Nutrition for Littles

Hearing your little one call your dinner “yucky” can be frustrating and demoralizing, especially after a long day of work or parenting. I know first hand that it’s a situation that can test the limits of parental patience. So today, let’s explore navigating these tricky dinner-time conversations, helping your kids communicate respectfully at the dinner table.

Recognizing and Managing Our (Normal) Emotional Response

Experiencing your child’s negative reaction to a meal can often trigger an emotional response from you, the parent. It’s natural to feel a sting when they, perhaps inadvertently, hurt our feelings. 

But, when we express our unfiltered, unregulated emotions, it can sometimes lead to heightened emotions at the dinner table. When this happens, a cycle of reactivity begins. Before you know it, the situation has escalated, leaving everyone feeling even more upset and frustrated, which can make it difficult and uncomfortable for our littles to express themselves again in the future.

So, take some time now to think of HOW you want to respond when this happens next. Right now you are likely unemotional about it so you can think clearly on how you’d like to respond. So next time this happens you can recognize the emotion, then think back (to right now) when you decided how you would respond and respond out of a plan instead of emotion. 

Educate Them on Communication

Children are new to the table—literally. They are still learning how to express themselves appropriately, both at and away from the dinner table. And they learn these cultural norms from us. So, modeling appropriate responses is essential. 

When a child calls food “yucky,” it’s an opportunity to teach them about respectful communication. For example, I like to say, “I hear that you don’t want the food in front of you. Next time, Mom would like to hear you say ________.” 

Fill in the blank with what aligns with your family’s definition of respect.

Here are a few of my go-to responses:

• We don’t yuck someone else’s yum. – This is one of my favorites, but it usually works best for toddlers and older. Start by explaining that it’s not okay to call something yucky that someone else thinks is yummy.
  
  Then, I like to share an example. For example, if you like to ride bikes but I like scooters, that doesn’t mean scooters are yucky. That just means that you like bikes, and I like scooters. 
  
• Next time, say, “No, thank you. Not today.” or “I’m not interested in this  right now.” At the core of working with picky eaters is encouraging a growth mindset.
  
  When kids say, “Ew, gross!” it cements their dislike for the food. Something as simple as “No, thank you” takes the line-in-the-sand mentality and replaces it with an open mindset.
  
  It’s okay not to like a food today, but that doesn’t have to mean we won’t ever like it. Sometimes, I want broccoli on Monday, and I don’t want to see it at all by Tuesday. That’s okay!

If these two responses aren’t quite what you’re looking for, consider these extras:

• “I don’t want this right now, but maybe I’ll try it next time.”
• “This isn’t my favorite, but I’m glad I tried it.”
• “Can I have a small portion to start with?”
• “This is interesting, but I’m unsure how I feel about it yet.”
• “Thank you for making this. Can I try this another time?”

Bottom line: it’s okay to have feelings about food, but it’s not acceptable to disrespect others over our food preferences. 

Final Thoughts: Not Everything Requires Immediate Action

Being too tired or frustrated to address your child’s comments immediately is okay. In my experience, handling the situation in the moment is rarely the best timing anyway. I find it’s best to tackle these teaching moments after my emotions have settled.

Returning to the conversation with a calm and clear mind often leads to more effective communication. For example, I’ve found success by revisiting the topic later, saying something like, “Hey, remember when you said that? I understand why you felt that way, but it actually hurt my feelings, and here’s why…” 

This approach allows for constructive conversation and helps your child understand the impact of their words. These conversations are crucial in helping our children build effective communication skills they can use for the rest of their lives. 
And remember, pressuring, bribing, or begging rarely leads to lasting change. Instead, encourage respectful refusals and foster a space where trying new foods happens in their own time.

Navigating the world of vitamins can be overwhelming, especially with a barrage of advice from various sources—doctors, dietitians, parents, friends, neighbors, and even social media. So when you’re swamped with all of this information, how can you make the right choices for your child’s nutritional needs?

Multivitamins, often marketed as a quick fix for dietary gaps, can create both opportunities and challenges for parents like you and me. In this blog post, I’ll share three things you should consider as you determine if multivitamins are right for you and how to choose the right vitamin.

1. Multivitamins Can Offer a False Sense of Security

Vitamins often act as a parental insurance policy. But while many people may use them for blanket coverage, they’re not a one-size-fits-all solution—more on that later. 

