Ask Dr. S and Dr. G

Food for Thought: Eating Consistently

Follow our series on the who, what, where, when, and how of feeding our children of all ages!

Our Readers Ask:

My 16-month-old son used to be a very laid-back and cooperative eater. He ate enough and was always happy to try any new food item we gave him. Lately, though, he has become uncharacteristically fussy. This has happened right on the heels of my getting promoted at work, which means I am working many more hours than before. I've been able to have my nanny bring him to my office at my lunch hour most days; without this arrangement, I would go without seeing him for twelve plus hours every day, since I arrive home so late and usually miss dinner. On the weekends my husband and I are much more relaxed and we spend all of our time with our son, but we still have difficulty getting him to eat the way he used to. All he seems to want now is milk, plain noodles, or Goldfish crackers. How can we get him to eat again? 

Regardless of how you nursed or bottle-fed your baby, during that time you probably got a good sense of how critical a schedule is to developing good feeding behaviors, and this continues to be true especially throughout his toddlerhood. The unfortunate downside to the change in your work schedule is that it has probably  Simply put, a major part of developing healthy eating habits is maintaining as much consistency as possible with regards to when and where he eats. Even on the weekends, try as much as you can to mirror the same schedule you have on weekdays. Scheduling meals so that they are predictable will help your son learn to regulate his appetite, as well as anticipate and delay gratification. You can reinforce his eating schedule by providing foods typically associated with breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner for these meals, respectively. He will have a stronger grasp of how his day is ordered and what is coming next if he knows that certain foods appear mainly at certain times of the day. This kind of consistency will also make it easier and more comfortable for him to enjoy a wide range of foods, identifying her favorite things to eat but also being open to trying new tastes and textures.

Besides maintaining a schedule of when your child eats, it is also important to be consistent for the most part about where you feed your child. Your little girl will be free to focus more on the social aspect of eating if she doesn't also have to struggle with a change of eating environment. By now you have probably noticed how difficult it is to feed a child in a place that is strange to them, like a restaurant or a relative's home, no matter how comfortable you are. To a point, when the child is not thoroughly aware of her surroundings, she will eat as long as you are there to feed her. Somewhere around 15-18 months, a child begins to notice differences between you and other people, and herself and you. It will be more difficult for the next year and a half to feed her anywhere besides her own little highchair.