The latest ploy we have been using to get our little one to eat is the “Can I have some of that” toddler feeding technique.
The other techniques I have blogged about previously still generally work however she is catching on fast and we are forced to continually come up with new strategies to get her to eat.
I simply take something off her plate and ask her “Can Daddy have some of that please?” and pretend that I am going to eat it. As the answer to everything these days is ‘no’ then it stands to reason that the answer to this will be a big fat ‘no’ as well.
She emphatically shakes her head and says “No, no, no” whereby she will hoard all the food on her plate or stuff it into her mouth just so I can’t have any. It really works great. I guess the lessons about sharing will have to wait!
This has also become a great way to speed things up a little if feeding time is dragging on and you have to be somewhere or do something at a certain time. The mere suggestion that I might want to eat something of hers will make her gobble it down without delay.
It can also be a good indicator as to whether or not she is full as she will quite often actually say ‘yes’ when she is no longer interested in the meal which is a sure sign that she is finished. There is no way she will let me near her food if she is still a bit hungry.
The only constant I have found in all this is the need to be creative and flexible. Just when you think that you have something figured out the little buggers go and develop on you and force you to change your strategy.
It certainly does keep you on your toes…