Imagine this train of thought: If my child has all the vitamins and minerals they need, why not let them go for the pizza instead of the grilled chicken and broccoli?

Sound familiar?

Vitamins make it extraordinarily convenient to pick up any multivitamin and assume it covers all the nutritional bases your child needs. But while multivitamins can be a great parachute for those instances when your child stopped eating broccoli for a month or decided to boycott milk, it’s all too easy for that safety parachute to become a crutch instead.

“Vitamins, taken properly, won’t do any harm. Just don’t let them take the place of a healthy diet, which children need for good growth.” – Johns Hopkins Medicine

Multivitamins should not be used to replace a healthy diet. When we fall into this comfortable but dangerous territory, we can actually enable picky eating and make it worse unintentionally.

2. One Pill Does Not Fit All: How to Choose the Right Vitamin for Your Child

Multivitamins for children are often marketed as a convenient way for parents to ensure their kids get all the essential nutrients they need, but the truth is a bit more complicated. The idea that a single pill can provide all the required vitamins and minerals is misleading: not every multivitamin will be a perfect fit for your child’s unique dietary needs.

Adding the first multivitamin you see to your shopping cart can actually leave certain nutritional gaps untouched. Consider this: your child enjoys a diet rich with fruits and vegetables but will not go anywhere near milk. A standard multivitamin is likely abundant in the nutrients produce has, but lacks calcium. In this scenario, relying on a generic multivitamin wouldn’t help your child at all.

3. Nutrition Labels Explained: What Parents Should Know

When it comes to understanding nutrition labels, the term %DV, or percent daily value, is essential. This figure indicates the amount of a specific vitamin or mineral contained in a single serving of the product. For instance, if the %DV for vitamin A on your child’s multivitamin is listed as 110%, it would seem that one serving provides more than the daily requirement for that nutrient. But is it really that straightforward?

The reality is that most nutrients are more effectively absorbed when they come from whole foods rather than supplements. Take vitamin A as an example, your body would more readily absorb it from carrots than from a multivitamin. Why is this the case?

There are several reasons. First, the form of a vitamin in a multivitamin may differ from the form we encounter in food, affecting how easily our bodies can absorb it.

Second, a multivitamin combines multiple vitamins into a single pill. When this happens, vitamins can interact in ways they wouldn’t interact in their natural food sources. Sometimes two different vitamins can form a bond, making it difficult or impossible for our bodies to digest and absorb them effectively. When this happens, it doesn’t matter that the %DV because our body can’t access the nutrients.

And finally, the ability to absorb a vitamin is highly dependent on our gut health. The same is true for our kids. A healthy gut biome will allow our bodies to absorb the maximum amount of nutrients.

If, like in my earlier point about a false sense of security, we allow multivitamins to enable unhealthy eating habits, we can actually harm our gut health. 

In turn, this will make it even harder for our bodies to digest a multivitamin. So as you consider adding a nutritional supplement to your child’s diet, understanding the nutritional label and how our diet affects the supplement is vital.

Table Talk: How to Choose the Right Vitamin

So what next? Knowing which vitamins and nutrients your little one needs can be tricky at first. But, there are two tried and true methods you can use to assess your child’s dietary needs and determine how to supplement them.

First, you can simply watch and learn. Keep track of what your child eats. Then, analyze their intake for any nutritional gaps. The benefit of this method is that you can be as relaxed or meticulous in your tracking as you’d like. On the other hand, this solution can be very hands-on and require a lot of mental energy—something we all lack sometimes.

Second, consider testing. Depending on your child, testing may or may not be more challenging than putting a pen to paper and writing down what they eat. Some tests may require urine samples, while others require blood samples. Regardless, this is the most accurate method to determine if your child’s needs are being met and where they could stand to benefit from supplementation. As a bonus, you’ll be able to talk with your healthcare provider about any specific questions or concerns you might have.

Feeling overwhelmed or unsure of what to do next? That’s where Table Talk comes in. Table Talk is more than just a program; it’s a solution to the mealtime challenges that have you at your wits’ end. 

From diversifying your child’s diet to ensuring they get the right nutrients, Table Talk offers effective strategies for a healthier, happier family mealtime experience.
If you’re tired of the mealtime struggles and ready for a definitive solution, Table Talk is designed for you. Join today and transform mealtimes into joyful, nourishing occasions.