We have a rule at our house that if you don't finish your food for dinner, you have to finish it at the next meal. And perhaps the next meal. And perhaps the next meal. I won't force them to eat something I KNOW they don't like (Richard doesn't like cornbread), but they have to eat it if I know they should like it. I don't like my kids saying they're too full to finish but then stuff themselves with sugary cereal the next morning because they're hungry. In contrast, who am I to tell them they really aren't full? They can get down if they're done eating. (Feel free to think I'm unfeeling and mean, but I have no intention of changing how we do things. Don't send your hate mail.)
So, in an effort to broaden their horizons and make them learn to like foods, they have to finish their dinner. Marie decided to take about 5 meals to finish one particular meal. Then, she still had to eat the dinner from the meal she missed. Once she FINALLY finished those two meals, she wanted naan, cereal, yogurt, more cereal, 2 servings of 1/2 cup milk, and candy. She was at the table today from 8:00 until 2:30.
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| Here she is with coarse 5. |
(BTW, Marie is the only child who takes this many meals to eat her food. Richard and Audrey rarely have this happen anymore. Peter only takes one or MAYBE two more meals to finish)
4 comments:
What a pill.
lucy! so my kid has been having the same problem with trying new things so i thought i might try your method. he's 2.5 now. is that too young to try this method? you still give drinks right? tama hasn't eaten his dinner yet (won't even take a bite) and we're getting close to the third meal. he hasn't eaten since yesterday at 2:30.
That's about the age I started my method. I still let them have water, but not juice or milk. They can get quite a few calories from juice and milk. Make sure he actually can eat the food. For example, Marie took a while to get her 2yo molars and so it's was hard for her to chew big chunks of food like meat or raw vegetables. Also, I would feed them when they were still 2.5 to help them be motivated. Not so anymore. I figure eventually they'll get hungry enough. Use your judgement if it's going to work for him. I'd hate to encourage you to make him sick if he's more stubborn than my kids. The method works for me but may not work for all. Good luck!
thanks lucy! it totally worked! once i came home from work, he finally caved and ate ALL his dinner plus his leftover breakfast! thanks so much for the tip! he's been feeding himself for quite some time so (he has lots of teeth!) i haven't had to worry about that luckily. thanks so much! i think we will definitely employ this method. this morning, he totally ate up all his breakfast without a blink! :)
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