Once your child begins to leave the world of baby food behind, meal times can be a roller coaster ride. Toddlers are notorious for being fickle and picky eaters. But, how you handle your toddlers eating habits at this age can have an impact on their eating habits for life.
Toddlers thrive on routine, including mealtime routines. When you disrupt this routine, it can wreak havoc. Unfortunately, sometimes this need for routine means that your toddler wants to eat the same food at every meal for six weeks. Dont obsess about this, but do continue to introduce new foods. For instance, if the favorite is macaroni and cheese, you might try switching the menu to the same macaroni noodles but with a little butter instead of cheese sauce. Then add some grapes or apple slices, and see how it goes. Lie about the name if you need to (this is macaroni and butter cheese, yum!), but offer some alternatives.
My experience has been that alternatives will only be tolerated if the rest of the routine is maintained. So, I never try to get a toddler to eat a brand new food in a restaurant. Only in the privacy of my home, where she can sit in her usual seat, at her usual time will I...