5 steps to improve your child's nutrition when you're feeling overwhelmed

You are ready to get started. You believe that your child will be calmer, more focused, healthier with better meals. You’ve got this. You’ve got broccoli in the fridge and a meal plan for next week. You are determined. But then you make the mistake.

You google.

It all falls apart. You feel overwhelmed, and pulled in different directions. You doubt the decisions you have already made, but don’t feel comfortable with the new decisions you're being told to take.

One of the most common frustrations I hear from parents is this:

"There is too much conflicting information. I don’t know what to do."

And it’s true. Spend 5 minutes online and you will be told to remove whole food groups, follow extreme diets and buy slightly dodgy vitamins for your struggling child. You know instinctively it’s not what is best for you child. It’s also not what's best for you. My clients regularly tell me that the scariest part of getting started alone is worrying they are going to do it wrong.

Unfortunately, you will find a lot of myths and misconceptions out there. You will also find information out of context. Nutrition is not a one size fits all. Your child is unique, and they require nutrition that fits their needs.

This is what I do. I take the complex science of nutrition and neuroscience and break it down into simple to follow step by step actions so you know exactly what to do and how to do it.

So how do you get started?

Start small. Start simple. Start so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. I always say to my clients… your child is not going change overnight. This is going to take time. So let’s enjoy the journey.

Here are five steps that I recommend to help you avoid the overwhelm and start supporting your child's nutrition.

1. Start with what they know.

There is nothing trickier than a child saying no. Whether you invest in the battle or step away it usually feels like you’ve lost. So when we make the decision to feed our child healthier food this is often the first big I-can’t-do-this moment.

Children often reject what they don’t know. Unfamiliar foods, weird texture, a funny smell. It’s often a big (loud) no. So start with what they know and like.

There is a phrase used often in education that says “Meet a child where they are at.” This means working out just what they are comfortable doing, and starting there. This is how we learn.

I recommend this same start with nutrition. Make a list of their favourite foods. Don’t worry about what these are. Ignore that google search telling you what not to do. There is no right or wrong here, only where your child is at. Start here and your child will feel more comfortable, while you are able to help them grow and learn.

2. Add in

Google loves to tell you what not to do. Without fail, you will find an article, a post, a suggestion of exactly what your child should not be eating. Nothing better for a guilt trip, right?

Ignore it. Instead, think about what to add in.

We all have a hard time removing food we love. It is emotional. Think about those evenings with chocolate or that morning coffee. We resist, and we get grumpy. Our kids are the same. So instead of starting with the food to remove, consider what they need.

A simple way to add nourishment to your kid’s meals is by boosting what they already eat. So take that list you made in Step One and boost it. Put out some sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds to throw onto porridge, berries can be great on a pudding, some chopped fruit goes with most breakfast, nuts can be added to snacks and some chopped raw vegetables or sliced hard boiled egg can be thrown on most dinners. Serve these in a bowl, not mixed (kids hate mixed!) So that your child can add it themselves. They can be decoration, they can be nibbled on separately, they can be ignored. But keep at it, keep offering, and show them that you enjoy eating these foods too.

3. Notice what’s going on

Our children react to food. We all know the dreaded sugar high or the slump that follows. But what is often less noticed is the reaction to other foods. So start paying attention. Write down what your child eats and make a note of when they seem different. They may be unfocused and disconnected. They may be agitated and angry. They may be hyper and refuse to listen. Just write it down.

If your child is reacting to a food, or what I refer to as a trigger, you will begin to see a pattern. That Friday when they have an orange drink with fish and chips… that’s the day they don’t sleep well. The day they go to their friends house and end up eating chocolate, that’s the day we end up arguing. The morning when we eat that cereal, that's the day the school run goes wrong.

If you notice a food trigger for your child, see what happens when you switch that food for something else. Does the behaviour change? Are their reactions different? Recording and reacting to these triggers will help you to identify your child’s relationship between food and behaviour.

4. Be calm

Mealtimes can be tricky. There is a lot of pressure for us as parents to feed our kids the ‘right’ food, there is a lot of pressure for kids to eat the food on their plate, there is pressure to hurry to get to bed on time, to finish homework, to get time to play. In our busy lives, meal times are often squeezed in, a stressful moment in a busy day.

So change things up. For a couple of mealtimes each week, dim the lights. Light some candles. Put on whatever music calms you. Don’t rush.

As well as making meals more enjoyable. It takes their body from the ‘fight or flight’ mode to ‘rest and digest.’ Food they are eating will be more effectively digested, meaning they are getting more of the good stuff that their body needs.

5. Find a trustworthy source of advice

You can tell I’m not a fan of google for health advice. Not for myself, and not for you. So find a source that you trust. This may be a nutritionist, or it may be a doctor. It could be a trusted friend, or a Facebook group of likeminded people. But don’t forget that each body is unique, and each brain is unique. Your child needs nutrition personalised just for them.

I am a big believer in instinctual parenting, so if you do receive advice that doesn't feel right... listen to that feeling. Ask me or a trusted source what they think. And above all, do what feels right for you.

If you're ready for support, book a call with me and let's chat about how I can help.