Kate Samela - Give Peas a Chance: The Foolproof Guide to Feeding Your Picky Toddler

Copyright 2013 by Kate Samela

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Samela, Kate.

Give peas a chance : the foolproof guide to feeding your picky toddler / Kate Samela, MS, RD, CSP.

pages cm

(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Toddlers--Nutrition. I. Title.

RJ216.S367 2012

649.3--dc23

2012031246

Printed and bound in the United States of America.
VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For my mother, Patsyfor everything.

I first met Kate in 2003. I was the founder and CEO of one of the largest nutrition centers in the country, and we were in need of a topnotch pediatric specialist. My clientele expected the best. After an extensive hunt and countless interviews, all roads led to Kate Samela. I was elated when she agreed to join my prestigious team in New York City, and it took all of five minutes for Kate to make an impressive name for herself among patients, as well as referring physicians. Youre in good hands with Kateshes the rock star of pediatric nutrition. Kate is a superstar mom and a down-to-earth, strategic dietitian I feel lucky to have as a friend and colleague.

But full disclosure: I dont like peas!

Im willing to bet that if youve picked up this book, youre probably a parent or soon-to-be-parent who is concerned about your childs overall health. That means you deserve kudos right off the bat. Youve recognized how important it is to set your child up with good eating habits at a young age. Plus, the best weapon against obesity is a healthy relationship with food, and your support is invaluable in helping your children start that relationship well.

If youve wandered onto these pages because meals have become a time of frustration, coaxing, pleading, or tears, I want to start by offering you three simple words of comfort: youre not alone. While each childs food preferences are different, kids do have one thing in common: almost every little guy or gal has food issues at one age or another. Believe me, my own kids are a work in progress. My oldest daughter Jesse went through an anticalcium phase, and my youngest, Ayden, has a raging sweet tooth I occasionally need to tame. Dont blame yourself for your childs reluctance to eat broccoli or try a chopped apple. Toddlers are hard-wired to be suspicious of new flavors and often forget to eat because they are so busy exploring the world around them. While it may not always be a pleasant or easy experience (ahem!) trying to get your child to eat, it is completely normal. And your hard work will pay off in the end. While you may need to offer a certain food to your child several times before he becomes comfortable with it, odds are pretty darn good that he will eventually accept itand maybe even learn to love it. And if he never comes around to a particular food, thats okay, toothere are still plenty of opportunities to ensure your child gets the nutrition he or she needs, sans spinach, quinoa, tofuand yes, um, even peas.

This book can give you the tools to do just that. Give Peas a Chance provides practical, parent-tested advice for moms, dads, and caretakers of picky eaters. Kates thirteen years as a nutritionist, as well as her invaluable experience as a mother of two terrific kids, give her both the professional and personal know-how to provide smart, realistic strategies that make a difference at mealtime. With Kates creative, flexible approach, and a little trial and error at the kitchen table, I am confident that you will discover which foods and strategies work best for you and your family.

Yes, good nutrition is important, especially in early childhood. Yes, you want your child to develop a healthy rapport with food. But at the same time, try your best to keep the whole food thing in perspective and look at the big picture, rather than getting stressed about every mealtime hiccup. If your daughter eats all her broccoli one night and outright refuses it the next, its not cause for alarmin fact, it is completely normal behavior, especially for the ever-evolving toddler. As youll learn in the pages that follow, your reaction to your childs behavior will have a much greater impact on her long-term relationship with food than anything three stalks of broccoli can contribute to her health at that moment.

I cant recommend this book enough. Kate has compiled all of her experience and research on the terrors of feeding toddlers into an indispensable, no-nonsense guide, and the result will help any frustrated family bring some peace back to the dinner table. Happy reading and feeding!

Joy Bauer, nutrition expert
and bestselling author of Joys LIFE Diet

As I sit here and think about what happened tonight at my very own dinner table, I burst out laughing at the thought that I am the person writing this book, a book specifically about how to introduce new foods to picky toddlers; a book that unravels toddler development and essentially explains to parents why almost every toddler is hardwired to be picky; a book that urges frantic parents to keep calm, cool, and collected at all times in regard to feedingdespite how much food your tot actually swallows; a book that in essence reminds you that feeding is not perfectand that its OK to have the meals that are, well, less than perfect. All I can say is that I am glad our dinnertime tonight was not broadcast on YouTube for the world of potential readers to view as both my son Jake, now seven, and my daughter Maggie, just four, looked at me in utter disbelief that I made ravioliwith something other than cheese on the inside.

At first mortified at the thought of someone witnessing this scene, I quickly stopped to wonderwhat if dinnertime at my house was on YouTube tonight? Could it be a good thing?

Watching me, mother first, pediatric dietitian last, fall into coaxing both of my children to just take a bite and try this Martian ravioli. (For the record, it was pesto, and it seemed like a good thing to buy at the time.)