Three Wellington mums tackle picky eating

For parents picky eating is enormously frustrating. Eating happens three to five times a day, seven days per week so when something is going wrong it impacts dramatically on the whole family. It makes meal times stressful, social occasions a nightmare and packing lunchboxes a minefield.

Judith has been on a mission to support parents to get their fussy eaters eating. To enable more and more children to approach food from a place of confidence, safety and joy, not fear.

In speaking to over a hundred families a year Judith realised that many parents were struggling with exactly the same issue. How to get a child that has a limited diet to learn to eat new things. Or how to try something not currently on the menu.

From the desire to empower parents to be able to resolve issues themselves Creating Confident Eaters was born. It grew into a practical, gentle self-help guide that shows parents how to add variety to their child’s diet.

The guide takes foods that are commonly eaten like bread, nuggets and apples and shows in simple, easy to follow steps how to move from an accepted food to a different version of the food and from there to new foods.

Throughout the guide are tips, strategies and success stories taken from real families who have used the steps to gently add new foods to their child’s diet. Even parents who have children who really struggle to eat, who have sensory issues or anxiety around food and feeding, can benefit.

Parents are the ones best placed to support their child to eat. No one is as invested in their child, knows their child as well or spends as much time with them as a parent. Rather than outsource the issues the guide gives parents a simple road map, showing them how they are able to move forwards.

Woven through the guide is advice on approach, language and how to support a child to eat more comfortably. How to put the fun back into food!

Judith had the words bursting to come onto the page but did not want to create a book of text. Parents are busy, juggling multiple tasks and short on energy. Reading something that tells a parent what to do is not the guide. The guide shows you the gentle steps and it’s really easy to pick up, dive into a chapter and find inspiration.

The images are warm, inviting and accessible. To create this feel part-time local artist Vibeke joined the team. She put together images that provide ideas for the busy parent, at a glance. Having a daughter with a limited diet gave Vibeke an intimate understanding of what parents go through and how to present the foods so families felt they were able to do this. That the guide would make life easier and change possible.

Karen was there right from the start using her unique skills to help shape how the guide developed. The mother of two boys who also have food challenges meant she too was bringing personal knowledge, adding another dimension to the guide. She took the images and digitised them giving them the “full model” treatment with shadows and shading.

All three mums also work in other roles so the guide was a labour of love, born out of stolen hours evenings and weekends. They owe an enormous debt of gratitude to long-suffering partners who stepped in and took over the household/kid chores whilst the guide was put together.

Creating Confident Eaters is totally unique. There is no book on the market that is even remotely similar to the guide. Initial feedback from educators, social workers, caregivers and parents of children of varying ages and eating competency has been amazing.

This is the tool that gives parents back the power to change eating challenges. To tackle limited diets and add foods in a simple, practical and gentle way.

Ends

Do you have a picky eater? Then the folloiwng book is for you Creating Confident Eaters