Teaching Kids Table Manners
Teaching kids manners was most certainly not a subject covered in my dietetic training. We learned what kids should eat and why, but not much on how to actually execute the plan. It wasn't until I became a mom myself that I realized what I was up against. It starts when they're little with the throwing of, well, everything. We have actually had to cut our dogs' food portions in HALF thanks to how many table scraps they are getting courtesy of my 13 month old. And thanks to my three year old I know that the battle isn't close to won. After they graduate from throwing things they move on to the tantrum stage.
And tantrums are so much more fun when there's a glass of water nearby to tip over. My husband and I have acquired ninja-like skills when it comes to moving things out of the way the minute we smell a rebellion coming on. Luckily by three the tantrums start to subside, but there's a new obstacle: "can I get up yet?" We try to keep our meals succinct, but to a little kid faced with a less than appealing meal, one minute is one minute too long. So what can parents do to help educate their little foodie-in-training?
Eat together. I talk about this a lot in my book, Healthy Little Foodie. It is SO important that even the youngest kids have role models when they are learning table manners. Luckily lots of daycare centers seat the kids together in a communal eating setup. But at home parents need to make every possible effort to sit down and eat the same meal as their kids, at the same time, at the same table. Monkey see, monkey do, at least in the long run.
Make clean-up easy. When I was searching for a high chair for my first kiddo, I was obsessed with finding one that was easy to clean. The Stokke Tripp Trapp definitely fits the bill, plus it converts from a high chair to a kid’s chair, and it comes in lots of beautiful colors. I also searched far and wide for cups that met my myriad of qualifications, namely a non-plastic material and a sipping style that promotes good oral development. I landed on the stainless steel 360 cups from Munchkin, which we've been pretty happy with. They do spill if they hit the ground really hard, but in most cases they do OK. One thing I wish someone would make is a place mat or plate or bowl that really and truly suctions to the table. Reading the reviews on most of the currently available products makes me think that my little geniuses will have them flying across the room in a hot second. As you can see from the picture above, my interim solution is just a super uncomfortable eating position for me. Go figure!
Straps. We have a saying in our house that my three year old rattles off before every meal: You don't have to eat but you do have to sit! It's a mantra we can follow through on every single day thanks to the handy dandy straps on the Stokke Tripp Trapp. Remarkably, she can and does strap herself in, but no matter how hard she tries, she cannot seem to undo the buckle herself. Now that she's three and a half we don't always use the straps, but if she's feeling particularly ornery we will strap her in and remind her that she has to keep us company while we eat. 99.9% of the time she ends up pleasantly eating her meal.
What tricks do you have for making meal times enjoyable (or at least hazard free) with your healthy little foodie?