I have spoke about family meal time before, but I was sitting at our dining room table last night and I was looking around at my wonderful family and thought I should bring up the importance of family meals. Spending this time together as a family is so valuable to the development of our children and fostering positive relationships. I actually wrote up a blog post on this topic in the summer. I was watching my youngest son and his interaction with the rest of the family and it made me realize how important this time together is for all of us. I have spoken about baby led weaning before and I think that this part of family meal times helps SO much with food acceptance.
Family meal times teaches how we as humans sit down and communicate over a meal. My almost 2 year old was watching us talk about our day and wanting to chime in with his own thoughts and noises. We always ask our almost 4 year old how his day was and what he did at daycare. Now our little guy (whose almost 2 years old) is babbling and wanting to chat with us as well. I wanted to share this to encourage you to make sure your kiddos are having that uninterrupted time with you at the dinner table. Our total amount of time eating together maybe lasts 20 minutes at the most, but that is still valuable. Some days I am able to make a delicious homemade meal and other nights it is frozen foods that have been heated up … the main point of dining together is the togetherness, not what is being served.
Another example of that family time helping to teach children how to behave, how to communicate, but always how to try new things. My almost 2 year old was very eager to mimic and try things like his older brother. He would look over and watch his brother and then pick up the same food and try it. This time and ability for him to watch and learn from his brother is important for his development and food acceptance.
In some of my work with outpatient follow up at the hospital, I have chatted with families about how to start solids with their babies. The first thing I emphasize is getting a high chair and having their child at the table for meal time. Give them foods at meal time, when everyone else is at the table. They are part of the family and sitting down together to eat is what your family should do at least once a day.
Hopefully this posts encourages you, whether you have small children or teenagers, to sit down at the table a share a meal together. It could even be enjoying take out from your favorite restaurant, but take a moment and sit together as a family and talk.
