From ‘No Mamma’ to ‘Yes Mamma’- My Daughter’s Food Journey

When the clock would strike eight I would get goose flesh! Feeding my 3-and-a-half year old was a Herculean task. I almost suffered from amnesia for one year because my grey matter could not think of one occasion where she ate her meal without throwing a tantrum. From standing in the balcony to playing hide and seek to taking her in the car and holding the steering with one hand and feeding her with the other ( thank my stars the traffic cop did not catch me!), I tried every possible thing I could. But everything what the internet had to offer to dadi-maa-ke-nuskhe failed. I realised I had to find a way. What could be more heart-breaking for a doctor mom than to see her child struggle to eat. I started doubting my culinary skills. And to add to it were my parents’ constant reminders that the world is round, what you do comes back to you. After all I was a very fussy child when it came to eating. So I took this as a challenge and here are some ways I figured out to make my daughter eat.

1) I used her fixation for Barbie: I realised that I could mould her into eating a few bites telling her Barbie and mermaid stories. But that did not work for long. She refused to eat daal and vegetables. Thanks to her genes, she eventually realised, I was fooling her by giving her stuffed rotis. She went a step ahead and demanded only "white rotis" ( the innumerable times we use this word at home I am sure it will find a position in the Oxford dictionary soon)

2) Make the event special: I started kneading the dough with malai ( cream) and grated vegetables. I would use daal instead of water. With the lights of the room switched off, and her favourite Doreamon cartoon on, I would tell her that we are having a candle-light dinner.

3) Make food into a temptation: There are times when this also fails and that’s when my back-up plan comes into picture where she gives into my coaxing just because she wants to have long hair or "Barbie hair ". Now I plan her diet making sure she has two servings of daal and vegetables.

4) Fruit Ideas: For fruits I give her milk shakes which she likes having with a straw.

5) Make crockery interesting: Every month I invest in a new bowl and fork depending upon her fascination for a cartoon character.

6) Tech Help: I thank the technology for I-pad is their best invention and "Talking Tom", is my God.

I can understand the agony a mother faces when her child doesn't eat. Her whole world collapses like a multi-storey building. But it’s here where the battle begins. Keep trying, keep innovating. Respect their choices but be firm. They are innocent and will eventually give in. Improper diets would lead to deficiencies and irritable children and which mother wants her child to be grumpy!