Toddler & Preschool

Just when you think you’ve got this feeding-thing down pact, toddlerhood rears its picky little head! From their first birthday up until their first day of school, the combined toddler and pre-school years are the most foundational in a child’s healthy habit learning journey. However, it is also the most treacherous leg of the journey and where so many parents unknowingly lose their way! You don’t want to navigate these 2 developmental stages alone!

Known for picky eating, mealtime meltdowns and incessant snacking, parenting toddlers can be frustrating, overwhelming, and down-right maddening. But it doesn’t have to be!

Let’s face it – as parents, it’s our job to get our kids to eat! And when our toddlers suddenly put the brakes on trying new foods, or even refuse to eat previously accepted foods, it can be stressful. And in our well-intended efforts to get our kids to eat, we might pull out some of our inherited tactics that include some creative coercion and persuasion.

This is where it all goes wrong, and for so many parents and children.  Here is why.

There is a significant disconnect between a toddler’s sudden reluctance to try new foods and a parent’s interpretation of it. What are so often misconstrued as the defiant and control-seeking behaviors typical of the “terrible two’s” are often a legitimate reluctance and fear.  Understanding these innate signals and how to respond to them is critical to your child’s development of trust in eating and trust in your feeding.

This is a critical juncture on your child’s healthy habit learning journey. And the “picky eating” issue is just one of so many! These years are foundational to our child’s development of future food preference development, but in recent decades, this vital process has been interrupted by the ease and convenience of “toddler cuisine” and other ultra-processed foods custom-designed to keep our young children coming back for more … literally. These foods are engineered to override “normal” appetite regulation. Ultra-processed foods are proven contributors to overweight and obesity among all ages, but for our children beginning as young as 2 years old, they account for up to 67% of their daily calories.

We need to keep our young children on track to healthy habit learning through these important years!

Nutrition Nanny® guides parents and caregivers through the toddler and preschool years with programs customized to your family’s own unique dynamics.