Nutrition for Littles

Let’s address the elephant in the room—dealing with a picky eater. When my oldest turned into a picky toddler, our meal times spun into chaos. It felt like a control issue I couldn’t navigate out of, leaving me scared and anxious.

We all know how pivotal nutritious food is for our children’s growth, and the last thing we want is for meals to become a battleground. We should be creating heart-warming memories, discussing our days, and sharing laughter, not engaging in a tug-of-war over veggies.

Funny enough, in my journey to becoming a dietitian, we covered picky eating in just one week.

 I thought I had it all figured out, but when faced with a picky eater under my own roof, I realized how little I actually knew. So, I returned to the books and began building evidence-based strategies. 

Today, I’m sharing five things I’d start doing today if I found myself in the picky eating predicament again.

1. Invite the kids into the kitchen

Don’t get me wrong; this doesn’t mean having your little one prepare a three-course meal from scratch with you. But, it does mean involving them in the cooking process, even if it’s just observing.

Children are innately curious, and the kitchen is an extraordinary place for them to learn about food. Simple tasks like stirring ingredients, turning on the oven under supervision, or brushing the veggies with oil before roasting can do wonders.

Involving your kids in the kitchen doesn’t require them to be of a certain age. If your child is still in a highchair, move it into the kitchen. If they’re older, a step stool will do the trick.

What if they resist? Never force them, but gently entice them into joining you. Make tasks fun; instead of washing blueberries, ask if they’d like to give them a “bath”. 

The goal isn’t perfection but making them more comfortable with food. The carrots might not be evenly chopped, but hey, they helped, didn’t they?

2. Make food fun

Many people find it rude to play with your food. And often, I hear from parents that their partner doesn’t allow food play at the table. I understand, but within reasonable boundaries, food play is an incredible way for kids to connect with their food.

Food play could be crafting a carrot castle or turning roasted potatoes into mashed potatoes on their plate–the idea is to let them interact with the food. Through play, they understand how food behaves, how it feels, and this can pave the way for accepting it into their diet.

3. Keep Foods They Don’t Eat ON the Menu

It’s all too easy to fall into the habit of not serving certain foods because your child won’t eat them.

Sure, we worry about food waste and the drain on our wallets, but if we give up on serving broccoli just because it sat untouched once, we deny our children the chance to learn to enjoy it.

Children depend on us to introduce them to a world of flavors. If they don’t see broccoli on their plate for months, they certainly won’t request it. Challenge your instincts to stop serving ‘rejected’ foods, and surprise your child with a varied plate. 

After all, when was the last time your little one caught you off-guard, for better or worse? Maybe it’s time to give broccoli another shot!

4. Say ‘Yes’ to Sensory Experiences

As a new parent, I felt guilty for hating the idea of setting up elaborate sensory bins, as I saw on social media. It felt like a drain on my time, energy, and resources, not to mention the ensuing mess.

Thankfully, I soon realized that sensory experiences are all around us. It’s not about investing in fancy sensory bins but about allowing them to experience the world with all their senses.

Sensory experiences can be as simple as walking barefoot on the grass, feeding animals at the zoo, counting money, feeling the stickiness of peanut butter on their tongue, or snapping the asparagus before dinner. 

These experiences help them get comfortable with various textures, tastes, and smells, proving beneficial in accepting different foods.

5. Enjoy Meal Times Together

Prioritize sharing meals with your children as often as possible. 

I know, after a hectic day, it’s tempting to feed them first and then unwind with your meal. But if you’re dealing with a picky eater, try to demonstrate how you enjoy various foods, especially those they’re reluctant to try. 

Seeing you relish that broccoli might not inspire them to try it immediately, but it sends a powerful message—”Mommy likes it. Maybe it’s not so bad!”

Combating picky eating can feel like an uphill battle, but with persistence, creativity, and an evidence-based approach, progress is within reach. 

Remember, it’s not about winning every mealtime skirmish but about setting the stage for a lifelong positive relationship with food.
For additional support and guidance, check out my Table Talk Course. You’ll feel confident you’re on your way to reversing picky eating for good.

Alternate title: Coffee to die for 🤩

It truly makes my mornings brighter and happier when I use this syrup and knowing I made it myself makes me feel like I have superpowers even though it’s super easy.

So take that Starbucks —- I don’t need you! (but also don’t hold this against me, I’ll be back)

Alright my syrup ran out yesterday so that means I HAD to make it today so I figured I’d document it and bring you along with me so you can make some at home too!

Bonus little hands can totally help with this recipe!

