Toddler Tricks - 44: Toddler Portions

Ways to Trick your Baby:

Problem: Your child sees some food that she wants. Or, rather, your child sees some food that she thinks she wants. She really only wants one bite of it, if that. Then she wants the next one, and the next one, and the next one. All for just one bite, of course.

Solution: Make the portions baby-sized. Cut the food into one-bite pieces. That way, even if your child takes just a small bite of the bite, there's less waste. I find my kids will take a bite and want the next one. I'll tell them to finish what they have first. With the small portion, that seems easy to do, so they finish it. If the piece they have left is too big, they'll carry it around because they want to finish it for the next one, but they never quite get around to eating it. If I'm not super-vigilant, I'll find it a few days later behind the TV or something.


Ways Your Baby Tricks You:

Problem: Your child doesn't want her food cut. She wants the whole thing.

Solution: Don't let her see you cut it. If she complains about the pre-cut portions, tell her that's how this particular batch of that foodstuff came. Or, tell her she has to eat the cut pieces and then you'll give her a big one. We ate half a container of strawberries this morning, mostly in halves. The last strawberry the twins ate was whole. And they ate the whole thing. Usually, they'll take one bite out of one strawberry and call it a day. The rest is too much for them before they get back to that super-sweet, coveted first bite, so they can never get themselves through it. By the time I gave them a full strawberry, they saw it as a reward for eating their fruit, and ate the whole thing, too.

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