A calmer mealtime: reflection and planning sheet

Free resource. Print this page or copy the prompts into your own notebook or document. The spaces below are for your own notes, not an online form.

Use this to think about the atmosphere around one meal. It is not a food diary or a way to measure your child’s nutrition. Follow any individual feeding advice your child has been given.

The meal we are thinking about

When and where it happened: ____________________

Who was there: ____________________

What else was happening around us: ____________________

Write neutral observations. For example, “We were preparing to leave” gives you more to work with than “It was a disaster.”

What may have added pressure?

Something about the timing: ____________________

Something about seating or comfort: ____________________

Comments, repeated questions or bargaining we noticed: ____________________

Do not make this a list of things your child did wrong.

One change for the adults

What we will try: ____________________

Who needs to know: ____________________

A short reminder we can use: ____________________

Example: “We will avoid comparing how much the children eat. If it happens, we will move the conversation to another subject.”

Afterwards

Was any part of the meal more comfortable? ____________________

What remains difficult? ____________________

Do we need advice rather than another home experiment? ____________________

If you are worried about growth, pain, chewing, swallowing, a very restricted diet or persistent distress, speak to your health visitor or GP. A calmer atmosphere can be useful, but it does not replace assessment when feeding is difficult.

You can read the NHS mealtime guidance for general advice.

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