Picky eating is a very common phase children go through, but there are things we as parents can consider BEFORE we get to these stages. I welcome Jennifer Friedman, Registered Pediatric Dietician and picky eating expert, and founder of @feedingpickyeaters to discuss:

• 3 simple things you can do to approach picky eating before it starts
• How to get unstuck when you’re in a menu rut
• Factors that can increase and decrease the likelihood of picky eating

Learn more about Jennifer Friedman and Feeding Picky Eater at jennyfriedmannutrition.com , Instagram and Pinterest @feedingpickyeaters

00;00;01;02 – 00;00;22;25

Jennifer Friedman

It’s really focusing on kind of the feeding relationship and the dynamic that we have with our kids. So in short, if we can approach feeding as something that’s easy and light instead of something, you know, tense and that we’re trying to manipulate, that really goes a long way in helping things down the road. It’s not that we as parents ever cause picky eating.

 

00;00;22;25 – 00;00;41;02

Jennifer Friedman

Not at all. There is so, so many factors and we are one of them. But it’s not really that we can cause it, but we can really help make sure that eating and feeding is something that’s comfortable for our kids, and that doesn’t feel like something that they have to do or that we’re really trying to manipulate.

 

00;00;41;05 – 00;01;02;29

Dr. Mona

Welcome back to the show. Thank you for joining me. Each and every week as I welcome the most amazing guests in the pediatric health development, feeding, sleep and parenting space. I am so excited to welcome a new guest today. Remember to leave a review and share this podcast so we can continue to have more growth. More people can learn about this show.

 

00;01;03;01 – 00;01;22;15

Dr. Mona

Today’s guest is Jennifer Friedman. She is a registered pediatric dietitian and picky eating expert and founder of Feeding Picky Eaters on Instagram. And that’s her platform. And we are talking all about getting ahead of your child’s picky eating. Thank you so much for joining me today, Jennifer.

 

00;01;22;18 – 00;01;25;23

Jennifer Friedman

Well, thank you for having me. I am thrilled to be here.

 

00;01;25;26 – 00;01;56;27

Dr. Mona

Well, I’m excited to have you and to discuss a very common topic and concern that every parent I feel like goes through at some point. Picky eating. How can we get ahead of it? Is there a way to prevent it before it happens? Of course, we know that it’s a very common phase that children go through, but I can’t wait to hear your insights and discuss this, because I also find it very important to have these conversations, so that we know that we’re not alone and that there are strategies that we can hopefully implement to see prevention and improvement.

 

00;01;57;00 – 00;02;03;24

Jennifer Friedman

Yes, definitely. And I know this is yeah, something everybody, even I am going through. So I’m really excited to talk about this today.

 

00;02;03;24 – 00;02;05;21

Dr. Mona

And you are a mom as well right.

 

00;02;05;22 – 00;02;10;16

Jennifer Friedman

How are the children? Yeah I have a two year old and a two month old.

 

00;02;10;18 – 00;02;25;17

Dr. Mona

Okay, so your two month old may not be so picky. I understand what your two year old probably is. Obviously, developmentally going through that. So tell us more about yourself. I know you mentioned that and I or to introduce you, but tell us more about yourself and what brought you to actually start your platform feeding picky eaters as well.

 

00;02;25;20 – 00;02;51;08

Jennifer Friedman

Of course. Yeah. So like you said, I am a registered dietitian, I’m a picky eating expert and I am a mom myself. I’m also an author of a book about my work called Stories of Extreme Picky Eating and What Got Me here. It’s really like my interest in food and like many steps to come here. But when I initially went to school to become a dietitian, one of the things I was most interested in is how can we, like, raise a generation of kids?

 

00;02;51;08 – 00;03;11;15

Jennifer Friedman

How can we raise kids who love to eat and who eat? Well, yes. And many iterations of kind of my career brought me here full circle, realizing that there’s a lot of things of standing kids way to prevent them from eating comfortably and eating, let’s say a well-rounded diet, a diverse diet. And so, you know, I love food.

