Until you have had to deal with a child who is a picky eater, you just don't know how flipping exhausting it can be.
My little boy has gotten better, but my God did he go through a phase that saw me weeping into several root vegetable casseroles and carefully assembled smoothie bowls.
I am always a fan of us mums sharing the hacks, tricks and clever things being in this parenting game has taught us all. I mean; mums are the experts – and really, we should use each other as resources – sharing is caring, mamas.
Recently, I came across a little post
Hilaria Baldwin put up on her Instagram about how she is dealing with her 4-year-old, Rafael being a bit of a picky eater.
And let's just assume that Baldwin, who is a mum-of-four with another baby (a girl!) on the way, knows a thing or two about troubleshooting the habits of picky eaters. As any seasoned parent will know, kids are tricky little creatures, meaning what they loved two days ago, might absolutely not be what they will be onboard for eating today.
Baldwin, 35, who says her son Rafael, 4, was always the pickiest of the bunch—is the first to admit that mistakes were made as she tried to amend his eating habits. “I used to fall into the routine of only serving the same three foods—the ones I knew he would eat.”
Now, instead of only offering the greatest hits, as we are all tempted to, I suppose, just to make sure they at least eat
something, Baldwin says she’s all about mixing it up with healthy options. “You have to pick your battles, but we give our kids tofu, whole grain cereal, nuts, plantains, green smoothies, pancakes with veggies—we just keep trying new things. On a recent episode of
Mom Brain [Hilaria’s podcast about parenting], we had an expert on picky eating on. One of the many great tips she shared was that you have to serve your kids something 15 or 16 times so they keep seeing it on their plate and don’t think it’s unusual.”
And Hilaria, like all of us with more than one child on our hands, knows that there are going to be days when life is busy and there are activities, parties, pick-ups, drop-offs and everything in between.
For for those day, the health-conscious mum admits she too relies on healthy snack bars, either homemade or store bought – as long as they contain healthy ingredients.
And look – judging by her Instagram, it looks like this mama has got the perfect balance when it comes to kids and nutrition – with allowances made for special treats too!
