How to Dad: Getting Baby to Eat Like a Champ

One of the best days in a parent’s life is the day that their little bundle of joy graduates from drinking milk to eating solid foods.

From that moment on, you are helping your child become more than just a baby that sucks on a bottle. You are helping to mold your child’s favorite foods into one messy meal at a time. With this responsibility at hand, how do you help make the most of each meal for your child?

Grab a Variety of Foods

Obviously, the way that you are going to find out what your child likes to eat is by trying it all. I'm sure you'll especially "enjoy" the experience of giving your child a pureed food to only have them spit it at you, but it will be worth it in the end! Hopefully those are limited experiences for you! Luckily for us, our kids have always loved trying just about everything: sweet potatoes, bananas, applesauce, broccoli, peas, carrots, anything! We give it to them, they will try it. Even though my kids will pretty much eat anything, it's always so interesting to see what they actually prefer. For some reason, my oldest son loves sour foods, but hates spicy. My wife and I never led him to choose one or the other, he just found that out on his own because we let him try everything.

Baby-led Weaning

The funny thing about my boys is that they are truly fat boys at heart. They not only LOVE food with all of their heart, might, mind and strength, but they hate waiting for us to feed them. To make sure they didn't get frustrated at our lack of customer service, we gave baby-led weaning a try. Essentially, this tactic means that we place the food in front of them and let them have at it. Yes, this is a little messy, but the rewards are well worth the risk. They are in control of how much they eat and what they like to eat providing a better eating experience all around.

Have Fun

 EZPZ Mini Mat - Lime

As someone who loves eating, family-feeding time is one of my favorite parts of the day. It’s so fun to see how expressive my little guys can be when they eat something they truly enjoy. The same is true for when they eat something that they don’t like; don't we all love the funny faces our kids can make? Just remember to make it a fun experience for them too. Use colorful food, or colorful dishes and utensils. Or find a fun plate like the EZPZ Mini Mat that looks like a smiley face! Just have fun with it!

Letting my kids choose what they like, and keeping food fun, will help them develop a larger palate. I have seen too many other kids become picky eaters because they are told they might not like something. I let my kids decide for themselves and it has made a huge difference.