Roslyn Gray, Author at mytot

A dietitian’s top 5 tips for fussy eaters

Posted on September 29, 2021April 10, 2022 by Roslyn Gray

If you consider your child to be a fussy eater, mealtimes can be frustrating and feel like a constant battle. You may also be concerned that your child is not eating enough or getting the right nutrients.

I want to reassure you that it is perfectly normal for toddlers to refuse new foods or to even refuse foods they have previously loved. This may happen if they have had a negative experience associated with the food, if the food is presented in a different way to normal or maybe they just have decided that they no longer like the food.

My advice is not to worry about what they eat in one meal, or one day but to look at what they have eaten across the whole week.

If your child is active, happy and gaining weight you do not need to worry. You may wish they had a more varied diet but this may take some time and patience. Once children start nursery or school they usually pick up positive behaviours from their peers and this may be when they start to expand the variation in their diet. As long as your child eats some food from the 4 main food groups (fruit and vegetables; potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates; dairy or dairy alternatives; and beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins) you can stress less.

Keep trying to introduce new foods slowly, for example, one new food a week and present the new food with foods that your child does like. Children’s tastes change, along with their favourite toy, TV show or parent! One day they may love something and a week later they may hate it. This is normal and you have not failed as a parent when this happens.

A dietitians top five tips for fussy eaters

A fun way to incorporate new foods could be keeping a colour chart or picture chart on the fridge that your child can tick off each time she has a new vegetable or to count how many times in a week she has tried that new food.

Give your child the same food as the rest of the family and try to eat together as a family without any distractions (ie no TV/ phones). Create a positive calm atmosphere around meals whereas a family you can discuss your day.

If your child rejects the food, don’t force them to eat it. Just take the food away without saying anything. This can be frustrating but try to stay calm during this scenario. Re – try the food at a later date. Try foods in different ways, for example, if your child does not like raw carrots, try them boiled, mashed, or in stir – fry next time.

Space meals and naps equally throughout the day so as your child is not tired or over hungry at main meals.

Do not use food as a reward and try to monitor the language you use around different foods. Try to avoid calling foods “bad” or “naughty” or “ good” and instead talk about the different colours in the foods and the textures. Reward children with your time to play, or trips to the park or their favourite TV show.

A Complete Guide to Food Allergens When Weaning

Posted on September 10, 2021April 10, 2022 by Roslyn Gray

In the past decade, the guidance and advice around when to introduce allergens into an infant’s diet have changed and varied causing health care professionals and parents confusion.

Fortunately, over the past five years there has been increasing research in food allergies and weaning; focusing on the prevention of food allergies such as the LEAP and EAT studies. Data from both LEAP and Eat show that introducing allergenic foods at the same time as other solid foods may in fact protect infants from developing a food allergy.

What are the main allergies?

There are 14 main allergens listed below that are the most likely foods to trigger an allergic reaction across the whole UK population. By law, these allergens have to be highlighted on an ingredients list on any pre-packaged foods you buy.

These are:

Cow’s milk
Egg (egg without the Red Lion stamp should not be eaten raw or lightly cooked in infants).
Cereals containing gluten, including wheat, rye, barley and oats.
Tree nuts (crushed, ground or butter for children under 5 years).
Peanut (crushed, ground or butter for children under 5 years).
Sesame
Soya
Shelfish (not to be served raw or lightly cooked for infants).
Fish
Mustard
Celery
Sulphur Dioxide
Lupin
Molluscs (not to be served raw or lightly cooked for infants).

First steps into solid foods

Can baby hold their head up and sit unsupported?
Does the baby have hand – eye coordination? Do they bring food to their mouth?
Can they move food from the front their mouth to the back of their mouth and swallow?

Once your baby is ready to wean, at around 6 months of age (and not before 4 months) parents can introduce complementary foods, usually pureed. They should start by offering small amounts of vegetables, fruit, starchy foods, protein. Once they feel confident that the baby is managing purees they should start to consider introducing allergens and the following below:

Ensure baby is well and not recovering from any sickness.

Include foods associated with food allergies that are part of the family’s diet: this can include egg, foods.

containing peanut and tree nuts, pasteurised dairy foods, fish/seafood and wheat.

Introduce one allergen at a time.

Consider offering food earlier in the day for example at breakfast or lunch to allow for time to monitor any signs or reaction.

Start with a small amount e.g ¼ teaspoons and slowly increasing over the next 2-3 days.

Once foods containing allergens have been introduced it is important for parent to continue introducing those foods. Particularly egg and peanut aiming for 2-3 times week.

If the infant does have eczema, it is best to make sure their skin is in a good condition prior to introducing a new allergen. Consider maximising their eczema treatment and any emollients they may use.

If the infant dislikes the food reassure parents to be patient and try again another day.

Allergen Recommendations

Egg: Choose British Lion stamped eggs. Egg in raw form is more likely to cause an allergic reaction than a baked food. The boiled egg could firstly be offered mashed into other cooked foods e.g vegetables or rice. As the baby progresses this could be offered as finger food as scrambled egg or an omelette, or pancake. Aim for one egg over the course of the week.

Peanut: Never give whole peanuts or chopped nuts Use finely grounded nuts or a smooth peanut butter, or “puffed peanut” snacks

Tree Nuts: Never give whole nuts or chopped nuts. Use finely grounded nuts or smooth nut butter e.g cashew butter, almond butter mixed with yoghurt, porridge or fruit

Cow’s Milk: Sugar-free yoghurts or fromage frais, fresh whole milk added to meals e.g porridge, sauces, mashed potatoes.

Wheat: Weetabix or other cereals containing wheat, well-cooked pasta, toast fingers

Seeds: Hummus mixed with tahini (sesame seeds), crushed seeds added to yoghurt or porridge or fruit.

Fish, seafood: Purred, flaked or mashed cooked fish (cooked haddock salmon or trout) or seafood (prawns, crab mussels)

Soya: Is found in many bread products and so does not need to be offered separately as a soya product.