by Brandi Robinson

Created on: November 18, 2007

I constantly hear from my child's sitter, friends and family that they want to know how I get my child to eat the way that he does. My son eats anything. There isn't one fruit or vegetable that he won't eat and he eats all different types of meat. The interesting part of his eating habits is that I am extremely picky and can't tolerate most fruits or vegetables. However, when I got pregnant it was very important to me to find ways for my child to eat healthy and balanced. Here are the keys to my success with my child.

1. I truly believe what made the difference in my child was how I fed him the moment he got on solids. Instead of sticking with the usual baby food I made a lot of his baby food. It saved me tons of money and I was able to expose him to a lot more. I shopped at organic stores and on weeks that I was busy I bought from an organic line of food that had more variety (Earth's Best). I made things like pumpkin squash mixed with carrots and kale. I used sea salts for seasoning with other organic herbs. For snacks he had fruit. I made sure that I varied the different types of fruit even though he preferred apples and bananas.

2. Instead of sticking to his favorites I kept exposing him to one different thing a week (I would expose one food item at a time for the sake of potential allergies). If I stuck to his favorite foods he never would have been exposed to other "new" favorites.

3. In addition, I made the food fun. I would make jello from scratch and put fruit in the middle. I made smoothies with a large variety of different fruits and veggies for him to drink while we were outside.

4. If he didn't like something at first I would just reintroduce it. Often it was just something new and he liked it the second time.

5. I researched and found cook books for infants or toddlers because they have great ideas and ways to present food that kids will love. They had ideas about how to mix fruits and veggies and how to cook them to achieve a texture that kids would appreciate.

6. I allowed only Scheduled snacks. Snacking throughout the day is not a good idea because then meals are only partially eaten. Furthermore, it gave him just the right amount of calories so he wasn't overeating.

7. After talking to my pediatrician I decided to downplay juices. I made sure he got his vitamins for food and would only offer 1 cup of diluted juice a day. Juice tends to be sugary and kids will prefer it to milk or water in many cases. Today my son will choose water over coke, juice, etc. because that's what he has known. He drank water and milk and occasionally had a cup of juice.

Be sure that you consult with your child's pediatrician about your potential diet for your child. Your pediatrician can help guide you in the proper amount and types of food your child needs. Your child's eating habits are developed very early in life and if you wait too long it will be too late.

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