When My 5-Year-Old Started Getting Picky (And What I’m Doing About It)

The Beige Plate Club Issue #47

Photo by Angela Mulligan on Unsplash

It snuck up on me. My five-year-old, who was starting to be my most adventurous eater, suddenly started saying things like, “I don’t want that,” “Get it off my plate,” or “Can I just have a snack instead?”

When I stopped to think about it, I realized I had slowly slipped out of our feeding rhythm. Between after-school chaos, work and packing lunches, we hadn’t been sitting down to eat together as often. He was eating more on his own and I was leaning on packaged snacks. The easy, grab-and-go kind that help in the moment, but can take over fast.

Even as a feeding therapist, it happens to me too.

Here’s what I’m doing to help him turn the corner.