5 Ways to Encourage Your Child To Eat Fish
We either love it or hate it, even a lot of adults choose meat over fish so how can we encourage our baby to eat fish?!
Fish also has so many benefits for our health – it’s low in fat but high in quality protein, filled with omega 3 fatty acids, rich in calcium and a great source of minerals for e.g. iron, zinc, iodine etc. Basically the list goes on, we could talk all day about the benefits of fish but if your baby won’t eat it, then who are we to preach! Which is why we would like to help with these 5 but simple ideas to help get some fish into your child’s diet , no matter how young or old they are. And we’re not just talking fish fingers!
Try a mild fish
Cod and halibut is always a good fish to try your weaning baby with, after all if it’s good enough for the fish and chip shops it’s good enough for your baby ? Not only does it taste good (more mild than other members of the fish family) but it’s packed with nutritious goodness.
Make a fish patty
Swap those beef burgers for a fish burger, using salmon or white fish. White fish is a good option as the taste is a bit more mild as mentioned above and the texture is so light it easily blends in with mashed potato. Flaky white fish can be fully cooked too and then using our Itsy Blitz Blender mix the fish into mashed potatoes and add some veg. For the older child bind the mixture using egg or breadcrumbs and then pan fry it until it’s crisp. And voila you have a meal for baby and for any older children in the family.
Make it sweet
We all know kids love sweet foods, therefore another great way to encourage a fish eater is by adding some fruit to the mixture for e.g. pineapple, a dash of lemon or pureed apple.
Add a sauce
For the older child you can make a range of sauces for them to dip the fish into and for a weaning baby you can add the sauce into the mixture. Cheese sauce is a simple sauce to make and compliments fish so well. Hummus is also a good healthy option and makes a great dipping sauce too. Or alternatively if your child is a fan of avocado add a creamy avocado dip/sauce, the yoghurt and finely chopped scallions will enhance those little taste buds.
Make it often
As we know with all foods and a weaning baby keep giving them the food often, if they don’t like it the first time, don’t give up, keep giving it to them. Their taste buds are forever developing and changing so if they don’t like fish today they could like it tomorrow or the week after.
We hope these little tips help but don’t be disheartened if your little one doesn’t like fish, there’s plenty more options to give them that are still packed with good nutrition. Don’t forget to check out our Instagram for a choice of fish recipes.