 

00;03;11;15 – 00;03;36;07

Jennifer Friedman

I, you know, there’s so much in it, kind of that social aspect, the love aspect. And of some kids can’t some people can’t even eat in kind of day to day situations. Food becomes very uncomfortable for them. So I created my platform to try to help kids and try to help their parents get ahead of that and, you know, fix that if that’s what’s happening for them.

 

00;03;36;09 – 00;03;58;27

Dr. Mona

Are so important. And I do believe that there are things that we can do as parents. You know, there is an understanding that, of course, the child’s desire or the child’s kind of developmental ability or the fact that they’re starting to become more picky is very common for them. But there are some strategies that we can implement so that we can hopefully, like you said, make this that food is something enjoyable that we’re not like as adults.

 

00;03;58;27 – 00;04;20;25

Dr. Mona

I know a lot of picky, quote unquote adults that had to kind of be opened up a little bit more. I’m speaking about my husband included. And so it’s just a really important thing and also just having a good relationship with food. So I think that is so important. And what would you say is starting off are three simple things that parents can do or we can do to prevent picky eating from starting.

 

00;04;20;27 – 00;04;45;21

Jennifer Friedman

Yeah, definitely. So I love this. And one of the most important things that we can do, it’s kind of sounds a little bit woo woo, but it’s really focusing on kind of the feeding relationship and the dynamic that we have with our kids. So in short, if we can approach feeding as something that’s easy and light instead of something, you know, tense and that we’re trying to manipulate, that really goes a long way in helping things down the road.

 

00;04;45;29 – 00;05;07;01

Jennifer Friedman

It’s not that we as parents ever cause picky eating. Not at all. There are so, so many factors and we are one of them. But it’s not really that we can cause it, but we can really help make sure that eating and feeding is something that’s comfortable for our kids, and that doesn’t feel like something that they have to do, or that we’re really trying to manipulate.

 

00;05;07;04 – 00;05;15;29

Jennifer Friedman

So that’s one of the biggest things that I see and sort of just have a comfortable, respectful feeding relationship.

 

00;05;16;02 – 00;05;22;20

Dr. Mona

And that’s gonna be hard for so many parents because they themselves may have not have been raised with that. Right. Like it’s such a cycle really.

 

00;05;22;23 – 00;05;23;11

Jennifer Friedman

I mean.

 

00;05;23;14 – 00;05;47;22

Dr. Mona

I use my husband as an example because again, he was he’s gotten so much better, very selective. And there is that sort of how I was treated as a kid comes out in the dinner tables when I’m a parent. So I agree with you. It’s not like a we’re causing this, but it’s so important as parents that we have insight into, okay, I may not be causing this because it’s developmentally normal, but am I doing anything that could be making this a longer phase or, you know, making this prolonged?

 

00;05;47;22 – 00;06;00;22

Dr. Mona

Or what can I do to maybe guide my child? So I love it. I don’t think that’s putting fault at the parent at all. I’m a parent too. I recognize when I’m pushing too much and I need to step back. So I think it’s just insight that is so helpful for parents to hear.

 

00;06;00;24 – 00;06;08;22

Jennifer Friedman

Yeah, exactly. So yeah, it’s a biggie and definitely a work in progress because it’s so different than, you know, the Clean Plate Club. We were raised.

 

00;06;08;22 – 00;06;12;26

Dr. Mona

Square. Oh my gosh. So much of us is crazy. Yeah totally. So it’s.

 

00;06;12;26 – 00;06;32;28

Jennifer Friedman

Different. But it makes a big difference and makes it easier for everybody and more enjoyable. And that’s really what it comes down to when it feels good, then it’s you know, it’s a lot easier for everybody. So that’s a one big thing. We can also work on really just exposure, exposure, exposure and making sure that we are offering them a variety of foods from the very beginning.

 

00;06;32;28 – 00;06;51;11

Jennifer Friedman

And even when we started to see maybe some of their selectivity come out, it’s important not to close any doors. You know, I see many, many parents and again, myself included, you know, they’re like, oh, they didn’t eat that. They didn’t eat that free time. I’m just going to stop. They don’t like it. So what we want to really do is continue to offer that variety.

