Feeding Baby: Easy, Peasy!
Feeding babies is straightforward, which doesn’t mean it’s always easy. There’s only one “food” babies eat in the first few months of life. Feeding problems at this stage are to be discussed with your pediatrician or lactation consultant. They typically get sorted out as you and your baby get used to working together. By six months most babies take eagerly to solids and, generally speaking, are open to eating a variety of foods – especially those mom favors, since research shows that taste preferences are shaped by a woman’s food choices during pregnancy.
Toddlers Get Choosy
Twelve months is the age when little ones are likely to start indicating a preference for certain foods over others. Why now? Just beginning to feed themselves, they suddenly realize that they can make choices. As the months go by, many of these formerly cooperative eaters start to develop strong opinions about what they will and won’t eat – and they’re not shy about letting you know. It’s all about their newfound ability to shape experiences by using their new favorite word: No.
Picky Eating Peaks in the Preschool Years
Developmentally speaking, these are the years when children begin to exercise their hunger for control and power. Presentation becomes important – some children care a great deal about matters like the dishes on which their meals are served and its color and texture. (Use this to your advantage: studies show children are more likely to eat food that looks “fun,” such as sandwiches made to look like a face or fruits and vegetables arranged like a rainbow.)
The Science Behind Food Preferences
It’s important not to take your child’s food preferences personally. Many factors shape what a child will and won’t eat. These include:
Super Tasters: About 25% of children are what are known as “super-tasters,” meaning they are highly attuned (and not in a good way!) to certain tastes. Taste is not universal; what’s delicious to one person may be nauseating to someone else. Super-tasters have higher sensitivity to a particular compound found in high concentrations – including (yup, you guessed it) broccoli.
It’s All in the Family: Genes play a role in picking eating. If either parent was or is a finicky about foods, the odds are higher that a child will be a picky eater. Also, families with a history of autism or an autism spectrum disorder, OCD or eating disorder are more likely to have children who are picky eaters. Also worth noting: Young children want to be just like their parents; one study found that when moms didn’t want to try a new food, children were likelier to refuse it too.
Fear of New Foods: Brain imaging studies show that some young children are truly afraid of what they’ll encounter when they try a new food – so they don’t. Called food neophobia, it’s a fairly common problem for kids between the ages of two and four; most outgrow it. Also, studies show that children may need to be offered a new food 10-15 times before willingly trying it.
Pick Your Battles: Sometimes Picky Eating Is a Problem
Most children move past their picky eating stage by the time they start kindergarten. If mealtime continues to be challenging, other forces may be at work. Picky eating (when children reject most of the foods offered to them, familiar or unfamiliar) can be an early sign of what’s known as “selective eating disorder.” It’s an actual eating disorder that can affect people of any age but typically begins in childhood.
People with selective eating disorder don’t restrict their foods because of calories or body issues; rather they are highly “selective” about what they’ll eat, requiring foods they already know they like and that have certain tastes and textures in common.
Brain imaging studies of children with selective eating disorders finds differences in the part of the brain that responds to taste. They may gag or even vomit if pushed to try foods they don’t want to eat.
Selective eating is more common in children who have a family or personal history of autism or an autism-spectrum disorder or OCD or another type of eating disorder. Children with moderate selective eating disorder may also show symptoms of attention deficit disorder, social anxiety and depression; children with severe selective eating disorder are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with these conditions.
About 3 percent of children who are picky eaters eventually are diagnosed with selective eating disorder – so it’s rare. But if you think your child may have this problem, it’s important to discuss it with your pediatrician.
5 Things you can do to help picky eaters:
- Find a routine that will work for your family and stick to it
- Bring on the helpers – have the little ones help prepare the meals
- Be patient and persistent when introducing new foods
- Avoid snacks and fillers before and after meals
- Avoid preparing separate meals