Research shows that many kids have their healthiest eating habits before age 2. And it makes sense. During the weaning phase, parents feed their kids primarily fruits and vegetables…not chicken nuggets!

Enter Toddler Kingdom and the world gets turned upside down. Toddlers are notoriously difficult eaters.

It’s time to adopt the right habitude. (Like that word?)

If you don’t change how you parent around food, you can’t change how your kids eat. Keep doing the same thing and you’ll continue to get the same results.

Source: iqoncept /depositphotos.com10 Crippling Parenting Habits

1) Habit: Making your kids eat the last bite. Lesson: Other people know how much you ought to eat. It’s important to be full when you eat dessert.

2) Habit: Following your toddler around with a spoonful of food. Lesson: There is no need to eat at the table – or stop playing.

3) Habit: Letting your child eat straight out of the bag. Lesson: Overeating. Research shows people (and kids are people) systematically eat more than they ought to when they eat straight out of a big bag.

4) Habit: Feeding the same food every day. Lesson: It’s normal to eat a monotonous, not varied, diet.

5) Habit: Thinking juice is healthy. Lesson: Sweet beverages rock! Research shows juice turns into soda as kids grow up.

6) Habit: Bribing kids to eat their vegetables. Lesson: Veggies must really be awful.

7) Habit: Pushing milk. Lesson: If you don’t like the food, there’s always milk. My parents will do whatever I want if they think I won’t drink milk.

8) Habit: Keeping ingredients a secret. Lesson: Healthy foods are “bad.” Mom and Dad can’t be trusted.

9) Habit: Making your child eat the meal before dessert. Lesson: Dessert is more desirable. Dessert has power.

10) Habit: Fixing a booboo with food. Lesson: Food soothes the soul.

Which one of these crippling habits will you work on changing?

Read:

• The Two-More-Bites Tango: How YOU Can Take the Lead
• My Child Won’t Eat in a High Chair. What Can I Do?
• How Big is that Bag? Eating in the Age of Portion Distortion
• Top 10 Healthy Food Lists: Ditch ‘Em
• Water vs Punch and Soda
• Don’t Have a Cow!
• Dishing Up Dessert
• Vegetable Ice Cream
• Using Sweets to Soothe the Soul

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

(c) Its Not About Nutrition – Read entire story here.