According to Huffpost.com, few tantrums of kids are not normal. It might be the fact that you are worried about feeding the next meal to your kid like any other parent out there. Well, it is natural for the parents to be scared of the food tantrums of their kids. Tantrums make it quite difficult for the parents to handle a tantrum-throwing infant during mealtime, and mealtimes become quite long as well. An effective tantrum might consist of foot-stamping, loud screaming, wailing loudly, hair pulling, throwing stuff, and whatnot. Here are several tips on how to cope with the food tantrums of kids out there.
1. Provide less food
It is a fact that toddlers and infants love playing with their food items and they get much more ammunition once we provide them with more food items during their mealtime. Having more food in front of them will make them throw the food in the long run. As a result, make it a point to offer them only a few pieces at a time on the tray that can prevent them from throwing food.
2. Jonah Engler recommends feeding the kids with 1:1 attention
Being busy parents, you often indulge in unloading the dishwasher, cleaning the kitchen, or making a phone call to our buddies while your kid is busy eating. It will be possible to prevent the kids from throwing food in case you sit down along with them providing 1:1 attention.
3. Remove the kids from the room or table
Tell your children calmly to leave the dining area within your residence and go to another room. One must not treat this as a timeout. Inform them that they will be able to return once they have calmed down. In case he or she is having a hard time coping with any new food item or maybe smell, try to make some accommodations on their behalf. Make it a point to remove the sausage to another table in case they don’t like its aroma. You may likewise ask the kids regarding what can be done to bring them back to the dining table in a calm manner. You might be surprised by the answer in the long run.
Bear in mind that a kid ought to be at the table for 30 minutes at the most. Anything more than that might prove to be something that you are not looking for. This is going to take some practice on your part and you might not be able to get it “correct” on every occasion. However, have patience since it can make a significant difference in the long run.
4. Allow your kid to be active before a meal
In case your child has been sitting inside a car for a long time or watching TV, he might require quite some time to adjust himself to the dining table having food along with you. Make it a point to provide him with some free playing before the meals especially if he happens to be an active youngster. Otherwise, if he becomes overwhelmed easily, you might provide him with some personal time in his room where he will be able to unwind freely.
5. Never pressurize them to eat
You must not pressurize your kid to eat since it might induce him to react adversely in the long run. Stopping pressurizing them while eating is going to have an immediate and drastic effect on tantrums during meals.
6. Provide them with a choice
Provide your kid with some choice of his own in terms of having meals. Make it a point to ask them whether they like to ingest food in 10 minutes or so, whether they want to have the soup in a blue bowl or red bowl, whether they like to sit in a particular chair while eating, whether they would like to have cauliflower or broccoli at night, and so on.
Offer them a choice but never leave it open-ended such as what vegetable would they like to eat and so forth. This type of question can allow them to provide an answer that they don’t like to eat any vegetables at all. It is essential to phrase the queries accurately. Also, do not give them a big choice like what they would like to consume for dinner. As a parent, it is your responsibility to select what to eat and your child must not decide it anyway.
7. Allow them to transition
As per Jonah Engler, you can think of any object that can be carried such as a stuffed animal. You can place the stuff nearby or in another chair. Otherwise, you can also sit at the dinner table along with your child. This will act as a bridge from one particular activity to another.
8. Schedule naps and meals properly
Always make it a point to know when your kid requires a nap and also when he has eaten last. The meals must be scheduled such that they happen to be at least 3 hours apart from each other. This will not allow your little one for becoming too much hungry.
9. In case of extreme tantrums
Tantrums that happen to be extremely severe are referred to as meltdowns. This takes place when the toddler is flailing, irrational, and cannot be talked to. During this condition, you would like to keep the kid-safe. Move him to another room if possible (as mentioned earlier) such that he does not disturb his family.
Do not make any attempt to teach your kid something at the time of meltdown. Simply support him as best as you can. Provide him with some space, try to hug him, or even rock him by holding him in your lap.
Conclusion
It is of immense value to establish a decent mealtime experience for everyone. Hopefully, these 9 guidelines mentioned above will help you to cope with the food tantrums of your child in the most effective way.
Author bio
Jonah Engler is a New York based financial expert. Engler has done it all, from being a stock broker on Wall Street, growing startup businesses, starting and growing a mobile franchise business and much more. Jonah is an avid coffee lover and active investor – always looking to help grow private and public companies both small and large. Visit :
https://twitter.com/jonahengler?lang=en
