A Book Review While Waiting: The No Cry Picky Eater Solution

All of us have dealt with a picky eater (or 2) in our parenting adventures. A few months back, I was asked by Elizabeth Pantley, author of the No-Cry series of books on parenting issues, to review her brand new book, The No-Cry Picky Eater Solution. Having read (and currently own) all of her books, as well as being a test family (along with my son, Wyatt, then a toddler) for The No-Cry Separation Anxiety Solution, I gladly accepted.

    Many families go through/hear the same things night after night. Upon hearing "Mom, what's for dinner?" we are looked at with blank stares, grimacing faces, or flat out screams of terror! Elizabeth Pantley helps us virtually eliminate this from our lives in this book.

    Considering, according to the book, that a typical person from birth to age 104 (if our kids let us live that long) will consume about 189,000 meals and snacks, it seems that we would want those meals and snacks to be at least somewhat healthy! (At least in the formative years) 

    Pantley gives some wonderful tips throughout the book, including giving children portions of each course in fist sizes (a good portion for a child is the size of their fist, NOT the adults!) on child-sized plates, eating the RIGHT types of foods for their growing bodies, and avoiding too much sugar, salt, and eliminating soda from their diet.
    
She also reminds us to look at ourselves in many aspects: were WE ourselves picky eaters? How do we approach mealtimes (are we too strict, do we force them to clean their plates, etc...) and to make sure we realize that picky eating is a normal part of growing up.

    In the book, parents are also reminded (and this to me, is very important) that tastes are formed at a young age. So those children that start out with processed and packaged foods are going to have a taste for those types of foods. But a child that is introduced from day 1 to whole foods, homemade baby foods, and the like, will tend to prefer those types of foods.

    Elizabeth reminds us that we need to be, as parents, role models for our children. If they see us eating fruits and vegetables, then they will want to eat them. If they see us willing to try a food that they have never tried before, then they will be more willing to try a new food as well.

    There are a ton of wonderful tips and tricks and strategies to get your child to eat healthy and make mealtimes pleasurable for all! The #1 tip, for me, is to make sure that (usually dinner) make it a point to eat one meal as a family every day/night. There are also some mealtime "rules" that we, as adults, have learned/heard over our lives that may or may not be good to break. 

This was, by far, one of the BEST books on getting kids to eat healthy that I have read yet! I am glad I had the opportunity to read and review it! (And hey, who doesn't like a free book!!) So if you have a picky eater (or think you might have one in the future) go pick up this book or download it to your digital device today! You will be glad you did!