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This morning my girl didn't touch a bite of her cheesy scrambled eggs or yogurt. I tried again a half hour later and brought her book with us and she ate almost all her eggs and all her yogurt!
I know the info from what the admins posted about screens at the table, but what about books? I turned the pages so it wouldn't get dirty. She definitely knew she was eating her eggs and she even said eggs while eating (15 months old for reference).
(She also brought that measuring spoon with her)..
I say do whatever works for you. We all have similar struggles but they're still different. I don't judge because being parents of picky eaters we already face enough judgment, only you know what works for you.
My mom always told me not to eat and read because it would cause me to overeat as you're not paying attention to your eating. But I swear I can't eat without some sort of distraction - my phone, a book, news paper, ect. I can absolutely pay attention to to both things and I never overeat. Maybe it's my adhd? Anxiety? I don't know. But I can't just sit there and eat.
Only way we can get our grandbaby to eat is a show on TV or she will want to get out of highchair and run she has no chill turn something on for her to eat and watch she sits still and eats something. She just turned 2.
I had a feeding therapist for a while and she often brought books, toys, even screens, etc. to the table and would do a little bit of fun between bites. I would have thought this was bad, but she was a professional and it seemed to work! I think it was meant to “desensitize” or distract from the food to overcome sensory issues.
I honestly see no harm. I understand there will always be people against screen time or even books/objects brought to the table and it causing overeating but I believe you do what works best and I'm positive you can help regulate the amount of food given.
I don't agree with any form of distraction during meal times, because by experience I myself was a picky eater as a kid, and so my parents would let me bring a book to the table thinking it would help me eat, but No. I would finish the entire book and more, staying at the table around 2-3 hours at a time, never touching my food. Then when I grew older and eventually outgrew my picky eating, I now have a tendency to overeat due to my distractions (books, TV, phone). The best way is really to train 'em the proper way as a young person.
