Good Eaters: Twins Eat Everything

  I was branded a picky eater at a young age by my family and friends. It took years of food therapy and building a better relationship with food before I shook the name "Nikki Picky". I'm now only branded a sugar fiend so I guess that's progress. After what I went through and seeing this new generation of obese yet picky eaters I was determined to make sure my babies had a good diet foundation. I guess we have succeeded as far as my views on diets is concerned. Daycare workers tell us that our girls are the best eaters in class. Our physicians claim the girls are developing nicely and are right on track with their weight. People gawk at us in restaurants as our tiny 10 month old girls sit quietly in their high chairs eating broccoli and fish off my plate. Are we just blessed with well behaved healthy eaters? Are baby behaviors determined on a lottery system? No.

  When people ask us how the girls have become such good eaters my husband likes to ask, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" Practice....Practice...Practice...and with babies patience helps. This is how we've mastered restaurants as well. I love eating out and thrive on big family dinners. The sooner I could get the girls accustomed to this the better. At around six months we started with rice cereal and baby food. No big surprise here but we also would occasionally offer a taste of whatever we were eating. I got the girls in high chairs as soon as they could hold their heads up on their own. We used the high chairs for every meal and I tried to extend meal times little by little. Some days the girls would only sit for a few minutes while other days lasted 15 minutes until they became comfortable with our eating pace (my husband and I eat slow and talk a lot during meals).

  We didn't entertain them during meal times because I didn't want this to be associated with playtime. I think that's how you get kids running around restaurants like rabid animals. Once some teeth came in we offered the girls bites of what we were eating. Soon they were eyeing our plates and eagerly opening their mouth for whatever we stuck in. Did they like everything we stuck in their mouths? NO! Cookie gagged at the taste of plantains and Peanut spit out strawberries. The next day I would offer Peanut strawberries again. She spit them out again. For the next two months I randomly offered her strawberries and she usually just gave me a raspberry. Then one random day she just started eating them and now she eats them all the time. Through this method the girls have acquired a taste for many things they first turned down. They also love trying new things. We have made sure to praise trying new food and have never allowed consequences for refusing food. If Cookie spits out her green beans then we just leave them on the plate and move on to the rest of the meal. We don't frown, we don't chastise her, and we don't force her to eat more. I also don't offer a load of alternatives to the green beans though. If I make green beans, chicken, rolls, and a dessert then that's what we all eat. If Cookie doesn't want her green beans tonight then she'll probably eat the rest of her meal. If she didn't eat much at all that night then she will be hungrier in the morning for breakfast. That will be a good opportunity for me to feed her a few new things because she is hungry and more willing to eat healthy food.

  Breakfast was also a great start to our restaurant training. Babies are usually in a better mood at the start of the day and more patient. I always bring Cheerios just in case service is slow and maybe some teething rings. The girls ended up really enthralled with the waiters, people sitting around them, and all the noise. We also aimed for family restaurants at first because they're already loud. Now at 12 months old we can take the girls just about anywhere. They've ate at buffets, pizzerias, ice cream parlors, and nice sit down dinners. Dinner seems to be the hardest to handle for them. They aren't as hungry in the evening and are usually tired so we try to keep it short. We have yet to have a melt down and need to leave the restaurant. My only problem is that we do leave a mess by the end of the meal. Not all food makes it into their mouths at this age. Peanut will bring food up to her mouth but let go too early. I guess that will also come with practice.