Raising a Kid Who Eats What We Eat

I know feeding kids can feel like a battlefield sometimes, but this is what worked for us and what completely shaped the way my oldest daughter eats today.

Before I had kids, I met a mom who told me, “If you don’t give them a choice, they will eat whatever you give them.” I held onto that piece of advice like gold when my first was born. I started slow because the first time mom anxiety was very real. When my daughter was around 7 months old I would feed my daughter a puree dinner around five, and then when my husband and I sat down for dinner, she would get what I called her “second dinner”, which was just whatever we were having.

I would put her in the high chair in just a diaper so she could play with the food and get dirty. There were days I could not be bothered to undress her, and we definitely threw out more clothes than I would like to admit because the stains were so bad. But honestly it was worth it. These meals were all about exploring, tasting, and having fun. I tried to be as hands off as possible. Some days she gagged and threw up and while that was not fun to clean up it was fine because she was still learning. The funniest part was when my mom would see this. She absolutely hated it. Constantly telling me how I’m just making her throw up, she has nothing in her stomach now, she’s getting too dirty, just feed her the food to save yourself the clean up.

But as we kept going, she also saw how good of an eater my daughter was becoming. Fast forward four years and her favorite food is cucumbers. What five year old tells you their favorite food is cucumbers. She understands when she is full. She turns down cake at birthday parties because she knows her limits. This year at her own birthday dinner she was so full she said no to her own cake. Later that week at my sister’s house she knew ice cream was coming, so she carefully planned how much dinner she needed to eat so she would be full but still have room for dessert.

I taught her about balance without even trying.

She loves vegetables. She is open to trying new foods. We never worry about restaurant kids menus or whether a party will have kid friendly food. Whenever someone asks, “We are having this for dinner, what will your kids eat,” I get to answer, “Whatever we are having.”

Putting in the work early and letting her explore her food really paid off.

Every child is different of course, but giving mine the freedom to explore helped her build a healthy and confident relationship with food. It also made me a much more relaxed parent along the way.