 

00;06;51;14 – 00;07;08;17

Jennifer Friedman

And with this there’s so much that we can do. We can eat foods in front of them. We can model what we want to see, we can eat them with them. And that is really so important to just keep the door open and sort of show them what we might expect, which show them what’s possible and show them what we can do.

 

00;07;08;17 – 00;07;19;17

Jennifer Friedman

We know that our kids are always watching us and listening to us and wanting to do what we’re doing. So giving them the opportunity to meet these foods and then showing them how it’s done goes a long way.

 

00;07;19;19 – 00;07;23;08

Dr. Mona

Absolutely, I love it. So important. All aspects of parenting.

 

00;07;23;10 – 00;07;42;13

Jennifer Friedman

Yes, indeed. And then I would say one of the final things and of course there’s so many things, but one of the other big things that we can do is just try it. It goes kind of hand in hand with that one, but it’s getting out of like a rut with food. I think we very often we’re like, okay, you know, I served this sandwich this way and this is the way that I know that they eat it.

 

00;07;42;13 – 00;07;56;11

Jennifer Friedman

So I’m just going to keep serving it. This way. And we just get into these routines and over time we start to realize, oh my God, like, we’re serving just the same stuff the same way. And so with all they eat, you know, oh, they can’t have that noodle. If we go out, you know, to the restaurant because it’s a different shape.

 

00;07;56;11 – 00;08;32;11

Jennifer Friedman

So we want to just continue to introduce variety. And that goes a long way in kind of flexing this flexibility muscle for our kids with eating. So those are some of the biggies. And with that I want to just go back to kind of that feeding dynamic. And when we aren’t pressuring our kids, when we’re giving them opportunities to engage, to meet these foods at the table, maybe even outside of the table, bring them into the kitchen with us or, you know, just really making it fun and easy and giving them the opportunity to meet a variety of foods and a variety of different ways that can help them feel good with food.

 

00;08;32;13 – 00;08;48;05

Dr. Mona

Oh, I love it. And you talked about that feeling stuck. I think every parent listening can feel that maybe for themselves and also even just for their children. What would be some ways to get unstuck when you’re in that many rut, and why? That variety is important to preventing and improving.

 

00;08;48;05 – 00;09;06;12

Jennifer Friedman

Pick eating. Yeah, definitely. So this is key. So even when we’re in this menu right, you can think about you know sure there’s go on Pinterest whatever. Go on Instagram. You can find all these ideas, but you still want to stick to things that are working for you. And you don’t have to use all of these crazy ideas that you’re seeing out there.

 

00;09;06;14 – 00;09;22;18

Jennifer Friedman

You just want to be sticking to the foods that you know and like and making changes to them. So thinking about some of the families who I work with, I have them kind of create, you know, and you don’t have to be this strategic about it, sort of. But you can create a list of like the always foods that your kids eat.

 

00;09;22;18 – 00;09;39;08

Jennifer Friedman

So sometimes foods and the foods that they don’t tend to eat that maybe you’d like to work on kind of this like yellow, green and red list of foods like a stoplight. And from there you can think about bringing in rotation. And if you have enough foods, then every single day you can rotate those foods and try to avoid serving the same thing.

 

00;09;39;10 – 00;09;55;02

Jennifer Friedman

You know, two days in a row or back to back or over multiple meals. If you don’t want to be that strategic, that’s fine. If you don’t have that volume of foods for your child, that’s fine. You can think about just making small changes to the foods that your child is already eating. So thinking about changing the shape.

 

00;09;55;02 – 00;10;17;11

Jennifer Friedman

So maybe it’s how you’re cutting that sandwich or offering the different shape of pasta. Maybe it’s the color. So you’re offering different color cheeses on the grilled cheese, or the macaroni and cheese, or different shapes of chicken nuggets, different brands of chicken nuggets. Maybe a different temperature of foods can also affect something to do. You just want to kind of make these changes can be adding different seasonings, different preparation.

 

00;10;17;11 – 00;10;44;08

Jennifer Friedman

The steamed broccoli or roasted broccoli and all of that is sort of enough to help keep your menu a little bit spicy. We’ll say next. Yeah. And bring up that variety that’s so important to both prevent and improve. I think about this as a muscle. A lot of time you know, if we are introducing the variety of foods and kind of flexing their ability to be a flexible eater and growing that muscle by giving them these opportunities, then they’re going to be more flexible.

