This is my rant instead of yelling at my kid. Zenock is having real trouble eating in a timely manner......like I'm talking taking over an hour to eat homemade chicken nuggets and corn. We have started setting the timer for 10-15 minutes and when it goes off eating time is finished and remaining food gets thrown away. If he doesn't finish his food he doesn't get snacks or treats and has to wait until the next meal to eat. Today he ate the chips (my mistake for actually giving them to him with a meal instead of after), oranges, and one fish stick....the other 4 got thrown away. He was so mad at me because he wasn't done. Rules are rules!! This happened almost two hours ago and he's still mad at me. This is what he just told me:
"The only thing that will calm me down is you buying me a toy. That's the only thing." In your dreams buddy. Boys who have tantrums and don't do what Mom says don't get fun things........and like I would buy him a toy anyway. He just had a birthday for crying out loud. Between his food attitude and Gideon's toddler pickiness Brady and I are just about at our whits end with mealtime around here. We can't have hotdogs, macaroni and cheese, or pizza for every dang meal. Life doesn't work that way, here at home or anywhere else either.
6 comments:
A has been the same way lately! Even with food he likes it takes forever he gets so distracted by everything. We leave him at the table, after about 30-45 minutes if he still hasn't eaten we save it for him and when he asks for something to eat later he has to eat that first. Not that he has to clean his plate, but a grand total of 4-5 bites or so. I'm so hoping he'll just start eating with us soon! Good luck with your little guy!!!
I think kids go through stages. Whatever you choose to do, just stay strong and consistent. With Isaac we have found that if he says he is done with dinner we put his plate in the fridge and if he is hungry later, he has to finish his plate before he can have anything else. Somedays it works and other days it doesn't.
I remember when I was little, sometimes I would sit at the table for an hour trying to finish my plate. My parents wouldn't let us leave the table til our plate was clean.
I personally have a problem with wasted food. Drives me crazy, so I probably would modify what you're doing by storing his plate in the fridge til he's ready to eat it.
My kids are super picky. I think they get it from me unfortunately, so I don't know what to tell you there. I'll make something and if they don't like it, they just don't eat it. Often they'll find themselves something else-guess I don't care as long as I don't have to prepare it. It does bug me though and sometimes we put our foot down-telling them it's that or nothiing. INconsistency at it's finest! lol
Good luck!
We had this problem and tried several techniques. Every family is different, every kid is different. What we have found that works for us is this, and it might help, I dunno. We assigned each child a night of the week (after they were able to come up with 5 dishes they like.) They are able to choose what we have for dinner their night with the condition they don't complain the rest of the week. If you plan ahead you can have a calendar, and it makes it easier for shopping as well. My 4 year old is looking forward to getting a night. It has saved mine and Steve's sanity. We have had children lose their night once or twice, and that seems to be all that it took for them. Good luck! Oh the adventures of being a parent...lol!
We make (as adults) whatever we want. We always have the children take one "Thank you bite" of each thing on their plate, and then a total # of bites for their age. If they are done at that point, I put their food aside and they can eat it later if they get hungry. No treats unless they've eaten it all, but I don't make them stay there til it's done. It's rarely been a hassle to get them to eat once they know they have to take their age in bites. Good luck!
One of the main concerns with this issue is him being able to eat all his lunch at school next year. The kids only get 10 or 15 minutes to eat....and if that's the case, Zenock will end up not eating much resulting in a terrible afternoon at school because he is hungry. That also means a grumpy kid when he comes home....and we all know he'll be begging for a snack once he steps in the front door. The timer is hopefully helping him practice eating faster for that reason. Thanks everyone for your input. Community parenting at it's finest :)
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