What to do if toddler only eats sweet food
What to do if toddler only eats sweet food
Table of Contents
Parents often face this problem of their toddler always asking for something sweet to eat. It is fine to give a chocolate or sweet juice two or three times, but if the toddler refuses to eat anything else then the parents feel helpless.
They might mix the sweet products with other food items and serve that wouldn’t be totally harmless for the child. But what you are facing is very common as toddlers are known to be picky and fussy when it comes to eating.
As toddlers are not able to clearly explain their emotions verbally the whole situation gets a little more complicated. Familiarity plays a great role in the choices of the toddler. This is why the toddlers’ age range is the age where they need to be slowly exposed to various healthy food options. Their food choices would be extremely limited if new food items are not introduced in the meal times.
The basic process of dealing
The technique is to include unfamiliar food along with familiar ones on the table. If they are not habituated to varieties of food from an early age then they will become uncomfortable and scared to try out new food with new flavors. Before that happens the parents should have the answers to the question of what to do if the toddler only eats sweet food.
But it is extremely important to not lose your temper when the toddler is screaming for candies and cookies. The way you communicate and explain to them about food is a crucial factor in trying out other types of foods and flavors. The way you try to explain to the toddlers why too much sweet food is bad for health might not be working well if you are using words very unfamiliar to them.
For toddlers to try out new food you need to eliminate the newness and make the other categories feel familiar just like the sweet foods. There is more than one thing that you need to follow to bring your toddler out of the sweetness drama.
- A child having ice cream with utmost curiosity.
Sit with them for the same type of meal
If you let the toddler eat alone and might feed him or her on a much different schedule than your own meal then you might want to change that a bit for the child’s sake. The toddler may be getting the notion that parents are eating all the good stuff and providing the child with non-sweet food items only. Clarity and understanding are very essential factors when dealing with toddlers.
So you should try to sit with your meal as well when you have served the toddler. The toddler will notice everything you will be eating. They would become very curious if they have absolutely food items in comparison to your plate. Try to have as a few sweet items as possible when sitting to eat with your toddlers.
Some toddlers would always love to eat on their own without the interference of their parents. If your toddler is the other type who likes to be fed then you have a great opportunity to combat your toddler’s craving for sweet food.
Explaining with empathy
Eat from the same plate and make gestures of satisfaction for everything that is not sweet and explain to them why it is important to eat other food items than only sweet ones. If you make a satisfying face for something bitter then that kind of deceiving might not work that much. For the bitter ones you need to make a normal face and then explain what benefits it will provide to the toddler.
You can explain that eating the bitter ones would help them have a much better immune system and thus less sickness would come to them. First, you need to teach yourself the benefits of every type of food which is regular to our diet and then explain it. This knowledge, if understood by them, is going to stay with them and make them more intelligent.
When they see the parents who are the closest and most trustable to the child, having all types of food. Then it would naturally give way to more practical understanding. Toddlers often follow their parents in the tasks and behavior and there is a good chance they will follow you in the journey of this non-sweet item as well.
- A child unwillingly sitting with his dinner.
The right kind of statements
Most of the time when the toddlers start to throw tantrums for having sweets, you might have unknowingly said sentences that don’t resonate with the kid at all. But there is nothing you should feel guilty about because you only acted on the parenting knowledge present. Now, this has been studied and you should be aware of the sentences you say because they might even make the toddlers fussier about it.
You might have used one-liners like this in the past-too much candy is not good for you, you cannot have that now, no that will be too sweet and many more similar lines. But these sentences wouldn’t resonate much with the kid and the sweet cravings would prevail. Most of the time toddlers think in terms of good and bad which means if they are told that the sweets are bad for her they might decipher it as they are being told on as a bad kid.
The right approach is to be more emphatic and clear with your words. If your child keeps asking for more and more while having a meal then you can be more caring by saying that’s all that was present for the day and again the toddler would get it at mealtime. You might rephrase this in your own ways and say the same.
The actual goal is to delay it and the child might not even remember till it’s mealtime again the next day. You might even want to reduce the stock of your sweet food in the house and let the child know that you had run out of it and would surely get it when you step into the supermarket again.
Showing confidence in the toddler
There might be times when the child will have more freedom to eat a lot of sweet stuff like at birthday parties and get-togethers. But you need to make the toddler understand that his or her tummy likes to have other things as well to maintain a balance of all tastes. By this, you would show some trust which could also be increased.
You can even say that you trust him or her to not have an excess which would cause sickness later on because the child is very smart. Showing confidence and trust might be a good blocking factor that would work.
You might also want to be more affirmative with your sentences. Like if you as a parent constantly say no, no, and no without any kind of explanation it is more than natural for the toddler to get fussy and angry.
Trying first saying yes you can and then explain why the toddler cannot have it right at that moment but can have later on. You might also use the hour’s technique instead of days. If you say ‘right after twelve hours you can have it again’ then the toddler would also feel better than the word tomorrow.
- A kid is extremely happy with a sweet donut bun.
Non-categorization and discipline
Using specific names for every type of food is essential. Often parents label anything which is a little sweet into the sweets and candies category. But using specific names like ice cream, gummy bear, chocolate bar, lollipop, toffees, and other names are crucial as this would make them less emotionally attached to the sweetness factor.
You can use the dessert term in front of toddlers but make them understand that many items can come under that category. It is also important to not give full access to the toddlers for taking out any sweet food whenever he or she wants. There needs to be proper discipline and the toddler will learn by observing and explaining why it is not okay to take out food at odd times.
When often observed it is found that parents are responsible by a large portion for finally making the question arrive in the house of – what to do if toddler only eats sweet food. Parents portray the picture in front of them that anything that is sweet is like a reward and is given a superior status that other types of food.
If the parents had already made the mistake then it is only feasible to portray again that sweet foods are at the same level as any kind of other foods. It is also not mandatory to like the sweet flavor the most, the tastes of sour, spicy, and others types are equally lovely.
For breaking the already established structure of sweetness as the prime of food you need to explain to the child why sweet flavors are nothing special and act accordingly. You might then want to include sweet items as a part of the main meals like lunch and dinner. Try to establish the point that having each type of food and taste has a different part to play in the body and there is no superiority in this system.
Normal sweetness and consultation
Instead of sweet food like candies, chocolate bars, lollipops, and several other types of artificially sweetened items, the parents should focus more on naturally sweet food products. If you look into the sweet fruits category you will find plenty of fruits that will have different types of sweetness in taste.
If you introduce these fruits to the toddler it will be very likely that the toddler would find something suitable among them and would love to eat. Other than fruits there will be several veggies and easily made meals too that will be a much healthier option for the child.
- A child shopping for fruits with his mother in the supermarket.
The options like low-fat pudding, angel food cake can be highly considered for snack time. Smoothies can be a great option too which would still make the same nutrients reach the child in a different way.
If it seems like that you had tried many tricks and processes mentioned here and other places but nothing works then maybe you should consult with the child’s doctor once. Don’t take it too seriously as these problems are trivial in comparison to several health problems existing among children worldwide. The child specialist might be able to find something or understand the toddler’s behavior and history which you as a parent might not be able to easily find.
Conclusion
The toddlers are commonly picky eaters and it might easily go on till the age of six. These kinds of eating tantrums are nothing for the parents to worry about. But if the toddler just wants to eat nothing but sweet stuff then it is required to handle the problem. After reading all the above information you should have found a lot of clarity. So then you need to apply the processes and keep the information in mind to make your toddler have healthier food habits.
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