Children are notoriously fickle eaters and will happily make their nanny’s life hell when it comes to eating things they don’t like. All of this can be avoided if, from the very beginning, you assert your nanny authority in the kitchen, keep menus diverse and inject an element of fun where needed. It’s best to aim for a fairly strict meal routine and avoid too much snacking (see good snacks below). Remember, food variety can vastly reduce the chance of allergies and also if good eating habits are acquired young, they can last a lifetime.
Your aim is to provide a healthy diet with a balanced amount of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and fibre. By keeping salt, sugar, squash, cakes, biscuits, crisps and ketchup to the bare minimum and promoting fruit, nuts, oat cakes and raisins as good snacking material, you’ll be doing your charges no end of good.
To avoid any confrontation, it’s a good idea to have a chat with your employers about food early on. Find out how much food they think their child should have, what level of strictness you should be imposing on eating greens and if there are any allergies.
