We have a little boy whose mother, on registering him at the setting, explained that he would eat only honey sandwiches, bananas and ice cream, and asked us to give him a honey sandwich for lunch and dinner.
As a nursery that has a Gold Award for Healthy Eating, this is not something that we wanted to do! I explained that we understood that she gave her child this food to ensure that he was eating something, but that we would want to encourage him to eat the same as everyone else.
Anxious at this, the mother said she would collect her son early so that she could give him his honey sandwiches at home.
I explained that we understood the situation and wanted to help, but that she had to work with us to help her son eat more healthily. There was, after all, no medical reason for his food aversion. After much discussion, she agreed. We formulated a plan that involved serving her son the same meal as the other children and making no comment about it to him.
On his first day, he refused to touch the food on his plate but sat quietly watching the other children eating. We praised the children who were eating their lunch and at snacktime gave them all bananas to ensure the little boy had eaten something.
During that week, we repeated this pattern of serving him lunch and allowing him to touch, smell and move the food on his plate. On day three, we had a breakthrough, when he licked his finger after touching the gravy!
His mother spoke to us about her concerns that he wasn't eating in nursery, but she was persuaded to continue with the plan.
During the second week we had another breakthrough. The pre-school staff made muffin pizzas with the children, who added cheese, tomatoes and vegetables to make their own afternoon teas. The little boy added only a tiny piece of cheese, but was delighted when it came out of the oven, and ate a small portion of the bready base.
Over the following weeks the staff incorporated activities such as fruit-tasting and cakemaking. It was clear that food must have been a subject of tension in the boy's home and that he had grown to dislike mealtimes and eating.
In the three months he has been with us, his eating habits have changed dramatically, though he is still fussier than most children. The best part is that his mother is now more confident in her ability to encourage him to eat healthily. She even asked the pre-school staff for tips on introducing her son to new foods!