5 Easy Ways to Mix-It Up: The Rotation Rule in Action

The Rotation Rule—switching what you serve from day-to-day— lays the foundation for introducing new foods.

I write about this all the time (so, sorry if you're sick of it) because it's crucial. Kids who get used to eating different foods are more open to eating new foods.

Still, many people find it very hard to mix-it up. That's why I was glad to receive this question from Emily. Emily writes: 

You often mention the importance of switching things up. But could you possibly provide some ideas on *how* to do so in the midst of a packed schedule? Part of the reason why my son eats a lot of the same foods is because I only have so much time to make a meal or a snack. How can busy parents find the time to shake up the food rotation?

I get it. Lots of people are too exhausted (both physically and mentally) to put more effort into meals. I, myself, confessed to suffering from this situation in When You're Too Tired to Cook...

Here are 5 ideas to make mixing it up easy to do.

1) The Simple Rotation

Make a list of what your children eat for meals and snacks. Then, develop menus by alternating what you serve. Don't strive to provide radically different meals. The idea is to create a structure of change. 

• Day 1: Eggs Day 2: Waffles Day 3: Cereal
• Day 1: Eggs Day 2: Waffles Day 3: Eggs

2) Borrowed Foods: Foods your children eat for different meals and snacks.

Make a list of all the foods your children currently eat on a regular basis. Then mix up when you serve stuff. 

You don’t have to stick to breakfast foods for breakfast, lunch foods for lunch and/or dinner foods for dinner. And you certainly don’t have to stick to snack foods for snacks—any food can fit this category. Make a list of foods your children happily eat at other times and consider using them to fix your Food Ruts. Everyone enjoys pancakes for dinner, but you can also consider carrot sticks and dip at breakfast or chicken and broccoli for snack. Anything goes! 

Read Falafel for Breakfast.

2) Forgotten Foods: Foods your children used to eat but which they now refuse.

Parents often take food refusals more seriously than their children do. Don't assume that once rejected is always rejected. 

Read The Easy Way to Solve Your Toddler's Decision to Suddenly Refuse Certain Foods. 

3) Planned-for Foods: Foods your children would willingly eat but which take a little planning to use on a regular basis.

Muffins, omelets, blintzes, and lasagna for instance, all can be refrigerated or frozen for use during the week.

4) Invented Foods: Old favorites you can dish up in new combinations.

For instance, does your child like cottage cheese, bananas and jelly? Put them together and make a breakfast banana split.

5) Get your kids involved

Let your children tell you how they experience foods they eat. Then, get them to help you figure out how to mix up tastes, textures, etc.

If your children are extremely attached to one food...

Consider varying the flavor, the texture, or the brand. As your child's palate expands you'll be able to reduce your dependency on this one food.

When your children ask for a Food Rut two days in a row...

Remind them you will honor their request the following day. This way your kids won't think their favorite food is out of the rotation forever.

Remember to tell your children before you make any changes.

A simple statement should do it, "Tomorrow we are going to start eating different things on different days because that's the healthiest way to eat. Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to eat anything new."

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

What Is In Your Lunch Box?

I'm experiencing a love/hate reaction to Parenting.com's new Healthy Lunch Maker.  Have you seen this calculator?  

You drag a sandwich, snack and a drink into a lunch box, press calculate and the program spits out the nutrition profile of whatever is in the box.

"All the nutrition facts you need to pack tasty, healthy lunches for your child. Count calories, fat, sodium and more."

Test out Parenting.com’s Healthy Lunch Maker

I love the calculator because it's so much fun. 

No matter how much I think nutrition information leads parents astray—Read Why Nobody Needs Nutrition Labels— I can't resist nutrition gadgets.  I describe my problem, and how much fun I had shopping this summer with the Fooducate App, in Why I Feed My Daugther Inferior Food.

Plug a PB&J sandwich on wheat, an apple and a small carton of low-fat milk into the Healthy Lunch Maker, push calculate:

• Total calories = 466
• Fat=12g
• Sodium=450 mg
• Protein=19g

Fantastic! I spent an hour one day trying out different lunchtime combos.  That is the love part. Now to the hate part...

I hate the calculator because it's impossible to know what the information means. 

Is 466 calories a lot or a little? What about 12 grams of fat? 

And even if you look at the % daily value based on your child's age, which the program conveniently lets you punch in, the information that 12 grams of fat is 22% of your 3 year old's daily fat needs will only take you so far.  

Unless you're going to calculate every meal and every snack (something I don't think anybody would ever do) knowing that lunch is going to deliver 45% of your toddler's sodium intake is meaningless.  Sure, 45% seems high, but what if the rest of the day turns out to be basically sodium-free? That puts 45% into a healthier perspective.

Now, let's imagine that you could put together a magic meal, one that made the grade on all the key ingredients.

What would you do?

• Would you serve this perfect meal to your child over and over? That would narrow, rather than expand, your toddler's palate.
• Would you shy away from foods that don't make the grade? Or feel guilty when your tot eats anything short of the gold standard? That would make the "bad" but desirable foods even more desirable?

So again, I ask, what would you do?

As far as I can tell, the only useful thing you can do with any nutrition calculator is bust some myths.

• A PB&J sandwich, apple and carton of low-fat milk delivers 19 grams of protein or 172% of your 3 year old's daily protein needs. 
• The PB&J alone delivers 11 grams of protein or 100% of your 3 year old's protein needs.

Who knew?

What I take away from this is that most people worry more than they need to about protein intake. Indeed, if your 3 year old pounds down one small carton of milk, he'll take in 8 grams of protein, 72% of his daily needs.

There are other problems with using this, or any other, calculator. 

• It sticks to traditional lunch items (for obvious reasons) but doesn't let you put soup or salad into the box!
• You don't know how much of any one ingredient is calculated in the sandwhich. You might be heavier on the peanut butter or lighter on the jelly and then your numbers would all be off.
• You'll need another calculator to estimate what your toddler actually takes in: Do three bites constitute half a sandwich, a quarter, less?
• The % daily values are estimates based on a range of needs (with a point picked for mathematical reasons). On any given day your child might need more or less food based on activity level and growth patterns.

Instead of thinking primarily about nutrition, start focusing on your child's eating habits instead.

Read 10 Habits MORE Important Than Vegetable Eating.  Then, teach your tot to:

• Eat different foods on different days. Read House Building 101.
• Accept a wide range of tastes and texture. Read Training Tiny Taste Buds.
• Consume fresh, natural foods more often that processed and packaged one. Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!
• Use food for hunger and not for emotional reasons. Read Using Sweets to Soothe the Soul.

The nutrition part of the picture will fall into place—perfectly. I promise.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~