How to raise a brave eater, one texture at a time

Feeding small children can be tricky. Some kids are easy-going one minute, fussy the next. Others have a preference for white foods – think chips, chicken, pasta and rice. And then there are those kids who can refuse foods based on how they have to eat them, or whether they are hard or soft, or crunchy or chewy.

The texture of foods, and how small children respond to those different textures, are often impacted by early food experiences. Understanding this evolution can help reduce mealtime stress for kids and parents alike.

Think back to when your kids were babies

Chances are, when it came time to offer solid food to your baby, you opted for vegetables, fruits and baby cereal – pureed or soft foods that are easy for babies around 5-6 months to swallow without risk of choking.

The next step in a baby’s transition to solids is to learn how to chew, which means shifting from pureed foods with no lumps to soft and minced options that require some chewing. Chewing is an important milestone, as it helps to develop key muscles that are important for speech and eating long-term.

If this transition proves tricky, and children remain only exposed to pureed foods beyond around 7-8 months old, children may grow up with a strong preference for soft, mushy foods.

Not only can this prove challenging as kids get older, if they will only eat plain pasta or rice, but it can ultimately impact their overall nutrient intake, with nutrients, including iron, often negatively impacted.

Starting a shift toward textured foods

The younger your child is, the easier it is to help them transition toward textured foods that need to be chewed. This means gradually exposing them to a wider variety of foods as they get older – for example, adding a small amount of minced meat or chicken in a separate bowl with their pasta, or a few soft vegetable sticks like cucumber to their regular soft or mashed fruits and vegetables.

Manage your expectations, as it can take repeated exposures before a baby or toddler will even try a new food, let alone routinely eat it.

It’s also completely normal for small children to reject unfamiliar foods. So, try offering new, novel options when there are other, older children around to model the eating behaviour you are teaching your child. Share platters of cut-up foods, sandwiches, fruits and vegetables can be a great way to help your child become more familiar with the foods you want them to eat more readily.

Make the foods fun and appealing

Small children will know quickly if you are trying overly hard to get them to eat different foods, and likely reject them based on your attentional focus alone. Don’t worry, it’s not just you; this is normal. Consider how to incorporate more foods that require chewing – such as pasta with meat sauce, sandwiches and vegetables – into fun meals you can prepare together. Think: family pizza night, sushi, and lunch platters. These opportunities add new foods into the mix, while taking the focus and, in turn, pressure off.

Most importantly, when children do try to eat textured foods, it’s a great opportunity to reinforce their behaviour with praise or even non-food rewards, like a new toy or a special trip to the park, to encourage them to continue the behaviour.

But what if they still won’t eat anything?

Shifting deeply entrenched food behaviours can be tricky, especially if children have only eaten soft, mushy foods.

If you are worried about their overall nutrient intake in the interim, foods like smoothies, pasta sauces, or homemade, healthier versions of fast food like burgers and sushi can offer a way to sneak in nutrients from vegetables and lean proteins.

For especially fussy kids, for whom everything is literally white, a kid’s nutritional supplement or general multivitamin might be worth considering to help to ensure you’re covering your nutritional bases while working through texture-related issues.

PediaSure can help fill nutritional gaps of kids who are 1-10 years old and going through fussy or texture-relatedeating phases, giving parents a little extra peace of mind. While you focus on building positive food experiences, PediaSure can assist with offering complete, balanced nutrition, including high-quality protein and 28 essential vitamins and minerals to support their growth and development. To find out more, visit www.pediasure.com.au.

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