Eating lovely nutritious food is a big part of any toddler's development and it's important that your toddler is eating the correct amount for their age so they can grow and be as healthy as possible.
If your child suddenly stopped eating, what would you do?
One concerned mum panicked when her son stopped eating his food, but thankfully, she made the connection between the silicone plate he was eating from, and his reluctance to eat.
Ashley Stewart, who posts on Instagram as @reallittlemeals, shared that her "toddler was hardly eating anything for weeks."
So to test it out, she tried something from his place, and "immediately spat it out."
She spat the food out because "it tasted so badly of soap", and she gave other parents instructions about how to fix it.
Ashley wrote: "My toddler stopped eating because of this…
"If you use silicone plates for your toddler you should know this! For a few weeks, my toddler started eating horribly. He would take a few bites and then not want anymore. I tried everything, but he wouldn't eat!
"Then one day I took a bite of the leftover food off his plate and I had to spit it out. It tasted SO BADLY of soap. No wonder he wasn't eating. I switched his plates after that and he immediately started eating again."
She shared a method to "try to fix this problem", suggesting that parents "bake silicone plates in the oven at 250F for one hour to remove soap buildup."
Obviously wait until cooling before serving and check the manufacturer's instructions to see if it's safe.
Ashley also recommended only using "mild or unscented dish soap" in the future, "only putting them on the top rack of the dishwasher", and also not soaking "in soapy water."
This way, hopefully, parents will be able to avoid the issues that she and her toddler faced.
Other parents in the comments made the same connection and they were horrified.
One wrote: "Whatttttt oh my gosh. This. Makes. So much sense!! I feel like there are only certain times she's picky and now I'm thinking there's the plate connection."
Another mum said: "The taste is horrible", recommending that parents also "hand wash" any silicone items they have to avoid the soapy taste.
Someone backed the previous comment up, writing: "We use silicone, but hand wash and haven't had this issue."
"I had this problem", a parent admitted. "I soaked in a water/vinegar combo and it fixed it."
Do you have any parenting tips to share? Email: danielle.wroe@reachplc.com