Let’s do this…

Ingredients:

1 vanilla bean sliced down the middle to expose the seeds

2 cups water

1.5 cups sugar

.5 cups brown sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla extract (optional)

Directions:

Mix water, sugars, and vanilla bean in a small pot. Bring to a boil then simmer for 5-7 minutes until thickened and sugar has dissolved. Remove the vanilla bean pod and pour into a mason jar. Enjoy with coffee or mix into other beverages to make your life more enjoyable.

This syrup should last about one month in the fridge.

I love to use my leftover vanilla beans when my homemade vanilla runs out. Blog on that coming soon!

How Your Child’s Eating Habits Are Affecting Their Sleep

Your child’s nutrition and sleep habits are two huge contributing factors to their healthy development and growth. The two are inextricably linked–what they eat affects how well they sleep and their sleep quality affects their nutritional habits and preferences.

I am a dietician, not a sleep expert, but there are things nutritionally that we can do as parents to guide our children to healthy sleeping patterns.

Gut Health

Gut health is the phrase used when talking about the gut microbiome. A healthy gut microbiome consists of billions of different bacteria, a delicate balance of the good and the bad, that keeps us healthy, digests food, controls gut leakage, and is the number one protector of our immune system. There is not a single mechanism in our body unaffecting by the gut.

A healthy gut is particularly important for kids because a majority of the immune system lives there! The biggest issue that picky eating can lead to is poor gut health because of a lack of variety. If their gut health is suffering, you may notice difficulty in falling asleep, waking frequently, or waking up not feeling rested. 

The number one thing you can do nutritionally to improve your child’s gut health–and by association, their sleep–is to make sure they’re getting enough variety. That variety introduces different bacteria to the gut, allowing it to reach perfect homeostasis.

Vitamins

Vitamins come from the food we eat and are an important component in the production of sleepy-time hormones like melatonin and serotonin. They also support the deployment of neurotransmitters that promote sleep.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D helps regulate sleep/wake cycles by regulating stress hormones, supporting the immune system, and aiding in the production of melatonin. Unfortunately, it’s extremely difficult to get enough of this essential vitamin from food alone. Even with the recommended 15 minutes a day in the sun, you and your child likely need to supplement.

Iron

Iron is a crucial mineral that most children are deficient in, especially if they are picky. Low iron can cause extreme fatigue. Unfortunately, that fatigue will not lead to better sleep. It will actually put the body in a stressed state which will impede the production of sleep hormones. Red meat is the best source of iron, though supplementation may be needed.

Magnesium/Calcium/Potassium

These three vitamins are extremely important for heart health and getting a solid, restful sleep. Magnesium is the top deficiency in the world, especially in America. Consult with your physician, but you and your child likely need supplementation for these three essential vitamins.

Timing of Meals

Blood sugar regulation is crucial for restful sleep. When we eat food, our body turns it into glucose which is the energy source of our cells–especially our brain! It also directly affects our gut health and cortisol levels. 

But it’s a fine line. We don’t want too much or too little blood sugar. That spike and crash cycle activates our sympathetic nervous system and prevents our body from creating the hormones vital to healthy sleep.

Aim for meals every 2-3 hours, focusing on well-balanced plates to keep blood sugar levels regulated. 

Fats

Our culture has demonized fats in recent years, but it’s an essential nutrient for children. They need fat for their development because it’s very energy dense. It’s also a precursor for hormone production, especially melatonin.

Coconut oil, olive oil, and full-fat dairy are great sources of healthy fats that should be a part of every child’s diet! Plus, the omega-3 fatty acids decrease inflammation and help establish a circadian rhythm. 

Hormones

Sleepy hormones are crucial and we need to make sure we are supporting them. However, be careful with supplementation, as over time your body will think it no longer needs to produce it on its own.

You can help your child support melatonin production with B6, Tryptophan, regulating cortisol levels, and offering melatonin-rich foods like walnuts, oats, eggs, fish, cherries, grapes, tomatoes, and breastmilk.

How Sleep Affects Nutrition

While our nutrition can certainly affect our sleep, the quality of our sleep also impacts our nutrition. It can dictate what we eat, how we eat, and when we eat. When we are operating off less sleep, it makes us crave quick fast energy \in the form of carbs. But when we, and our children, succumb to those cravings, we fall into the spike-crash blood sugar cycle. 

Getting good sleep to support our child’s nutrition is just as important as optimizing their nutrition to support quality sleep. Working on one will likely impact the other, leading to an overall well-rounded, healthy child. 
It might feel overwhelming thinking about all the ways you should optimize your child’s nutrition, especially if they’re a picky eater! Focus on taking one small step at a time and adjusting course when needed. If you still don’t know where to start, I invite you to join my Table Talk Course. There, you can join a team of other parents in the same boat as you and together we will guide you to take back mealtimes and become your child’s at-home nutritional expert.