Parenting Without Punishment Vol. IX
Your weekly resource for raising children with compassion, curiosity, and connection (not consequences, coercion, and control)
Beneficial for ALL children - VITAL for highly sensitive children
Volume IX: food is not a punishment (or a reward)
✨ Ready for this week?! Let's dive in! 👇
📚 Resource Review
There are hundreds (maybe even thousands) of resources on children’s eating habits — not to mention the podcasts, articles, documentaries, and shows. And if you google search, “child picky eater,” you will be bombarded with contradicting advice. (Welcome to parenting, right?!) So - this week’s resource review is just ONE book (of many) that I have found extremely helpful in my own parenting journey. Not only because it’s about parenting, but it actually continues to help me in my own journey with food and my relationship with eating.
Here are my thoughts on, How to Raise an Intuitive Eater by Sumner Brooks and Amee Severson:
How to Raise an Intuitive Eater is the parenting book you didn’t know you needed — until you found yourself questioning everything you’ve ever thought and felt about food. This book is a breath of fresh air for parents who want to raise kids with a healthy relationship with food—minus the power struggles, food guilt, and that one dreaded phrase: “finish your plate.”
With warmth, wit, and science-backed wisdom, Brooks and Severson guide parents through the messy (sometimes literally) process of teaching kids to trust their own hunger and fullness cues. They tackle everything from breaking free of diet culture to handling Halloween candy without turning into the sugar police. The goal? Helping your kiddo grow up knowing that all foods fit, their body is not a problem to be fixed, and mealtime doesn’t have to feel like a hostage negotiation.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re "doing food right" as a parent (spoiler: you probably are), this book will reassure you, make you laugh, and give you practical tools to help your child develop a lifelong, positive relationship with eating—without losing your mind in the process.
Fair warning: it’s a long book. But I think it’s well worth it. I listened to it the first time on Hoopla (the library audio app) so it’s easily accessible and free!
🎬 Try it out!
Ditch the ‘clean your plate’ club.
If you’ve found yourself saying, “Please finish your plate before you watch a show” or “5 more bites because you’re five years old” please 🛑
Instead of focusing on how much your child (or you!) “should” eat, try tuning into hunger and fullness cues.
At mealtimes, you can casually ask:
👉 “Is your belly still hungry, or is it feeling full?”
👉 “What does your body feel like eating right now?”
No pressure, no “just two more bites,” just gentle curiosity.
It’s a small and powerful way to help kids (and yourself) trust their bodies — one bite (or non-bite) at a time!
🪷 Guided meditation
Curious Eating
❤️ Q&A (ask any question, any time, right here)
Question of the week:
Some days, my kid barely eats anything, and other days they’re like a bottomless pit. Is that normal? What do I do to make sure they’re getting what they need?
ANSWER:
First, and importantly, I’m not a doctor or dietitian, so this is purely parenting advice and not meant to replace medical input in any way:
Yes — this is totally normal! Kids are naturally intuitive eaters, and their appetite changes based on things like growth spurts, activity levels, and even how much they ate the day or week before. Some days they need more, some days less, and that’s okay. As long as they’re growing and generally healthy, it’s best to trust their cues rather than stress over each meal. Bodies are pretty great at knowing what they need — even if it takes some time, effort, patience, and support in helping them listen to those cues.
If you have a parenting question you want me to answer, ask!
And I’m always here to hear what you think of this PWP journey - email me any time! heather@elementsacademy.org