Your Feeding Team

Exciting plans for 2024
Due to the ever evolving digital landscape, Your Feeding Team will be changing away from a subscription support service. In the new year, the website will be getting a whole new look and will reach so many more families (for free) with trusted, evidence based advice to help navigate family mealtimes.
Watch this space!
https://mailchi.mp/d0529e040d7a/exciting-plans-for-2024

What is your favourite article from our free resources?
www.yourfeedingteam.com

https://www.yourfeedingteam.com/interoception/

Our team's occupational therapist is working through the feeling of "thirst" on the website today. It is a frequently asked question and the mechanics behind it may really interest you.

Enjoy your weekend!

FAQ: My child doesn't like drinking water. What should I do? {The interoception one} | Your Feeding Team Occupational Therapist's tips on helping your child understand their thirst and why some children don't like drinking water.

New to the website

Toddlers and Picky Eating: What to Expect and Resources to Help | Your Feeding Team A selection of feeding professional endorsed resources to help navigate mealtimes with picky toddlers

Never underestimate the power of laying trust and a sense of belonging at your mealtimes.

Our zoom session for members is starting in just over 20 minutes. This week's topic is "Toileting and Feeding - An OT Perspective".

Simone is looking forward to meeting with our members and chatting to them about diet, poos, sensory matters, wees and strategies that OT's use to help families when things get "stuck".

For members - you will find the link on email and in the private Facebook group.

See you soon!

For anyone that has been wanting the transcripts to our free parenting course (within our Facebook group - parenting picky eaters) .....
🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁...they are now available on our website!

Enjoy!

FREE Videos for Parents | Your Feeding Team As part of our free Facebook group, Parenting Picky Eaters, we created a free video course for our members in 2020. In order to make the course more accessible, we’ve now uploaded the transcripts and videos to the website so you can watch it at your own pace. The information gives you an introduct...

Together is stronger!

Life is busy. We all have our plates to juggle, and when we factor in a global pandemic, those plates just spin faster and higher. Often it can be easier not to address your child’s eating challenges; to carry on as you are rather than making potentially difficult changes. If you ARE making some changes and you’re part of a couple, it’s super important to be sure that you are both happy with how you are sharing the physical and the emotional labour.

Continue reading....

https://www.yourfeedingteam.com/together-is-stronger/

“It is so important to allow children to bloom and to be driven by their curiosity.” -May-Britt Moser

If you have been following us for a while, you may be curious about the perks of joining our parent membership group!?

This is a BIG asset to all parents looking for support of their child's eating, a weekly drop-in zoom session with a feeding professional.

Open to Your Feeding Team members only.

Please learn more about the membership perks by having a look at this link: https://www.yourfeedingteam.com/join-your-feeding-team/

"Should I give my picky eater a separate meal?"

Get the link to the article in the bio. Only a 2-3 min read and you may find it very helpful to share with others.

Or check out out full back catalogue of articles: https://www.yourfeedingteam.com/blog

💙💛💙💛

So often we are asked if a parent should worry about their child's nutrition! Have a read of you have ever wondered the same thing....

💛 Simone, Natalia and Jo

Should I Worry About My Child's Nutrition? by Your Feeding Team "I'm worried about my child's nutrition" is a common concern for parents of picky eaters. Your Feeding Team outlines nutrition red flags to watch for.

Been seeing lots of "interesting" tips on IG lately on how to get kids to try new foods. ⁣
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I've come across freaky-looking peppers with googly eyes to "helicopter carrots". I mean, who has time for that? ⁣
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Look, this stuff might work for some kids, but it can make eating worst for others. ⁣
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Plus, it becomes another added thing parents feel the need to do to "get" kids to try new foods. And this trick doesn't always work, especially for neurodivergent children! ⁣
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Find natural ways to interact with food, and your children will progress when they are ready!⁣
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There is so much to worry about when it comes to feeding kids!
Are they getting the right nutrition? Are they eating enough? Am I doing a good job? Will my child be able to manage socially? Will they ever grow out of this “phase”? The list of potential worries is endless.

Of course, when faced with a feeding challenge, it is natural to worry! But what happens when we worry too much?

When kids are worried about eating, we may see:
📌lower appetite
📌less curiosity
📌more sensory sensitivity

BUT when kids are relaxed and less anxious about eating, it is easier for them to tune into feelings of hunger, to be more curious, and to tolerate difficult tastes, textures and smells.

