9 Tips That Helped Me Improve My Child's Eating Habits

Planning has always been my way of life, which, in fact, is the success secret of my life too. Though, in case of babies, it is not possible to plan anything, parents, and especially moms should not leave the focus and determination. I applied the same thing to my child’s eating routine. 
Till the age of six months, I gave my baby only mother’s feed, which I believed is necessary to develop immunity towards certain diseases. In the seventh and the eighth, I introduced fruits (banana and apple) and vegetables (carrot, potato, beans, etc) in the diet, either along with the Cerelac or just boiled and mashed. 
1) Right from the end of the eighth month, I am regularly feeding rice to my child. No doubt, lots of tantrums were thrown by my child to show his aversion towards the food, but I did not give up. 
2) As he grew, his food choices started changing. One thing I was very particular was that, out of three meals, at least once, he should have rice, either as rasam rice or curd rice. All the fruits and vegetables were given to him for tasting before he was two, even bitter gourd, so that he will be aware of all the food tastes. 
3) Many times, I have observed that the child does follow the same eating pattern that the mother follows. Keeping that in mind, I changed all the bad eating habits of self to set an example on eating right.
4) I don’t believe in table manners when it comes to the child’s eating habit. A person cannot expect to teach so many things at the same time. So I prioritized what is important for my child now. It is eating, so I never used spoons while feeding in the initial days. Once the child understands the eating pattern properly, then the next lesson on the table manners can be planned
5) I made sure that during lunch time, I and my child eat together by self serving. By this, my child was able to observe what am I eating, and how, etc
6)  In the lunch menu, there would always be one item which is his most favourite. The temptation to eat his favourite food will trigger him to eat the other healthy food.
7) I have never introduced any junk food to my child till now. Luckily my son is also not so fond of the usual snacks such as biscuits, chocolates, etc. 
 8) In spite of the tantrums shown by my son, I never give up about adding healthy food in the menu. I tell him to have at least one scoop and leave the remaining. 
9) Also, make sure that the child is used to the food prepared during the festivals and make him eat along with the family so that he can also learn sharing.

I would not say that I am following the best eating procedures, but at least I am proud that my kid does not run away on seeing plates of food.

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