By Claire Nguyen, Toddler Directress
Over the past couple of months, on-the-go eating has been replaced with exclusively at-home meals. For many families, being home together all day may feel like navigating uncharted waters. The three daily meals and snacks in between have become the markers that break up ours and our children’s days in a new way. While this time obviously comes with a laundry list of new challenges, it also presents the opportunity to enable a healthy relationship with food, especially for our most impressionable toddlers.
The adults are laying the foundations for the child's relationship with food and for good eating habits. The adult decides where, when, and what the child will eat. It would be ideal to set up the kitchen so the child can be independent, as well as involved in the meal preparation. Children have more interest in food when they are part of the preparation of the meal, and they can learn to get a drink when needed if they can reach a water source by themselves.
WHERE TO EAT:
Establishing a place to eat is important for the young child. It is also important to set a rule that food and beverages stay at the table and we eat at the table, not play. It is ideal to eat meals together as a family but to not expect the young child to sit at the table until everyone is finished. If the toddler is finished, you can say "I see you are finished, you may be excused" or you could offer the words for them to ask "May I please be excused?" The adult may assist him/her to clean up their spot and take their plate to the kitchen/sink area.
Sometimes, the young child will walk away from the table with food or utensil in their hand. When that occurs, the adult can say, "I'll keep the food/utensil at the table. It's okay for you to go." If they would like to keep eating, they need to sit back down at the table with the food/utensil. If not, model clearing things away to show that by leaving, they are choosing to be finished.
WHEN TO EAT:
It's best to keep with the daily rhythm/routine and offer meals at regular times during the day, rather than having the kitchen open at all hours. Providing three meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and perhaps a small snack in the morning and/or the afternoon.
WHAT TO EAT:
As the adult, you can decide what food you'd like your family to eat. For some families, only one option is offered but for others, two options are offered to the child that they find acceptable. Toddlers are not yet capable of making good food choices completely by themselves but will learn based on what's modeled and offered to them.
When it comes down to it, this surplus of meals together with our children is also a surplus in opportunities to teach our children, to grow healthy with our children, but most importantly to love our children. Savor the conversations and the bonding that these meals can present!