Dealing with fussy eating in children: practical tips
Is your child suddenly refusing food it used to eat happily? That is not your fault. Around the age of 18 months to 2 years, some children enter the fussy eating phase, a normal step in their development. What helps: eating the same meal together, plenty of variety, offering vegetables during the day and continuing to offer food, even if your child doesn't taste or like it straight away. Eating rules, consequences and pressure are usually not helpful in the long run.
Do you notice your child refusing food more and more often? Do the vegetables usually stay on the plate, or do you hear straight away that your child doesn't like it? Or does your child actually eat very well, and do people around you sometimes make you anxious that it could all be over in a flash? What can you do when your child refuses food, why does a child start refusing food, and does the fussy eating phase really exist?
We asked Iris Vernooij of STERK & ZOET. Iris is an educationalist and (children's) nutrition expert who supports parents and childcare practitioners with their children's eating habits. She is there for families with personal support, online courses and the table cards with vegetables and fruit. She also inspires parents with healthy food through her cookbooks Groente voor kids and IJSJES. Below, Iris shares more about the fussy eating phase and practical tips for dealing with it.
Why does a child suddenly start refusing food?
From one day to the next, your child may refuse vegetables or other food more and more often. That isn't always easy, but from a developmental point of view it is easy to explain. Around the age of 18 months to 2 years, some children enter the fussy eating phase.
This phase has an evolutionary explanation. This is the age at which children in the past went off exploring, because they could crawl or walk. They had to be protected from putting just anything in their mouths: a leaf or a berry could be poisonous.
So it is not your fault if your child suddenly starts eating less well. It fits with your child's development to suddenly be suspicious or to refuse something new at first.
Why does eating together help?
A child in the fussy eating phase needs extra confirmation that the food is edible. That is where the advice to eat together, and to eat the same meal, comes from. Do you want to teach your child to eat pepper or aubergine? Then the first step is to eat it yourself.
To make one meal for the whole family as easy as possible, Iris developed the cookbook Groente voor kids, with 100 easy, healthy and tasty vegetable recipes for the whole family. Each recipe states the age from which it is suitable and how you can offer it if your child is younger or struggles with certain textures in the dish. That way, with a small adjustment, you make every meal suitable for your baby, toddler, child and yourself.
How to help your child through the fussy eating phase
It is completely fine if your child enters the fussy eating phase; that is the case for many children. You can, however, support your child during this phase. That way you have an influence on how long it lasts and how intense it is.
Iris sees that parents are quick to turn to eating rules, consequences or pressure. Think of "three more bites, because you're three" or "three more bites and then you can have some more potatoes". Very understandable, because you so badly want to change something, but it isn't always helpful in the long run.
What can help:
- Offering plenty of variety.
- Offering vegetables during the day.
- Continuing to offer food, even if your child doesn't taste or like it straight away.
- Eating together and eating the same meal, so your child sees that it is edible.
"It is completely fine if your child enters the fussy eating phase; that is the case for many children."
Iris Vernooij
Suddenly your child wants to do it itself and decide for itself
Besides the fussy eating phase, there are more factors that change eating behaviour. Think of taste development and autonomy. Where your child opened its mouth easily as a baby, your child is now aware that it can say no, refuse or provoke a reaction.
A new developmental phase that doesn't always make things easy, but that is essential for learning to eat and for building a healthy relationship with food.
Are you worried about your child's eating behaviour?
Do you have doubts or questions after reading this, and would you like to talk it over? Feel free to contact Iris to look together at how mealtimes can become nourishing and enjoyable again.
Want to know more about Iris Vernooij?
Visit her website for detailed information: sterkenzoet.nl. Also follow her on Instagram for the latest updates and inspiration.
Summary
- Around 18 months to 2 years, some children enter the fussy eating phase; it is a normal developmental step and not your fault.
- Your child needs extra confirmation that food is edible: eat together and eat the same meal.
- Eating rules, consequences and pressure are usually not helpful in the long run.
- What can help: plenty of variety, offering vegetables during the day and continuing to offer food.
- Taste development and growing autonomy also change eating behaviour; that phase is needed for a healthy relationship with food.
Frequently asked questions
Does the fussy eating phase really exist?
Yes. Around 18 months to 2 years, some children become suspicious of food, especially of anything new. In evolutionary terms, that protected children who had just learnt to crawl or walk from poisonous leaves and berries.
Should I still make my child eat three more bites?
Preferably not. Eating rules and consequences make sense when you want to change something, but in the long run they are often not helpful. Continuing to offer food without pressure can help.
What if my child eats really well right now?
Then the fussy eating phase may still come, and that is fine. Eating together, variety and offering vegetables during the day are the basis then too, and with those you have an influence on how long the phase lasts and how intense it is.
