🚨 Advance warning 🚨 This forum will be closing on 1st May – please see our pinned thread for more information.
Options
Healthy eating for kids webchat
Nutrition expert Fiona Hunter will be here for an hour 12-1pm today to host a LIVE webchat about healthy eating for kids. So if you're wondering what constitutes healthy food, how to encourage good eating habits, deal with fussy eaters or get weaning off to the best start, now's your chance to find out.
Start posting your questions here and Fiona will answer as many as she can.
Web Ed
Start posting your questions here and Fiona will answer as many as she can.
Web Ed
0
Replies
I'm a ready to answer any questions you have about helping your kids to eat a healthy balanced diet. Look forward to hearing from you
My children are 3 and 7 and although they eat well I'm keen to get them to eat a wider variety of foods. Partly so they can eat more when we're out or on holiday. Every time I try something new they think it's 'yuck'. Any ideas how I can encourage them to be more adventurous?
My partner's young children (from a previous marriage) come to us every other weekend. To compensate for not seeing them that often my partner tends to shower them with sweets and chocolate. How can I make him see that this is not actually helping them? What amount of chocolate, if any, is ok? And what would make good healthy alternatives as -treats' so he can still feel like he is spoiling them?
Thank you in advance
Usually if he starts stirring at night I ignore and he goes back to sleep, but for the last few he has been stirring for over an hour and the night before I was forced to feed him (he took a full feed). But last night he stirred for long, but then went back to sleep.
Now I can't figure out if he is getting more hungry or it is because of a bit of snot that he is waking up ...
I know that guidelines say 6 months is best to start to wean, but would it be ok if I started at around 20 - 22 weeks, if he continues waking up at night for boob ...?
Thanks in advance.
Edite and Hugo
Lots of kids are naturally wary about trying new foods, don't worry if they won't eat a new food the first time you offer it - try offering it again a couple of days later. Don't forget that kids learn from their peers so if they see you eating a healthy balanced diet they are more likley to follow. Another tip would be, if they have friends that are more adventurous about trying new foods invite them around for tea, kids will often try something new if their friends are eating it. Good Luck
Also my 3 year old has started really picking at his food but will eat choclate/yoghurts ect to the plenty. Iv stopped giving him these now and made it clear he wont have them till hes eaten a decent amount of dinner. what can i do to encourage him to eat without it turning into a war?
Thanx, Elaine and boys
I'm sure you're not the only parent out there that is having this problem - kids often start to become picky around 18months and its not unusual for them to start to refusing foods that they once loved. Often it just a way of expressing their independance. Try not to worry about it - continue to put fruit and veg on her plate and encourage her to eat them but don't let it turn into a battle of wills. Faddy eating is usually only a phase that most kids grow out of. If things don't improve in a couple of months talk to your health visitor.
I think you really need to talk to your health visitor about this and ask her if she can make an appointment for you to see a Dietitian who specialises in infant nutrition.
faith seeing a consultant tomorrow so hopefully thing will be sort out soon
thank you
caz
Again this is another problem that you really need to discuss with your health visitor. It could be that he is doing this simply as a way of getting your attention - particulary if he is a little jealous of all the attention your baby is getting.
Have you asked him why he is doing this - it may be a good idea if you can devote some special one on one time with him at meal time.
Some hungry babies do need to be weaned earlier than 6 months - but before you start to introduce solids do check with your health visitor or GP.
Some hungry babies do need to be weaned earlier than 6 months - but before you start to introduce solids do check with your health visitor or GP.
If your 7month old is progressing well with weaning there is no reason why you can't introduce hummus.
It sound sto me like your doing all the right stuff with your 3 year old. Small children do need regular snacks but it is important not to let them eat so much at snack time that they don't have an appetite when it comes to meal times. Suitable snacks would be things like a couple oatcakes or slice of toast topped with mashed banana, or a couple of plain biscuits. Most children pass through a picky phase - and it usually is just a phase - so try not to get upset about it. Offer healthy choices at meal times - a small healthy sanck mid morning and another in the afternoon but nothing else in between.
This is a tricky problem. Try to explain to your partner that letting children fill up on sweets and snacks is not a good idea if he wants them to grow up healthy and strong and will lead to bad habits that are hard to break leater in life. As a compromise why not find some recipes for healthy muffins or cookies that you can all make together this coming weekend.
Thanks for all your questions and goodbye
Fiona
For lots of ideas for quick and nutritious snacks and meals designed espcially for children check out the Tesco Disney range of healthy meals and snacks and for more advice and tips on how to encourage kids to eat a healthy balanced pick up the Tesco/Disney Easy Eating Guide.