Research shows that when parents are worried, they are more likely to push their kids to eat more. When kids feel under pressure they actually eat less! This is illustrated so well by The Feeding Doctor's "Worry Cycle".
👉http://thefeedingdoctor.com/the-worry-cycle-of-feeding-part-i-for-adoption-month/

This is why addressing worry and anxiety is such an important part of supporting families with eating challenges!

For the full blog post about what happens when we worry:
👉https://childfeedingsupport.com/blogs/news/what-happens-when-we-worry

For the Australian audience, I thought this was an interesting reflection on the foods we had (and loved) in lunchboxes in the 90's. There are some blasts from the past in this list.
What do you remember about school lunches?
How powerful are food memories from childhood!

https://www.bosshunting.com.au/lifestyle/eat/power-ranking-90s-lunchbox-snacks-australia/

BH Power Ranking: Aussie Lunchbox Snacks From The 90s You know ’em… you love ’em… but where do the lunchbox snacks enjoyed in Australia during the 90s stand in...

💛 You can't help picky eaters, if you don't understand pain. 💛

This morning our members had a mini-lesson about understanding pain, the pain cycle and it's relationship with picky eating.

Pain in the past or in the present (both of the child or the family members) has to be addressed and understood. It impacts the feeding dynamic pervasively. It can't be the elephant in the room blocking you - it changes coping strategies, it changes mental health, it changes a family unit.

Pain is a huge topic and the more you learn the more ah-ha moments you have. Yet, the most important part of pain is understanding your unique relationship with it in your family.

💛
Simone

"It's not YOU, it's me" - the break-up cliche - it rings true for what your child is saying about eating. They say it with each food refusal or avoidance tactic. They are saying, "I am having trouble with this". It is not bad behaviour. Most importantly, it is NOT about you, the parent. You do not cause picky eating. Yet you are part of the solution.

We support parents to learn loads of new things about how to approach feeding. Sometimes, this can give rise to tricky feelings about approaches used in the past. Here's what we tell them:

🍎Recognising that some things you may have done in the past are not helping your child, takes courage!

🍎Decisions you made were based on the knowledge you had at the time - you had your child's best interest at heart and were coming from a place of big .

🍎Recognise what needs to change, then invest your energy in moving forwards, not looking back.

Ask us your questions about joining our supportive hub and working through these feelings - guilt and worry are just getting in your way!

Jo, Simone and Natalia

This.

Praise can often be interpreted as pressure. When children eat foods to please their caregivers, it typically backfires. ⁣
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Pressure does not work. You might be able to "get" your child to try a bite of non-preferred food, but it will probably not allow your child to learn to enjoy those foods long term. ⁣
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Children often don't ask parents to prepare foods they were pressured to eat. ⁣
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Internal motivation is key to learning to eat varied foods. Let children discover new foods at their own pace. ⁣
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Your job is to keep offering. And remember, children, are allowed to have food preferences too!! ⁣
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Parenting is cruel in the way it "seems so easy" for others, but it just doesn't feel "easy" in your shoes.

Theodore Roosevelt always comes to mind when I get stuck in the comparison trap. This quote also reminds me, I am not alone.

You are not alone. Meet parents also in your boat and feel uplifted and supported.

Together, we've got this!

Simone, Jo & Natalia

✈️You are sitting in your plane seat.

✈️You've settled your children.

✈️You see the plane roll out from the departure gate
.. and then you are reminded that in the case of an emergency, you need to fit your own oxygen mask before your child's.🤷

You're not wrong, it feels like a really difficult task to process. Yet, we do, deep down, know that we need to have our oxygen so that we can help others more effectively. A parent's instinct is to help, protect and ensure our child's safety. YES! It would be HARD to focus on ourselves in an aviation disaster scenario. 

🥘So, unsurprisingly, in a much less risky situation (AKA your mealtime) it is easy to see why we often... VERY OFTEN... Put our child's distress and emotional state above our own.  We aren't in a life and death situation. Not in the slightest. Yet, should we try to prioritise our emotional safety at meals? YES! It's exactly for the same reason. We will be more effective when our emotions are in control. 

Try this out and let it sit for a few moments....

🤔 What if.....

I didn't run to get them extra sauce?
I didn't take 6 million orders like a restauranteur?
I didn't end up sitting down to eat 20 minutes after everyone else because I was pushed from pillar to post helping everyone first?

🤔 Could it ....

Be nicer to focus on my own food mindfully?
Be nicer to chat about our days and not about the food?
Be nicer to just sit down?

If this feels like this notion is heading to the too hard basket, pause for a moment and ponder it some more. You deserve to think about this. You are seen. 

Together, we've got this!

Simone, Jo and Natalia.

