What to do when your picky eater goes on a food jag

Does it feel like your toddler will only eat a select list of foods? It’s called a food jag and here’s what you can do to help.

Stoned Wheat Thins. Tuna. Orange juice. For several months, that was just about all four-year-old Chris was willing to eat.

Once in a while, his mother, Lisa Tanner,* managed to coax him into eating a piece of fruit or a vegetable, but most of the time, he refused everything that wasn’t part of his preferred diet.

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It’s called a “food jag” when a child decides to limit her diet to a couple of favourite foods. Registered dietitian Theodosia Phillips of Saskatoon says a couple of factors make food jags common among preschoolers.

1) A reluctance to try new foods: In some kids this can lead to a reliance on just a few familiar and comforting items.

2) Dramatically slower growth in children over two (compared with infants): This allows them to limit their intake.

Phillips’ basic advice for worried parents of food-jagging kids is, “Don’t panic. It’s very rare that a child would go on a food jag that would cause any health problems.”

In fact, says Phillips, children are often eating more than you realize. “For example, if a preschooler ate one piece of French toast made with one egg, he’d already have eaten half of his daily requirement for protein and one-third of his grain requirement.”

Most food jags end on their own after a few weeks, but Phillips says you can help things along with these steps:

Don’t be a short-order cook. “Kids need to learn to eat the foods the rest of the family is eating,” Phillips says. She recommends continuing to offer a variety of foods, and not just the child’s favourites, without pressuring her to eat. If she eats nothing at all during that meal, don’t fret. “Occasional skipped meals are not a concern if your child is growing well,” she adds.

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Involve your child in food choices and prep. Ask him to pick a vegetable or two at the grocery store and help with the preparation — even if it’s just washing some fruits and veggies in the sink. Give him cookie cutters to cut sandwiches in different shapes, or ask if he’d like his carrots cut in circles, ovals or sticks.

Don’t fill her up with drinks. “Sometimes parents try to remedy a food jag by offering the child a lot of milk or juice because they then feel reassured that at least the child is getting something,” Phillips says. “But excess fluids can actually make food jags worse because the child’s tummy is too full to feel hungry.” Juice should be kept to no more than half a cup per day, and milk to no more than two cups per day.

Add new foods to old favorites. Does your child want a peanut butter sandwich every single day? Try adding banana or apple slices, raisins or grated carrot to the sandwich, or serve it with sliced cucumbers and cut-up grapes on the plate. Maybe your child likes only chicken nuggets dipped in barbecue sauce. Add some other dippers for her to try — pieces of whole-grain toast and cooked cauliflower florets, for example. Start with a small amount of the new food and work your way up, suggests Phillips.

Lisa Tanner was concerned enough about her son Chris’s very narrow food choices that she took him to the family doctor for a complete checkup. She was surprised and relieved to find he was perfectly healthy and even had higher iron levels than his brother (who ate practically everything he was offered).

“I stopped worrying so much,” says Tanner, “and sure enough, not long after that, he started eating more foods and the food jag was over.”

 

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Toddler sharing

Research proves that giving something away can actually make toddlers happier.

ByWendy Haaf// Originally published in Today's Parent 

Toddlers aren’t known for their ability to share happily. This is why the findings from a 2012 Canadian study of toddler generosity are so surprising. Prompted by earlier research suggesting that giving makes adults happier than receiving, researchers at two BC universities set up an experiment to try and tease out whether the same is true for toddlers. As it turns out, the answer is yes.

“Research has shown that adults are happier when they spend money on other people, as opposed to themselves,” explains Lara Aknin, an assistant professor of psychology at Simon Fraser University and a co-author of the study. “We were curious — is this an innate feature of humanity, or is it something we learn as we get older? Because anybody who’s been to kindergarten has learned it’s good to share, we thought we’d look at kids before they go through the school system.”

The scientists set up a little game with 20 toddlers, aged 22 to 24 months. An experimenter gave each child a cup containing several treats, such as fish-shaped crackers. After a few minutes, the toddler was asked to give one of his or her own treats to a monkey puppet, which they responded to enthusiastically. A moment later, the experimenter provided an extra treat from a separate stash and asked the child to give it to the puppet. Researchers then rated each child’s responses, based on how much he or she smiled while both receiving and sharing the treats. The bottom line? “Not only were the children happier giving than receiving, but they were happiest when they got to give their own treats away,” Aknin observes. What’s more, while kids were only asked to part with a single treat from their private stockpiles, many spontaneously offered up more than one.

According to another of the study co-authors, Kiley Hamlin, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, kids begin sharing around one year of age in the “here-Mom-have-one-of-my-soggy-Cheerios” variety, and don’t graduate to the “you-can-play-with-my-toy-so-I-won’t-get-in-trouble” type until around five or so. “Kids like making other people happy,” Hamlin says. “That desire is seemingly always there.” But toddlers are still developing the skills needed to happily share a single toy (an understanding of time and turn-taking, for instance).

One way of dealing with a non-sharer is to nudge the process along with “when-then” statements, says Andrea Nair, a London, Ont., psychotherapist and parenting educator. Say, “When you share, then you can play.” The holidays in particular, when new toys are so exciting, can be hard. Practise taking turns before present-opening days. Always ham it up when you’re demonstrating sharing with your child, his or her siblings or other adults, and emphasize how happy you are when another person shares something with you. If your child balks at sharing, or snatches a toy from a sibling, explain that most kids get angry or sad when others don’t share. Food is also a great tool to teach sharing and problem-solving skills. Try saying, “Uh-oh! There’s only one cookie left. You want some and I want some. What are we going to do?”

