Georgina Wilson, Isabelle Daza Admit Struggles With Their Kids Who Are Picky Eaters

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Like a lot of moms, cousins Isabelle Daza and Georgina Wilson have their share of struggles feeding their respective children.

"I just want to tell you that Baltie is actually a very picky eater," said Isabelle when asked by Smart Parenting for tips in dealing with picky eaters. She mentioned earlier during the recent webinar hosted by Promil Gold Four that young children should never miss a meal.

The former noontime show cohost and now entrepreneur pointed out that her 4-year-old panganay "likes certain things." But, she added, "even if I serve him the food that he likes, he’d want something else."

That's why, Isabelle said, she's been doing "so much research," reading "a lot of books," and asking "a lot of experts," including American parenting educator Janet Lansbury, whom she interviewed for her vlog (read here).

So far, she's learned that "children are very intuitive and they will be able to feed themselves." This is something new to her because, like any other Pinoy, she grew up with the "subo" practice. (Read here why saying "Anak, isang subo na lang" sends a wrong message.)

Isabelle's solution

"I try to listen to what Baltie’s needs are, but at the same time, not make him think that this is a restaurant open for whatever you want at any time."

Isabelle went on narrating what happened the night before, when they had tinola at home. Baltie refused to eat tinola and threw "some kind of a tantrum." So she talked to the older of her and her husband Adrian Semblat's two kids.

She "calmly" explained to Baltie that tinola was the only dish they had at that time. But she didn't force him to eat it, and told him instead that the soup was just there if he got hungry. He just have to sit down and stay in his seat.

"One thing I also struggle with is sometimes he stands up, he plays, and he comes back," she said. "That’s not necessarily teaching him the right kind of discipline, so to speak. He doesn’t respect being on the table. So it’s something that I’m working on right now."

She added, "Basically I try to give him different meals, and if he doesn’t want to eat it, which most of the time, he doesn’t, it’s okay. I let it there until he tries to explore it and kind of warm to it."

One more point: "Creating a reward doesn’t necessarily teach them to appreciate what they have in front of them. And in the end, they’ll always look for that reward—which is counterproductive. As parents we just have to relearn that. ‘Eat this, and you’ll get dessert.’ Experts say that’s not the way, otherwise they’ll always look for reward."

Georgina's tactic

"I guess the job of the parent is to keep presenting it on the table as an option because at some point, they’re gonna get hungry. They’re gonna have to eat it."

The model and entrepreneur said she could "super relate" to the topic of picky eating, noting that "even if your child is a good eater in the first few years, they change."

That pretty much applies to her and her husband Arthur Burnand's first-born child Archie. The 5-year-old boy once fancied adobo, but he now craves rib eye steak, according to his mom.

Expert's advice

Dr. Gail Galang, a child and family expert, as well as an educator and contributor to Smart Parenting, gave a talk during the webinar titled Fast Thinking Unlocked: Raising an AlphaKid. She discussed the important period of a child’s development called the Golden Window of Opportunity.

She also gave tips for parents of picky eaters: "Eating by example is important. You want them to eat vegetables, make sure you eat vegetables. That could work. Repeating a healthy meal over and over again is good.

"Don’t panic. They’ll get to learn healthy eating. I think for certain vegetables, they also have this developmental readiness. So, for kids, maybe you start with maybe broccoli, cauliflower, spinach. With other vegetables, maybe when they get older. Maybe hide them in the pasta."

Georgina couldn't help commenting, "We hide it everywhere. Konti na lang, it’s under their pillow. It’s everywhere. I’m just laughing with eating by example."

Read here for more tips.