 

00;10;44;08 – 00;10;57;21

Jennifer Friedman

If we are serving the same things over and over, if we’re catering to their needs or letting them dictate if we’re scared goods and, you know, like it’s a muscle if we don’t use it, we’re going to lose it. So we always want to try to change things up a little bit.

 

00;10;57;24 – 00;11;12;20

Dr. Mona

Well, I love what you’re talking about there, and also what you talked about when we talked about the three simple things to prevent picky eating, because a lot of it is mindset and how we’re approaching picky eating. Right. So much of it is. And that’s what we talked about, is like the nature of parenting in general, like getting out of that rut.

 

00;11;12;21 – 00;11;30;01

Dr. Mona

How do we talk to ourselves through this phase that our children may go through or preventing in the first place? How would you say hearing to let go of expectations? And how can they start enjoying this process so they’re not so stressed with the okay, I have to do this and I have to do this, especially if they have a picky eater.

 

00;11;30;03 – 00;11;43;22

Jennifer Friedman

Yeah, it is really, really tough. And like I’m just thinking back to, you know, me meals like, you know, I kind of did quote unquote the wrong thing this weekend or I stop myself, but like, I need this meal for our family. My son had a big meltdown and I’m sitting there thinking like, oh my God, it works.

 

00;11;43;24 – 00;11;46;21

Jennifer Friedman

On cooking this, we’re supposed to have a nice dinner and it’s like.

 

00;11;46;23 – 00;11;54;24

Dr. Mona

Doesn’t feel like that’s how it always goes. I feel like it’s been the inverse relationship between how you spend in the kitchen versus if they’re going to eat it. I’m like, oh my.

 

00;11;54;24 – 00;11;57;20

Jennifer Friedman

Like 100% yes, 100%.

 

00;11;57;25 – 00;11;59;28

Dr. Mona

It’s so true. I think I can relate to that. Yeah.

 

00;12;00;04 – 00;12;15;28

Jennifer Friedman

Like it’s part of it because when we have these expectations that it’s going to be amazing that it’s going to be this, that, oh my God, they’re going to love that. You know, it’s not that, oh you’re going to be let down. Don’t have expectations. But we can go into it sort of without putting that pressure or that expectation on it.

 

00;12;15;28 – 00;12;38;24

Jennifer Friedman

Then we’re more likely to be surprised, more likely to be pleased, and less likely to be disappointed, and then less likely to try to should make something happen. So I think our expectations play a really big thing in it. And we, you know, you can’t put anything too great, you know, value when any one food or one strategy or something like that, you’re really in this for the long haul.

 

00;12;38;24 – 00;13;11;28

Jennifer Friedman

No single food, you know, is going to be like the magic food. No single meal, no single strategy is really going to, you know, any one time make or break anything. You know, we’re really in this for the long haul. It’s, you know, a marathon, not a sprint. And the way that I think beyond kind of managing our expectations and thinking that everything is going to be like Pinterest, beautiful fairy tale sometimes it might be, but more often than not, you know, I’d rather that we’re pleasantly surprised, but we can think about kind of staying in our lane when it comes to eating, and this is really a way that we can help everybody start

 

00;13;11;28 – 00;13;32;18

Jennifer Friedman

to enjoy meal times more. There’s so many things that we can do, but really getting down to not overstepping our boundaries. And so this is something that it’s called the division of responsibility. I did not make it, but it’s something, you know, many parents and feeding experts love to use. And it’s that we as parents cannot control what our kids are eating or how much they’re eating, or if they’re eating.

 

00;13;32;26 – 00;13;52;08

Jennifer Friedman

We provide the food. So in that way, we do control the what we should always have something that they feel comfortable eating at a meal time. But we can’t control. If you’re eating something or how much. And the more that we try to make that happen, the more I backfire. It’s the less we enjoy the meal, the less our kids enjoy the meal, and that’s really the source of a lot of tension.

