A common experience of young mothers is to have their babies love a dish today and push it away from them tomorrow. This leaves the mothers coaxing and cajoling the babies to eat just a little, if not everything. That’s a typical picky eater, a type of baby parents find difficult to control.

Why babies turn picky eaters: Babies find eating solids a new experience. They need to get used to the colours, tastes, and textures. When they find too many changes or too much variety in their foods, they push away what’s new and unfamiliar, and thus get labeled as fussy eaters.

At this stage, toddlers become independent and begin making food choices.  So, this is a good time to teach them to be exploratory where food is concerned before they are habituated to rejecting unfamiliar food. However, expect your toddlers to eat just a few foods as this is quite normal.

Symptoms of a picky eater: Picky eaters have obvious symptoms, such as:

• Pushing away his food or spoon or closing his mouth as you try to feed him
• Spitting out food
• Getting cranky nearer mealtime
• Immature digestive system
• Teething
• Food allergy

After-effects of being a picky eater: Fussy eating may be temporary for most kids, but for others, it could go on and on. When it is prolonged in kids, it could have serious after-effects, such as:

• Nutritional deficiencies that cause improper growth
• Weakened immune system that makes them sick and infected often
• Impaired mental and emotional development that could have long-term effects on them
• Health issues in the long-term

Taming your picky eater: You can’t be fussing over your baby every day while he plays with his food, or rejects it outright. Here are some ways of taming the devil in your baby and getting him to stop being fussy:

• Don’t force him to eat: If he turns his face away from you, it means he’s not interested in eating or has eaten enough. If you continue to force him to eat, he will link eating with a period of tension and discomfort and become fussier.

• Try different kinds of foods: Some babies like to eat finger foods, others like wet and yet others like solids. Give him what he likes, but ensure it’s healthy. 

• Make it a slow meal today, not tomorrow: There are some babies who like to eat faster than others who prefer a slow pace. So, go with the flow, sometimes increasing or decreasing the pace. 

• Ensure he concentrates on his meal: When you get down to feeding him, switch off all distractions like the TV and his toys and make him focus on his food. 

Introducing new foods to picky eaters: If you have a fussy eater who doesn’t like trying new foods, here are some tips that might help:

• Put a little new food in his plate near familiar food and let him touch it or lick it.
• Give him colourful food in attractive shapes and sizes and let him choose what he wants to eat.
• Give him food he’s liked earlier and let him taste it.
• Let him share his food with his friends. If they like what you want him to eat, he may be willing to try it himself.
• Praise him when he tries something. Don’t insist he eat or drink what you want him to. Leave it to him, if he eats what you give him, praise him outright.
• Give him what the whole family eats but in a small serving. When he sees everyone eating the same thing, he’ll want to try it too.

For all that you go through with your fussy child, the good news is that this is a passing phase that he will outgrow with just a little time. In the meanwhile, be patient with him, coax him and love him more, as he grapples with this newness in his life.