If baby is a picky eater blame yourself:Healthy eating habits in children (part 1)

You can’t make your child eat healthy!Your child  likes only junk food.

You are worried about childhood obesity.What your child eats will not only help in developing their physical  and mental health ,but also influence  their health as adults.This is a  problem which is more complex than just tempting him/ her  with new recipes.

Healthy eating habits in children :How mothers can help

Did you know it’s not just what your child eats now, that’s to blame.It’s  also your diet, during pregnancy,breastfeeding

and afterwards.

In this case, moms have all the power, to change the baby’s food choices.

 When I was pregnant I wouldn’t eat chicken for the entire 9 months. I had nausea throughout my pregnancy and hated cooking.The  smell of jeera ,garam masala made me want to puke.

But I still enjoyed fish ,eggs and mutton .As long as I didn’t cook them.

Veggies and fruits were always a large part of my diet .So  was milk.

When I ate to keep healthy, I always remembered that these nutrients were building my baby one cell at a time.

Most of the child’s health and Immunity depends on food.But there was one more important reason to eat healthy.

What exactly  does the mother’s diet do?

 It  does 3 important things

#Builds the flesh and blood baby

#Builds the immunity of the baby

#Builds the baby’s food choices.

Most attention is paid to the first two.Because they are unquestionably important .

What’s not discussed is the 3rd one.

Mommy’s complain of baby’s being picky eaters.But you have to recap ,what you loved having ,when you were pregnant.That’s how you can  handle the picky eater baby now!

Sounds weird right?

How can  a mother build a baby’s healthy taste in food ?

You have 2 full-proof tools, in your mommy tool box.Both are free .

 #1 Choose healthy eating options during pregnancy 

Your child develops her palate or food preferences in the womb.

Food odours are due to certain chemical components.

These compounds specially those with strong distinctive smell and taste ,are detected in the amniotic  fluid.Garlic, cumin,other spices have distinctive  chemicals which brand the amniotic fluids.

 The developing baby swallows amniotic fluids in the womb.

Sense of taste and smell is functional during fetal life

Helps develop the food preferences after birth.

The mother’s  diet is an interesting  way  of, building up food tastes in the  unborn baby.

It’s one of the most important way to prepare the infant’s solid food choices later in life.

 #2 Your breast milk and your food choices

 After birth of baby ,what you  eat as a mommy ,flavours the breast milk.

If you want your baby to have healthy eating habits,you must eat healthy .Include a variety of nutritious food  in your diet.It is  the best way to make your baby  learn healthy eating ,even when breastfeeding 

Prenatal and early postnatal flavor exposure helps baby develop his/her food preferences.

The child enjoys the different flavors in solid food more enthusiastically ,when complementary feed is started.

So mommy eat well.Before during and after pregnancy.

What did you eat most often  when  you were pregnant?

Did you eat junk food ?

 Feeding your preschooler:Ultimate guide 

Mother and child

 


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By Dr.Amrita Basu(MBBS,MS)

I am an ENT surgeon by profession, previously working at a Medical college. I believe the Internet is God's way of providing health and wealth information for all. The important thing is to find the right information.

37 comments

  1. Hi Dr. Amrita,
    Your post was a hit and shared a lot on Pinterest. Cute baby.
    Thanks for bringing your post to the Blogger’s Pit Stop last week.
    Janice

  2. I was MIA these days. But now I’m back from my vacation and I intend to read all the posts.
    And whoa! I never knew of this third point. I am a picky eater myself. Guess I should ask Mom what she had when I was inside her. 🙂
    Thanks, Amrita. I will keep these points in mind.

  3. My children are older but my son said as I was reading this “What can I eat?” That’s all he says I feel! When I was nursing I had to be very careful what I ate because my oldest is lactose intolerant and he suffered greatly until we figured that out.

  4. I started out disagreeing with this post – I have twins and one of them is eats everything in sight while the other has to be pushed and prodded. For the record I had absolutely no food cravings when I was expecting and ate absolutely healthy purely on doctor’s orders. But I have to agree with you in that when I compare the twins with other kids I realise that even my fussy one is easy compared to a lot of others. There is definitely some sense in what you say.

  5. Very precise points! I agree with you.

    I totally restricted myself to only take nutritious food during pregnancy and while feeding. I feel it’s because of that my kids are doing fine with eating everyday healthy home food which might not be very attractive. Also they take junk food every now and then, but don’t demand junk foods to substitute their meal. Our kids food habits can highly depend on what we eat during pregnancy and feeding.

  6. Mother and Child have a bonding that goes beyond the umblical chord, infact I have personally experienced that my children prefer food that I had taken when I was pregnant, and it is different for both of them, their food choices and of course their total behavior is a reflection of how I was during pregnancy-

  7. Loved this post! I remember when my so was a baby and when I was nursing I was mindful of what I ate because I know he would eat it too! Great points!

  8. I don’t know if my son is a picky eater – but he definitely is a moody eater. He likes most of the stuff given to him if he’s in a good mood, and some days he doesn’t even like his favorite Keema rice!

  9. I don’t really remember what I ate when I was pregnant but I do know that I was always craving oranges for some reason. Now my son loves orange! I hadn’t really thought of him developing taste in the womb but it makes sense.

  10. Yes the way our kids eat is dependent on what they see us eating and what we purchase and make available for them. It is never to early to teach healthy eating habits.

  11. A healthy mum equals a healthy baby. However, I didn’t realise that what you eat during pregnancy may have an impact on baby’s taste buds.

  12. Healthy Mummy Healthy child 🙂
    Yes children choices depends on what a mommy to be eats
    She should eat heathy 🙂
    Loved the post

  13. Very good post. I breastfed both my kids. Infact breast fed the first one for close to 2 years and I can see that, he rarely gets sick and a healthy kid in general.

    1. Yes a mommy can control a lot of baby’s health issues.It’s great that you breastfed them. There really is no substitute

  14. This is such an informative post Amrita. What you about the breastfeeding and the way it affects the child’s taste, made me recollect an incident!! You won’t regret knowing about it!

    So once a mother had a baby of 4 months, who wouldn’t sleep at all! At all, means at all. The baby would be awake, cry, play, smile, everything, but sleep! And this continued for more than a day! Obviously the mother lost it. And the child was on breastfeed. The mother, in order to make the baby sleep, has rounds of tequila shots!! And guess what, the baby slept tight and nice!!! 😀 😀 😀
    Can you beat that?
    I still laugh at this incidence till date!

    Surely a wonderful post!

    Cheers
    Geets

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