How to Make Your Picky Child Eat?

Submitted by Geetika Bajaj

Photo by Tanaphong Toochinda on Unsplash

With a question mark itself in the headline, I have been contemplating with this challenge to make my picky baby eat. Wish I could ask my baby and she could respond. That's all what we ultimately desire of. But the reality is completely different. 

Motherhood! there are 'n' number of stories by 'n ' number of moms. Just as every human being is different so are our babies. Being an over possessive mom, my mind is always in overdrive worrying about what I should make next for my kid, . Despite of reading hundreds of blogs, one often fails when it actually comes to their own baby. And yes, I did fail too several times, but what I have gained in lieu of what I had lost was invaluable Experience!

"Experience of making a picky baby eat" is My story of making my baby eat based on my tryst with various tantrums that she throws on me along with the tiny spill outs she blows on my face.  But yes, do we have left with any other option when it comes to their food? For starters, I believe PATIENCE is the key. Being a mommy of a 9 months old munchkin, struggling for about more than 3 months, I am here penning down every thick and thin of how I am now trained by my little one.

I decided to try various methods to understand what works best for my baby. A number of advices flooded by people sharing their opinions but what I followed was only my baby. With this I had learnt a lesson and i.e. "Listen to all but follow none".

And this was the turning point for me where I had decided to make everything happen with what my baby responds to positively. For a picky child, you don't need to be picky, instead need to be trick. This is the ultimate formula I have been working upon. 

• Firstly, always try to maintain a proper gap of atleast 2 to 2 and half hours between the two meals. The basic idea is to give enough time to your baby so that she is hungry enough to respond to you in a positive way. Know the meal timings of your baby and feed her before she reaches a cranky stage
• Secondly, babies know when to say NO. When they give you a signal that they don't need more, please oblige to their wishes. This is how they would learn to be a well mannered child from a well behaved parent at a very early stage. They really enjoy the freedom to choice like all other human beings.
• Thirdly, please be patient to your baby as he/she is the best at judging your patience. There are times when babies don't like the taste of food and then neglecting the same, in this case, you should try for at least couple of minutes, and I bet you they will develop the taste and definitely respond to you positively. If you fail this time as well, don't panic, this is the time to fill his/her tummy with your own breast milk and try again after some time.
• Mix N Mash, Do not feed the babies by getting the recipes straight from the books. Always be your own chef to your babies because it is you who knows the best for your little ones. Baby's' taste buds are more active than us. 
• Imitation- A fun step. For e.g.: babies love to hear sounds of animals which is absolutely new to them. So, try to mimic different sounds in front of them. This way they would gradually recognize the animals also. You should know that babies are the keen learners.
• Never give up, My baby does not even take feeder, she don't even enjoy spoon feeding but then, I have never given up and tried with spoon & katori and now she knows that she would get like this only. And then to make herself full and satisfied, she has become habitual to it. 
• The most important thing that I found is to maintain a taste cycle. Try different tastes to invigorate their taste buds. Fruits, vegetables, dal, milk and milk products, give everything on a rotational basis so that they get used to different flavours.
• Eventually, maintaining a fixed feeding time for your babies is the most important step. If you set a particular time for them, they will yearn for the food at that time only because babies become familiar with what you teach them. Yes! this will definitely take for about 4-5 days but after such 5 days, you and your baby will feel that connection and would expect food at the designated time.

At the end I would definitely like to mention that more than above calculations, FOLLOW YOUR HEART, your techniques & your baby. It is only the mom who understands her baby solely & she only knows how to cater to her baby's needs.

CS Geetika Sehgal is a Company Secretary by profession, a wife by her desire, a mother by god’s grace and a writer by passion. She is a mother of naughty and cranky baby girl who is a fussy eater that forced her to pen down the tricks and techniques for her baby. In such a short span of time, she realized the pain of every new mom and wanted to share her experience with you all.