Parenting Tips for Your 27-28 Month Old Toddler
“If you behave at the shoe store, I’ll buy you a candy bar.” “Be a good girl at grandma’s house and you‘ll get an ice cream cone.” It is tempting to use food to try to control your child’s behavior, but it can backfire. Soon your child believes that desirable foods are the ones used as rewards or bribes.
These foods are almost always high in sugar or fat, or both, like candies, cakes, cookies, chips, and ice cream. As your child gets older, she will have more control over what she eats. If she chooses a lot of high sugar, high fat foods, then her diet will not be nutritious and will not keep her healthy.
Parents often mean well when they say, “You can’t have dessert until you finish all of your vegetables.” They think they are doing something good by getting their child to eat the vegetables. But the message the child hears is very different. She hears: “You have to eat the ‘bad’ vegetables in order to get the ‘good’ dessert.”
You don’t want your child to think of any healthy foods as ‘bad.’ Let her eat what she wants and still have dessert. You can make the dessert something low in fat and sugar, like a fruit juice popsicle.
So what is a parent to do? Do not use any food, even nutritious food, as a bribe or reward. Encourage your child to eat a wide variety of foods, so she will get all the nutrients she needs for growth and health. For help on choosing a variety of foods, read my pyramid for preschoolers age 2-5.
Instead, let her know when you are pleased with what she does. Saying, “You didn’t fuss in the shoe store. You were so patient. That made mommy very happy,” is a better reward than candy. This reward helps your child learn how to behave.
