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Shaping Young Tastebuds: Tips for Picky Eaters

South Shore Mom Helps Families Navigate Feeding and Nutrition Challenges in Young Children

By Kate Bray, former publisher of South Shore Macaroni Kid July 11, 2021

Follow along with Danielle, Shaping Young Tastebuds Founder, on Instagram, Pinterest, or in her free Facebook Group. She shares tips on those social channels regularly. 

It’s dinnertime with your family. You’ve made a healthy meal from scratch and your 2 year old won’t even sit at the table once he’s seen it. If it’s not chicken nuggets, he won’t eat it. You are so frustrated that you can’t even enjoy your dinner. Or maybe, you have to dangle dessert in front of your 4 year old in order to get him to eat his veggies. Every dinner is a battle of will. 

Does this sound familiar to you?

Picky Eater Coach, Danielle understands what you are going through because this was her life before she decided that her family needed a change. The first step Danielle took was becoming a certified health coach with a specialty in family nutrition. Next she studied psychologists, dietitians and feed specialists’ work on picky eaters. Taking the best of all the work on the subject, she created Shaping Young Tastebuds.

 Now, she enjoys stress free dinnertime with her family and wants to help you achieve the same. Here are two tips to help you get started! 

Tip #1: Buy some fun feeding tools. It may sound unbelievable that a little plastic toothpick with a pig on it will help, but it does. Our children need to be engaged in order to enjoy dinnertime. Plates shaped as diggers and novel eating utensils will go a long way!

Where to buy fun feeding tools? Amazon is a great place to search. Just type in your child’s favorite things (dinosaurs, trucks, princesses) and then whatever you are looking for (plates, toothpicks, etc.).

Tip #2: Be Neutral about Sweets. A lot of children become obsessed with getting ‘treats’ or desserts. As parents, it's best to try to be neutral about sweets. This means not saying things like “Cake is bad for you”. Instead say, “cake is so yummy, right? We eat it on special occasions like birthdays!”. If your family is the type to enjoy dessert each night after dinner, you could place dessert on the plate with the dinner. Crazy, right? But, it provides a neutral stance on dessert instead of putting it on a pedestal.

Enjoyed these tips and want more? Follow along with Danielle, Shaping Young Tastebuds Founder, on Instagram, Pinterest, or in her free Facebook Group. She shares tips on those social channels regularly. 

Danielle also works with parents on a 1 on 1 coaching basis and has an online course that moms can take on their own time. Please reach out to Danielle via danielle@shapingyoungtastebuds.com if you’d like help with your picky eater.

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