How to Teach Your Children to Have a Good Relationship with Food, Even if You Don't With Kacie Barnes
Kacie Barnes is a Pediatric Registered Dietician and Nutritionist with a Masters in Clinical Nutrition from UT Southwestern.
She helps moms feed their babies and young kids without stress, guilt, or chaos through speaking, writing and virtual-based nutritional counseling.
Kacie lives in Dallas, TX with her husband and two kids.
The Unspoken Topic
- Moms are so affected by the way we are supposed to eat and look because of the expectations society has put onto us. This carries over into how we feed our children and our expectations for them.
What We Cover
- How to avoid raising picky eaters.
- How your relationship with food spills over onto how you feed your littles.
- Actionable tips on what and when to feed your babies and outlining who’s responsible for what.
Take a Listen >>
Key Takeaways
- There are varying levels of eating disorders. Some are hyper aware of their issues with food while others have no idea their behaviors are affecting the way they are feeding their little ones.
- Be brutally honest with yourself on what your relationship with food is like, so you can look at the negative behaviors so you are able to change them.
- We have so many rules around food, especially when it comes to portion size for our kids. Teach them how to listen to their bodies so they know when they are hungry and when they are full.
- Teach your children that it’s ok for them to own their space and that it’s ok to nourish your body.
- Focus on eating whole foods: grains, nuts, seeds, fresh fruits and vegetables, animal and plant-based proteins. Organic is best but conventional foods are just as good.
- Have designated meal times so kids learn to satiate hunger. Breakfast, lunch, dinner with 2 snack times in between.
- The non-eating times are important because it allows their bodies to digest the food they’ve had and will learn about their hunger cues.
- Make sure your babes are eating what you are eating to avoid “picky eaters.”
- Seek help, even if it’s just following Kacie on social media and utilizing her free tips.
Actionable Solutions
How to Handle Eating Disorders Outside the Home
- Model good behavior and show them what a healthy relationship with food looks like so when they see an unhealthy relationship, they will be able to identify it.
- Eat a variety of food to show that you are not afraid of it.
- Be sure to enjoy dessert and not that you are afraid to gain weight from it.
- Teach your babe to understand they need to nourish their bodies because they are worthy of it.
Understanding Portion Sizes for Toddlers
- Follow the Rule of Thumb. Depending on their age, give them a thumb-sized portion of food to start with, and add more as they finish that food. So if they are one, give them one piece, two- give them two, etc. You can always add more food.
- Don’t focus on how much they are eating or micro-manage what they are doing. We want to create an environment where they are comfortable with food.
- Mealtimes should be relaxed. A time to be present and enjoy each other’s company.
When to Worry About Your Child’s Eating Habits
- If your babe starts to lose weight.
- They start to gain weight but have not jumped in height, as well.
- Dieticians look at the trend of the baby. Some babies are just naturally smaller and hang in the 5th percentile the entire time. But if you had a baby that was in the 75th percentile and then fell to the 20th, that is a time to re-evaluate and see what is going on.
Follow The Division of Responsibility of Feeding
- You are in charge of what your child eats and what time they eat it.
- They are in charge of how much they eat of it and if they eat it.
What Each Meal Should Include
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Grains/ Carbs
- A Healthy Fat
- Protein Source
- Well-balanced meals prevent picky eaters.
- It’s OK if they don’t eat it, they will decide what they are in the mood for.
Hardest Decision To Make as a Mom
- Realizing she needed help and then asking for it. She was trying to do it all herself and it wasn’t working out. So asking for help was what she needed to do.
Most Excited About
- Her little one is starting school in the fall so now she will have more time to focus on her business. She may do a picky eaters course, or something else. She’s just excited to have that time!
Kacie’s Gift
What a gift! It’s hard enough to go shopping with your littles, so it’s easy to get sloppy when it comes to reading labels on the fly. And let’s face it, sometimes some mornings are just easier with a quick breakfast. That’s why Kacie has put together the ultimate guide of all the low sugar cereals your family can enjoy! Just type in your email address and you’ll receive instant access! You’ll also be opting into both of our email lists so you can receive even more goodies!
Mama Has a Minute
- Favorite form of self-care: Exercising.
- Best parenting advice ever received: Ignore the attention-seeking behavior. Instead of getting upset about it or neglecting it, redirect it by asking them for help with something.
- Share your favorite parenting hack: When you are in the grocery store and your little asks for something they want and you don’t want to buy it, say, “That’s not on the list today, can I take a picture of you holding it so we can remember for another time?”
- Recommend one product your children cannot live without: Legos
- Share your favorite book and why: No Sugar, Still Sweet which is her e-book that has 15 recipes with no added sugar and sweetened with fruit.
- What motherhood means to you: Unconditional love and exhaustion.
Freebies From Us
- Join our Facebook Community
- Download our FREE Worried Mama’s Guide to Baby Milestones
- FREE Masterclass on getting rid of mom guilt when it comes to your finances.
- Learn to become an even more mindful mama without having to go to a yoga class or spend 30 minutes meditating with this free guide
Action Steps For *You*
- Have a question or topic you’d like to cover? Let us know!
- Subscribe to our podcast to never miss an episode on iTunes or Stitcher.
- Love what you hear? Leave us a comment + review on iTunes! (WE LOVE YOU!!!)
My wife and I have decided that we are going to stop buying processed food and only eat real quality meals. I think it’s really important to our overall health that we do this. I want to pass it onto our kids as well so it’s great that you talked about the foods that should be in each meal so we can start following that.