CONSPIRACY OVER THE FOOD BATTLE

Eating is a forever battle between the kids and theit  parents. Even if your child eats well, you worry whether it's enough or is it too much. Of course what you feed your babies is your decision, I am not here to advise you on that. This post is not about that. 

Though A has been a pretty good eater but the lows and highs he has, make me skeptical about the whole nutrition thing. I have read and heard a hundred opinions, read many blogs and books and tried every trick to get in some extra nutrition in his body. 'It's not that difficult' , some may say. 'You can hide the sabzi in the roti and mix things up in his milk or just put on the TV so that he gets too busy to notice what is going into his tummy'. Firstly, I do not approve of this technique. If they do not know what's going in, probably when they start eating by themselves, they will grow up not liking it and avoid it completely. And secondly, A is too smart to know if there's something hidden within his chapati. Of course, I have tried hiding and force feeding, I wanted to try everything to get in some more veggies in his body. And through my journey, I learnt some really amusing and valuable lessons. 

Here they go - 

‌ WHEN TO BEGIN? - For many its "solids at six" but for us it was "ate at eight", our doctor was of the opinion that if the weight gain is proper we should let him thrive on ebf a little more. Though I was worried that he won't accept food if we start late but actually he was so much interested in food by then that our transition was a lot smoother. Even weaning off breastfeeding was easier. So the lesson learnt here, when you start with solids won't make your child a good or a picky eater.

 
‌ SPICES AND SEASONINGS - Whatever the world says, I couldn't feed my baby anything that I wouldn't eat myself. So we seasoned his food from the very beginning. Not generously but enough to be borne by human taste buds. Also I flavored the food with different species, like cinnamon with apple, cardamom with halwa, vanilla with banana and worked our way to the complex mixes. There are benefits of being a curious and experimental mother. Just yesterday he brought out the whole spices box from the pantry and showed interest in trying them. I was like, why not, that's like my boy. He spit out most of them (strangely he liked fenugreek seeds) but he was curious and experimental..!!! That's a win!! 

‌ FACE VALUE AND MARKET VALUE - To be clear with the title, I am not talking about the food here. I am describing the feeder. The mother..!! It's well known that kids learn what they see. But you'll be surprised to see how quick that happens. They put a piece of food in their mouth and look at you and more than their taste buds, your face decides for them whether they should go for more or not. And market for them, till they hit the school, is the pantry of the house. If they see more of natural foods, they will prefer them more over a bag of chips even when you go grocery shopping with them (don't even ask, how proud that makes me feel when A chooses a pack of cut pineapple pieces over glossy attractive chocolate packs) .

‌ GO WITH THE FLOW - We started with mashed and soupy foods. And just a month into it, A started rejecting it suddenly. He used to push away his bowl or try to jump out of his chair. Tired one day, I gave him what he was eyeing then, roti (advised by my cook. House helpers are the hard working moms who have neither time nor money to pamper their kids, hence the best advisors) and he happily sat trying to chew it without any teeth. He wanted to chew and not swallow. Eureka. I started making soft stuffed parathas. Things worked well until the next hitch when he wanted options to when he wanted his own plate to his own place on the dining table and we are waiting for the next now. They know their evolution stages well, it's we who underestimate their capabilities and ignore them and then eventually blame them for swallowing when they have mouth full of teeth. 

‌ INVOLVEMENT - We are working on this one currently. Not always A wants to eat what he has helped cooking but he anyways loves helping me cook or just watch me do it. I am also planning to start the vegetable garden again with his help so that he enjoys the dirt while some good habits make their way into his monkey mind without me trying to force them onto him.

P. S. I am not a perfect mom. I still try to hide veggies when I feel he has not had any for long, I keep Googling and trying new recipes to see if he likes it that way, I follow few superstitious beliefs like giving his last morsel to an animal or circling his head with rock salt or dried red chillies to ward off any bad influence he has, that don't let him eat. Tell me more of such weird ways and I will surely try them. That's how mother's function. Right!! 

But the ground line is making strong foundation of good habits will shape their future in a healthy way.