How can you help your picky eater get more iron?

How to help your picky eater get enough iron - Feeding Bytes How to help your picky eater get enough iron by Natalia Stasenko, Registred Dietitian | Child nutrition, Picky eating | 2 comments Pin918Share144TweetShare If your child is picky, nutrition might be on your mind a lot. Did you know that iron is one of the most common nutrients picky eaters are likel...

Skills developed in the kitchen extend beyond math and language, they also include developing executive functions.

The 5 Other Skills Kids Learn in The Kitchen | Play With Food Executive function skills help children in every day living situations and the kitchen is a great place to develop them.

🤷 Language Ruts! 🤷

As a parent, I know how hard language ruts can be to get out of. I have worked hard to change negative sentence starters like "no" and "don't" into more specific and less emotionally charged beginnings like "how about.. " or "you can..."

As a feeding therapist, I see how prolific some well-intentioned but misguided phrases are and how they reinforce language ruts and negative self-talk about food. Ever searched for sneaky hidden vegetables recipes? 😬😬🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ 🎤

It is not that we don't want you to by incorporating vegetables into your meals. We just want to shift the rut of a negative mindset. A mindset that makes you think you need to , or your vegetable-eating-agenda onto your child (at any cost). We can remove words like trick, hide, sneak, bribe and smuggle from having a relationship with food!

If we address the language we use to match the mealtime role we play, we allow room for connection, autonomy, felt-security and curiosity to grow.

Let's play a game! Can you spot the difference in these two parent self-talk phrases?

"We had a lovely snack today where my child and I ate some spinach choc-chip muffins. He delighted in how green they turned out! "

VERSUS

"I tricked my child into eating spinach. Mom 1 : kids 0!!!"

Which self-talk language changes would help your mindset around feeding kids? Which one resonates the most?

💛💙 Simone

Sensory play is a great way to build some tactile resilience and fill in some time in your days at home. Some children will find sensory inputs like this very difficult and this will impact their food choices.

Our suggestion is to start with a much less sticky option than my attempt at pink chia slime today!! 🤣🤣🤣

Try modelling clay, playdough or some dry oats to start off your sensory play experiences with. Kinetic sand, cloud dough, putties and slimes provide bigger sensory inputs and they are great for moving little fingers.

Stay safe!

Together, we've got this!

:) Simone

💛 Easter Weekend 💛

In some cultures, this weekend is a significant religious celebration. It has also commercially become synonymous with .

If you are celebrating with chocolate eggs and are looking for feeding specialist guidance about how to handle the influx of chocolate, please note that we feel this is a family decision. The traditions, social opportunites and food values you have as a family are the most important influences on your "Easter Chocolate Strategy". If we had to pick some words for this week - remember to choose the path with less stress and more trust.

Simone is running a mini-lesson for the members on this soon! And it will be recorded for you 💛

Hoppy Easter! 🐰

😬 The "Y" Words! 😬

They are loaded.
They are transformative.
They are judgey.
They don't belong near food!

It is Simone here. And I was brought by my mum to regard "yuck" as the equivalent of its rhyming "f" counterpart. There was NO WAY I would utter it near my mum and even now writing this am struggling seeing it written on my screen. "Yuck" drastically changed the way family meals worked in her house growing up. She saw the influence of one nasty on the food culture in her family. So, she drilled it into us that everyone is allowed to like what food they want and nobody should "yuck" it.

Yet, the other "Y-word", , can be loaded with just as much pressure, agenda and judgement.

Here is a diddy about me... I dislike white chocolate. And no matter how many times you "yum, yum, yum" about it to me - I am not going to change my mind. And honestly, I would rather people just stop pushing me to "just try it" (with their way too enthusiastic "Yums"). I am happy to be around you while you eat it, but it turns me off being near you if you are always gushing about your beloved white chocolate. Sound familiar?

Is there anything that you don't like and wish others would just stop pressuring you to "yum"?

X Simone

When we move to a defensive or protective brain position, it is VERY hard to learn about new foods.

DM/PM us for a link to our recent mini-lesson on the important of calm brains at mealtimes!

X

Simone, Jo and Natalia

Great post - essential reading if your little one is going back to school or daycare soon.

Strange time of year to be writing a 'Back to School' post - I know! But people have been asking - What do I put in my child's lunch box? Do I need to adjust my meal and snack routine? What do I do if my child doesn't eat at school?

Read more here on how to support your child's eating as they head back to school:
https://childfeedingsupport.com/blogs/news/supporting-your-child-s-eating-as-they-go-back-to-school