There are kids who never master sharing, even when they’re old enough to know better, says Nair. “Kids who never learn to share likely aren’t required to,” she says.

But we can all take comfort in the news that this research shows even our littlest tykes aren’t nearly as naturally selfish as we may have assumed.

How to handle a screaming toddler

The key to staying calm when your toddler starts shrieking.

By Ellen Rosenberg //

Originally published in Today's Parent

Photo by Laura Ciapponi/Getty Images

My toddler is going through a shrieking phase: When she spots a friend; when she doesn’t want to put on her shoes; when she’s simply delighting in the sound of her own voice. I know she’s just expressing herself, and if I don’t react she tends to tone it down, but it’s hard to stay calm when we’re in public and it feels like all eyes are on us.

At 18 months, a child usually knows more than 50 words, says Elaine Weitzman, a speech-language pathologist. It only makes sense that in the absence of language, toddlers use another outlet to express how they feel. “Shrieking gives toddlers a way of communicating until a more sophisticated system kicks in,” she says.

Communication by shrieking isn’t well-received by everyone. Some people will be sympathetic to the mom with the screaming child in the grocery store, says Andrea Ramsay Speers, a parent educator in Oakville, Ont., but others feel more inconvenienced. “You want to be conscious of those around you, but balance that with your toddler’s need to express herself.”

The key to staying calm when your toddler’s vocal volume is on overdrive is to identify what kind of shrieker you have on your hands, and to have a few responses ready.

The happy shrieker
If her squeals of joy are turning others off, “pick her up in your arms and gently rub her back. It’ll offer a calming presence,” says Ramsay Speers. Or model the difference between indoor and outdoor voices, says Jen Singer, author of Stop Second-Guessing Yourself: The Toddler Years. “At the playground, say: ‘This is where we shout! Wheee!’ Back home, whisper: ‘This is where we keep our voices low.’”

The attention-seeker
You’re on the phone, but your little guy wants your undivided attention. “Reach over and pat his back, sit him up on your lap, or give him a smile or wink. This will demonstrate that you’re not ignoring him, but that he can’t be the centre of attention 100 percent of the time,” says Ramsay Speers.

The angry screamer
If your tot isn’t happy about something, appeal to her short attention span with distraction. “Pull out a book, give her a task or point to something more intriguing,” says Singer. Raising your voice will only escalate her emotions, so if all else fails, find somewhere private for her to calm down. Distraction is what works for mom Emily Ward and her toddler son, Ethan. “If he’s upset about having to come inside, I’ll give him a moment, but then switch gears and suggest we find some stickers.” Either way, she’s not too fazed. “In a strange way, it’s comforting to see him going through this normal stage — even if it’s not the most enjoyable one!"

Menu (Feb. 4 – Feb. 8)

Feb. 4 – Feb. 8	Morning Snack Serve at least one food 2 of the 4 food groups	Noon Meal Serve at least one food 2 of the 4 food groups	Afternoon Snack Serve at least one food 2 of the 4 food groups
Monday	Waffle, Sausage Milk	Spaghetti, Ground beef, Mixed Vegetables, Milk	Cracker, Apple, Milk
Tuesday	Cheerio with milk, Pears	Mashed Potato & Sweet Potato, Chicken, Tomato Beans, Milk	Yogurt, Apple, Water
Wednesday	Whole wheat Toast,  Orange, Milk	Grill Toast, Pork Cauliflower, Milk	Cookies, Banana, Milk
Thursday	Brown Muffin Apple Milk	Fries rice with pork and Mixed Vegetables, Milk	Cracker, Honeydew, Milk
Friday	Whole wheat Toast, Pears, Milk	Macaroni, Carrots, Chicken, Milk	Nutri-Grain Bar, Orange, Milk

Weekly Plan (Feb. 4 - Feb. 8)

Feb. 4 –Feb. 8, 2013

Topic: Forest Animals

Circle Time	Calendar Find the forest animals	Calendar Rhyme: Teddy Bear	Calendar Rhyme: Five little Monkeys	Calendar Talk about forest animals	Calendar Rhyme: Where Are The Nuts?
Crafts	Owl	Bunny	Squirrel	Paint Animals	Brown Bear Puppet
Dramatic	Fun With Forest Animals	Fun With Forest Animals	Fun With Forest Animals	Fun With Forest Animals	Fun With Forest Animals
Outdoor	Make footprint trails for children to follow	Use shovel to play with snow	Walking	Make footprint trails for children to follow	Play at park
Gross motor	Climbing up and down the stairs with me	Climbing up and down the stairs with me	Play peek-a-boo by crawling around the floor behind small furniture	Climbing up and down the stairs with your help	Play peek-a-boo by crawling around the floor behind small furniture
Science	Sorting options- Soft vs. hard, & heavy vs. light	Sorting options- Soft vs. hard, & heavy vs. light	Sorting options- Soft vs. hard, & heavy vs. light	Sorting options- Soft vs. hard, & heavy vs. light	Sorting options- Soft vs. hard, & heavy vs. light
Math	Matching Game	Count forest animals	Count forest animals	Matching Game	Count forest animals
language	Story time	Talk about forest animals	Put new words for them	Story Time	Interaction play with kids
Fine motor	Crafts	Matching Game	Puzzles	Blocks	Painting and Coloring
Social	Be nice with other kids	love	Clean up	Taking turns	Clean up