 

00;13;52;10 – 00;14;13;03

Jennifer Friedman

So it’s really our job to provide the food and set the structure around the meal times when and where it’s happening, and then we just have to let go and model, you know, and when there is like kind of the right structure in place, our kids will do the right thing. But the more that we kind of try to make it happen and try to get them to eat, the less they want to.

 

00;14;13;05 – 00;14;28;10

Dr. Mona

I love it. I tell families in my office that when it comes to the GI system, you can’t control what you’re putting in. It’s hard to tell when you’re putting out like so. Speaking of potty training, it’s very similar to eating right that if you’re forcing your child onto that potty, it’s going to backfire. You’re going to deal with power struggle similar to this.

 

00;14;28;10 – 00;14;50;09

Dr. Mona

What you’re describing, right? Like trying to force your child. And it’s that power struggle and power struggle is like that anger, that yelling threats. The come on, just eat it. And that again, I agree with you, Jennifer. That comes back so much to how we’re approaching it in terms of just understanding, okay, I want this so bad for my kid, but I just need to let go of that expectation and just kind of let go of control.

 

00;14;50;09 – 00;14;59;01

Dr. Mona

I get it. We love our kids so much. We want them to do this and do that. But like sometimes that backfires. Absolutely. With expectation and you sense it. I mean, you have a two year old.

 

00;14;59;02 – 00;15;00;19

Jennifer Friedman

They really do. Yeah, man.

 

00;15;00;19 – 00;15;14;21

Dr. Mona

If I get like pushy or if I get like irritable, like if my son is very in tune and he’s like, oh, mommy got irritable. Like this is something that’s gets her excited. So we definitely want to control. It’s so hard. I agree, I’m a mom. So we can.

 

00;15;14;24 – 00;15;31;17

Jennifer Friedman

And it feels like it’s our job to get our kids to eat, you know, and like us new baby here. And it’s my job to make sure that he’s eating, you know, but at some point, like, you know, and even for him, I can’t force like, you know, I’ve tried like, you know, like, you know, he’s very we have to respect when they say yes or no.

 

00;15;31;24 – 00;15;51;18

Jennifer Friedman

So it does feel like it’s our job, but it’s really our job to provide the food, to provide the structure. We cannot control what’s going down. It is really, really hard. But I find that when we let go, that’s really like where, you know, and this sounds so fairy tale, but like that’s where the magic happens. Like on this family meal where I was like, oh my God, I can’t believe this.

 

00;15;51;18 – 00;16;09;04

Jennifer Friedman

You’re ruining it. We all were covered, sat down, and like my son initiated trying things like with serving himself in the platter because he wanted to do what we were doing, was doing just all of these, like, amazing things. Like tried a new vegetable just because I was just like, all right, whatever happens, happens. We’re just going to have dinner.

 

00;16;09;04 – 00;16;18;22

Jennifer Friedman

We just got to get through it. Like, yeah, let’s just be here and enjoy it. And when we could take that deep breath and kind of all feel good, we all felt good and good things happened.

 

00;16;18;24 – 00;16;27;26

Dr. Mona

I love it. And, what would you say parents can do if they first noticed signs of picky eating? What is some things that strategies, if they’re starting to see that start to happen?

 

00;16;27;29 – 00;16;46;19

Jennifer Friedman

Yeah. So the first thing is do not freak out. As you said, this is super, super normal. It is like a developmental phase. It’s happening for a reason. So do that freak out. Because as we’ve been talking about, the more that we try to intervene, the more nervous we are. The more stressed we are, the less we’re going to save.

 

00;16;46;26 – 00;17;04;24

Jennifer Friedman

Our kid is faster, kid is nervous, you know, and we don’t want to really give into kind of their whims too much too. We don’t want to cater here. So this goes back to thinking about offering variety, continuing to expose them to new foods. I think we all do this where we like, give in a little bit and a little bit, and sometimes we can give in too far.

 

00;17;04;24 – 00;17;24;25

Jennifer Friedman

And before we know it kind of something crazy’s happening. We’re like, we are in deep at this, so continue to offer that variety. Even if they’re not eating. Try not to freak out, try to relax. Continue to stay in your lane. When it comes to eating. You’re not pushing them to eat something. Hopefully show up to the table feeling calm and good.

