We don't fight with the kids about food. Every meal we set food in front of the kids and they eat it, or not. We don't do the "one more bite" or "clear your plate" or "no dessert until you eat your dinner." There's no way to force them to eat, so why try? (By the way, nobody would ever make an adult eat something they don't like, so why do people do that to kids?)
Anyway, I've always liked doing things this way (WAY less stress) but it's really paying off now. Because right now? Kalena is going through a phase of "not" wanting to eat. I say "not" because she'll tell me she's not hungry and as soon as I tell her that that's fine and she doesn't have to eat she's suddenly ready. Although, sometimes she does change her mind 6 or 7 times before she actually eats (and in the end she ALWAYS eats.) Every time she decides she's hungry or not hungry I just say, "okay" and resume what I'm doing. I'm sure that if I tried to make her it would turn into a battle of the wills and I just don't want to fight that fight. So. How do you do food with your kids?
This is pretty much what we do. I'll let Claire eat whatever combination she wants, whatever quantity she wants, whenever she wants. I don't really buy any CRAP food, so the chances that she'll actualyl ask to eat a lot of something that is truly not so great for her are slim.
ReplyDeleteAnd mostly? I am LAZY and I dislike fighting with the toddler.
I pretty much let Jason eat whatever he wants whenever he wants too...although I do give him a hard time for eating Taco Bell.
ReplyDeleteI think you have the right idea though. Best way to avoid raising an obese child or one with an eating disorder. So many adults don't know how to eat by hunger and it's probably because they had to eat when they weren't hungry as kids.
I like this. I have a question - say they choose not to eat, but are asking for crackers about an hour (or less) later....what then? We're still trying to figure this one out :)
ReplyDeleteI have a little bit of the same problem as Mardi, except that she's asking for chocolate instead of crackers. Should I let her have it whenever she wants? Also, I don't care if she eats or doesn't eat, but it's super annoying that before she signs "all done" she throws every single bite on the floor.
ReplyDeleteWe're the same. Eat or don't, I don't really care. The only thing we do though is to withhold sweets and snacks if we notice they aren't eating something substantial at meal times. We also leave their food out so they can go back and eat.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing we do is not worry about them sitting at the table the entire meal. The get down and come back several times. I feel like they are just too young to understand table manners and they eat more if we do it this way.