this week of these Dear 3 Boys chowing down.
xo,
Vicky
You know mommy adores you, but it's really frustrating when you decide to be picky about your food. Maybe it's because of my Albanian background, or because I don't remember being a picky kid eater, or because I just assumed you'd all be chunkers, but I can't help but be concerned when you decide not to eat something. I've made a ton of mistakes when it comes to feeding my boys, and I wouldn't dare say I have 3 non-picky kid eaters - but I've got some tricks I've been implementing to get the infant twins and my preschooler to not be as picky, or picky on the daily. Here are my 10 "secrets" to keep in mind when you're trying to raise non-picky kid eaters:
1. Introduce the new with the old!
Blend new foods that you are introducing to your kids with "old" ones they are already familiar with or that you know they'll totally eat. I can't begin to tell you all the different fruits and veggies I've blended with oatmeal for the twinsies this year - they'll eat anything with oatmeal. And my preschooler will try any kind of meat if there's ketchup on the side. Try to be creative with your ideas because you know your kid best - when I first introduced whole milk yogurt to the twins at 9 months, I started adding sweet fruits to the yogurt that I know they loved as they got familiar with this new food.
2. Give new foods time
I've reintroduced new foods 10-15 times to the twins before they really started to agree with something - don't give up too soon.
3. Serve small portions
I realize that sometimes I'm just offering them too much - I offer the twins (now 10 and a half months old) 1-2 teaspoons of a certain type of 'new' food. I've noticed when there's a whole plate of the same type of food they're just sometimes not as likely to want to finish it all.
4. Let your kids see mom eating
I am a big advocate of eating altogether as a family, and I've gotten rid of furniture to make space for accommodating all 3 boys in our apartment, but I will never give up our dining table and chairs. We aim to have 1 meal a day altogether as a family and just pull the twins highchairs to our table and let them eat. But with preschool and dad working, having meals altogether each time just doesn't work. So when it's just mom at home when the twins eat, I try to eat something with them so they also see me eating and want to join in on the fun.
5. Let the older sibling feed the younger ones
I don't know what it is or why exactly, but anything big brother David is eating or offers to his younger twin brothers, they just open up their mouths and try - no weird faces or looks. What gives?
6. Let them have fun with their food - be flexible (sometimes)
With this one I just mean that sometimes you need to give kids a chance to explore their food, feel new textures with their own hands (this totally gets my husband super nervous), etc. When I know things are going to get messy I take a plastic trash bag and cut it in half so it opens wide and lay it under their high chairs - makes clean up quicker. When I first became a parent I remember receiving tons of food advice from others moms - one piece that stands out is this idea around introducing savory flavors and veggies before anything sweet or fruits, so that the child doesn't always favor sugary things. I totally did not balance this idea and to this day my David won't even eat a slice of birthday cake or any kind of candies (except a few pieces of Starburst every once in a while).
7. Mix up HOW you serve food
In the beginning when we first started solids with the boys, I definitely used my fingers more often than a spoon to feed them. Now, I definitely use a spoon more often (we started using regular, non-plastic, spoons in this past month). As for my preschooler, that kid always uses a fork or spoon because he's such a neat freak and won't want to get "dirty" eating with his hands! This is a total blessing and curse all at once for me as his mom. A tip I got early on that's been helpful to me when first introducing foods to my kids is to consider where you place the food in baby's mouth, whether you're using a spoon or your fingers. I always try to place the food onto their gums on the side of their mouth, and never directly in the middle of their tongue as they're way more likely to just spit it out...test this one out!
8. Offer water early on
From my ow experience, and concerns as a first time mom, I definitely rarely ever offered my first David anything other than his formula to drink - occasionally, I offered some chamomile tea to help settle his stomach, but that was it. This go-around as a second time mom with the twins, I definitely introduced water a lot earlier on (slightly shy of 6 months old). I started offering 1-2 ounces of water at one of their 'bigger' meals of the day, and now I add 3-4 ounces of water. They're still getting all their nutrients primarily from their formula (as every child should until 12 months old), and I noticed that as they eat they do take a few sips of their water and then get back to munching. (FYI - We use the Avent trainer cups with the rubber spout for water...even with my first son 4 years ago.)
9. Schedule Hunger
You know everyone tells you to have a schedule with kids - and some days this is impossible. But having some general rules around how many meals a day they need is good practice. I am not too strict on following a daily schedule of times meticulously, but I always have my non-negotiables. From 4-8 months I always stood by the rule of thumb of 2 baby 'meals' for the twins each day, and since 8 months we increased that to offering meals 3 times per day to them. This works out well because I always give all 3 boys their meals around the same time frame. When I suggest scheduling hunger, I simply mean that having somewhat of a schedule or time to eat really helps you as the parent to know when to expect that they'll really be the hungriest. You don't want to be loading up the kiddos with a bunch of snacks right before a meal because they won't eat as much - this must sound so obvious, but when you've got 3 boys to feed (who seem to always be hungry), it's really easy for you or someone else who's caring for them to just hand them snacks. So be mindful of this one. And of course, something I still totally struggle with is this idea around it being ok to let them wait and actually feel hunger, but it works in terms of getting them to eat their food.
10. Offer 'real' foods & stop making separate meals for everyone
I constantly have to remind myself each day to stop catering to each of my kids as if I were their personal chef (even though I kind of am) because I fall into this behavior of just making something I know my preschooler will chow down and something different for the twinsies. I've been giving it effort each day to think about and plan at least one dish I want to make for the next day that each of my kids can eat. Also just as important is offering your kids 'real' foods. There are my days where chicken nuggets and mac and cheese are just fine for my preschooler, but there need to be more days where we're eating things that mom or dad actually cooked. With the twins, I find that they really prefer eating the 'real' foods over the baby version foods and show more interest and excitement when eating these. When I make Albanian-style bean soup (grosh), I add some bread into it and I offer it to the twins as well. As long as I know my kids are not going to choke on something, I have offered them absolutely everything (except whole milk) since they turned 9 months old. I definitely offered them many foods before the 9 month mark as well, but have added much more - like more protein with scrambled eggs, shredded chicken, turkey and fish sometimes. So when chicken or beef tacos are on the menu, I just shred the meat a little extra for the twins and that's what they'll eat. We pull their high chairs over to our table and let them dig in and have fun.
Check out some of our favorite photos from this week of these Dear 3 Boys chowing down.
xo,
Vicky
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