 

00;17;24;25 – 00;17;42;06

Jennifer Friedman

Eat with your kid. So you’re modeling so you can have these positive experiences and get them to God in any way possible. So kids do really well with food when they start to, you know, when they can meet it, sometimes away from the table or get to know it in a situation where there’s no expectation that they’re eating.

 

00;17;42;09 – 00;18;05;03

Jennifer Friedman

So bring them into the kitchen, bring them grocery shopping, you know, bring it into play like, oh, everybody’s eating the celery. There are like this little dinosaur or a chicken nugget is coming into our, you know, Lego volcano. Whatever it is. Yes. Make it fun and give them opportunities to have that positive relationship continuing. Expose them to new things, different things, and just don’t give up.

 

00;18;05;03 – 00;18;12;24

Jennifer Friedman

Don’t be that parent who, we’ve all been there to stop feeding your kid cauliflower because they said no, just. Yeah, keep at it.

 

00;18;12;27 – 00;18;15;17

Dr. Mona

Keep calm and carry on.

 

00;18;15;20 – 00;18;17;23

Jennifer Friedman

Yeah. Carry on. Yeah, we’ll get there.

 

00;18;17;23 – 00;18;40;07

Dr. Mona

Yeah. You mentioned that in the discipline things. Yeah. The three simple things at the beginning in terms of don’t stop. Like obviously I get the parental mindset of, well, you don’t like it. So I’m not going to give it. But it’s like, no, no, I promise you. Like they just need to see it. And they also, like you said, they need to be around it outside of the dinner table, like maybe at the grocery store or in the kitchen or seeing you enjoy it, right?

 

00;18;40;07 – 00;18;54;23

Dr. Mona

And not be told about it. Oh my gosh. Like the amount of times I’m sure with your two year old, like you’re eating, I’m eating something that my son was like, I don’t want it. And I’m like, okay, so mommy, you’re going to eat it? And we’re enjoying this. Oh my gosh, it’s so good. And he’s like, I want, I want like a dinner soon.

 

00;18;54;27 – 00;19;03;23

Dr. Mona

And, you know, starts to grab it from your plate and you’re like cold. Oh, you want this? Oh, sure. If you want it. Like. But yeah, you know, it’s funny. Yeah, totally.

 

00;19;03;25 – 00;19;23;00

Jennifer Friedman

I know, I know all the playing cool, but like, I have seen that happen so many times where I don’t even offer him some things. I assume he’s not going to want it or. Yeah, I’m like chopping something while he’s eating dinner and just because I’m not offering it, he’s like, what’s that? Can I have that? I want that, and it’s like, yeah, go ahead, have this raw kale that I’m cutting.

 

00;19;23;00 – 00;19;47;24

Jennifer Friedman

Like, go for it. So I love it all adds up. And there is so many different things that you can do. But what I like about those situations is we’re not trying. You’re not trying to make it happen. You’re sort of modeling. The opportunity is there, and when it comes from them, you know that it makes a big difference versus say, why don’t you try that broccoli to have them say instead, like, I want that, you know, come on, give me.

 

00;19;47;26 – 00;20;04;24

Dr. Mona

I love it. And my last question for you is, I mean, we could talk about this all day, but what are some factors that can increase and decrease the likelihood of picky eating? And also we talked about this already. We’ll talk about the factors but also why you know you said this already why it’s not necessarily our fault.

 

00;20;04;26 – 00;20;32;03

Jennifer Friedman

Yeah. So picky eating is like the increased selectivity that we tend to see. It’s developmentally normal. There’s so much going on in our toddlers and it’s something that we just tend to see in this tricky period. So in that sense, it’s nothing that we are doing. It’s something that our kids are naturally doing. It’s a good thing. But we do see that some kids maybe struggle more than others, and some of that could be potentially how we are responding as parents, and some of it can be things that are going on inside of their body.

