The importance of different sensory experiences for young children is well known, we now have baby sensory classes, sensory rooms, sensory toys and a deeper understanding of how these sensory experiences impact a child’s life.

Between lack of sleep, cleaning up, constant questions and tidying up toys, parenting is an exhausting task but add food refusal into the mix and it can be the one thing that tips us over the edge.

A healthy relationship with food is a vague term, so what does it actually mean and why is it so important for our children to develop a positive relationship with food?

Children’s appetite does go up and down depending on growth patterns, how much exercise they have had, whether they are, or have been poorly or just something has upset them in their day that has made them not want to eat. So how do we know?