Over the last few weeks I’ve had the absolute pleasure of reading a fantastic and informative book by Dr Elizabeth Roberts on how to help your toddler enjoy new food. It’s called ‘Help My Toddler Is Not Eating’ *

I’m very excited to be running a give-away to win a copy of this book over on Facebook and Twitter (full terms and conditions apply, read them here) and I’d love you to enter for a chance to win! Click here to enter on Twitter and here to enter on Facebook .

What’s the book about?

Dr Elizabeth Roberts is a State Registered Dietician and eating behaviour specialist with extensive healthcare experience. She has supported hundreds of families to help their toddlers enjoy new foods. Her book ‘Help!My Toddler is Not Eating‘ shares valuable solutions, backed up with science, on how to change difficult mealtimes into relaxed ones! It’s packed full of practical exercises and is designed to empower parents to feel confident that they can support their children to eat healthy, balanced meals in a relaxed way. What sets it apart from other parenting books on this topic is Dr Elizabeth Roberts’ vast experience and qualifications – reassuring readers that she knows what she’s talking about!

What did we like about it?

• Helps parents to realise they aren’t alone– Parenting can be isolating, especially if your child isn’t doing the ‘same things’ as your friend’s children. Parents frequently compare what their toddlers are eating and it can make you feel lonely, frustrated and worried if your child is struggling to eat a varied diet, when others are not having the same difficulties. This book shows you that you’re not alone at all and in fact, according to the data represented in the book, there are so many families in the same position. It goes through reasons why they may be struggling with mealtimes and provides you with ways forward.

• Empowers Parents– Dr Elizabeth Roberts’ book empowers parents to help support their children at mealtimes by arming them with facts and advice. She presents facts on everything from the vitamins and minerals children need to ideal portion sizes for their age. She also provides advice on tricky subjects such as treats and bribes, ignoring unwanted behaviours at the dinner table, offering alternatives to meals and boundaries and routines. On a personal level, I’ve genuinely learnt so much from reading this book and it’s made me change parts of my approach to mealtimes and introducing new foods. It’s also helped me to realise the importance of a varied diet not just for nutrition now but for building our children’s healthy relationship with food when they are adults.

• Lovely Style of Writing– Dr Elizabeth Roberts has some how managed to strike the perfect balance of creating an informative book full of scientific theory whilst still managing to make it feel informal, friendly and easy to read. Reading it felt like I was sat having a coffee and a chat about toddler nutrition with a very knowledgeable but approachable friend! It’s practical, accessible and has tonnes of activities to try out.

• Helps Parents Feel Understood – What this book doesn’t do, is make families feel disheartened that they aren’t providing their child with the correct nutrition they need. Instead, it helps them feel understood. It’s clear from reading Dr Elizabeth Roberts’ book that she understands what it is like to worry that your child isn’t eating the ‘right things’ and she uses her experience and empathy to guide families gently to make mealtimes easier. She also explains why for some children with Special Educational Needs, for example Sensory Processing Difficulties, mealtimes and new foods can provide extra challenges and she adapts her recommendations to suit these children’s needs. Throughout the book she backs up her recommendations thoroughly with scientific papers – reassuring readers that her recommendations are founded in science.

• Give families a Plan! – The best part of this book is that it physically provides families with a plan of what they can do to help their child eat new foods. There are tables to fill out to reflect on mealtimes, snack times, which food groups they are eating and many more. Having a plan can be incredibly reassuring for families, especially if they are concerned and frustrated that their child isn’t eating a varied diet.

Find Dr Elizabeth Roberts’ book on Amazon here and don’t forget to enter our give-away (Facebook here, twitter here) to stand a chance of winning a copy (full terms and conditions apply- read them here).

*Please note we were sent a review copy of this book for the purposes of this review and it is sponsored. All thoughts and opinions are our own.