Additional information:
Whatever the age of a child, eating should be a pleasant experience. It should be a time for bonding between a caregiver and a child. Ideally, mealtime should be filled with smiles and laughter rather than with anxiety and frustration.
When tears are more common than smiles, if you are worried about the amount of food your child is eating, or if you are afraid the child is not eating safely, it is time to talk to about a feeding evaluation. A feeding evaluation is the first step in remediating feeding difficulties. This will help determine the cause of the problems so that a plan can be created to help remediate the anxiety, stress, frustration, and even fear the child may have when eating.