 

00;20;32;05 – 00;21;01;24

Jennifer Friedman

So some kids are just more kind of sensitive kids. They’re maybe more sensitive to textures and tastes, and that becomes increasingly challenging. There are other changes going on in their body at this time. So if your child is sort of kind of one of these sensory sensitive kids, that is certainly a factor that we can see increase the likelihood that they will be picky or the kind of severity of their pickiness some kids who have like a bad eating experience in the past, maybe it’s a history of reflux or allergies or just getting sick.

 

00;21;01;24 – 00;21;24;29

Jennifer Friedman

Sometime all of these can contribute to kind of this. Again, increasing activity that we see kids who are just anxious kids. I see a lot of kids who focus their anxiety on the food, so that can definitely increase it as well and sort of like that controlling personality as well. Just a lot of parents are like stubborn, stubborn can.

 

00;21;24;29 – 00;21;42;16

Jennifer Friedman

So we get into power struggles with our kids around the food, and they’re one of those strong willed kiddos. We can see that power struggle happening more and more over food. We also do see an increased activity with food with kids on the autism spectrum. So that is a big like potential, a risk factor I guess, as well.

 

00;21;42;21 – 00;21;59;19

Jennifer Friedman

Gee, I struggled, so there’s so many things that can go into it. And as you can see, a lot of them are not the things that we’re doing. Those can all increase the risk that they will be picky. So keep an eye out for those. And if you know that that’s your kid is just more and more reason to try to work on the things that we’ve spoken about already.

 

00;21;59;22 – 00;22;19;25

Dr. Mona

Are so important. And I love how you break it down with all the other medical and behavioral things that happen. Because even if that’s not happening, we know that, like you said, it’s very common for them to go through this phase of selective nurse preferences, wanting to assert their authority and autonomy and desires. It’s all very natural. Jenny, this is such a great conversation.

 

00;22;19;25 – 00;22;24;05

Dr. Mona

Is there a final message that you have for all of our parents who are listening today?

 

00;22;24;07 – 00;22;45;23

Jennifer Friedman

Yeah. You know, it is hard to sum it up in vain was one thing, but I think knowing that it is not your fault know that it is most likely a phase that will pass. It’s challenging to remember that you are in this for the long haul, so don’t be discouraged if you offer something. If you try something and it doesn’t work, and remember to just try to be there with your kid and have this be an enjoyable thing.

 

00;22;45;23 – 00;23;07;24

Jennifer Friedman

When we show up to the table, you know, figuratively and literally and figuratively in a good headspace, our kids are going to feel that things are more likely to go better. So try to make eating something positive, something that you do together. Role model with your kids. Create opportunities for them to have fun. You know, hands on exposure with foods and take a deep breath and hope for the best.

 

00;23;07;27 – 00;23;18;19

Dr. Mona

Yes, and you just did that for me. And I love that. It’s for all. Jenny, where can everyone find you? Obviously I already mentioned your Instagram handle, but find you, your resources and anything else that you wanted to add.

 

00;23;18;21 – 00;23;37;24

Jennifer Friedman

Yeah, definitely. And well thank you so much. So Instagram is the best place that’s at feeding picky eaters. And there you can get links to my website and my book series of extreme picky eating. I have a free training and some, you know, classes, downloads, programs, coaching, all of that. But you can find there or at my website feeding Picky eaters.com.

 

00;23;37;27 – 00;23;46;20

Dr. Mona

Perfect. And I will be linking all of that to the show. Notes that you can stay in touch with Jenny and all of her information. And thank you again for coming on the show today.

 

00;23;46;23 – 00;23;48;25

Jennifer Friedman

Thank you so much. This was wonderful.

 

00;23;48;27 – 00;24;11;10

Dr. Mona

And for all of you listening, I’m sure you got some amazing information from our conversation. I love chatting about picky eating and all things parenting. If you love this episode, make sure you leave a review and call out Jenny Friedman for her amazing advice and insight by calling her out on the review that you leave and the reviews help the podcast continue to grow, and I cannot wait to invite another guest next week to chat.

 

00;24;11;11 – 00;24;27;02

Dr. Mona

Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode. As always, please leave a review. Share this episode with a friend. Share it on your social media. Make sure to follow me at PedsDocTalk on Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel, PedsDocTalk TV. We’ll talk to you soon.