Whats your rule on eating meals - struggles

moped wrote: We have always had issues with Jack not eating his meal and goofing around etc....I always say nothing until the next meal if you don't eat what I give you - he really doesn't seem to care, drives me insane!!!!

What is your eating rule?

~Roo'sMama~ replied: We have the same problem. I always tell Andrew he can't have a treat if he doesn't eat his food, and sometimes that works, but then I have to give him a treat. It is always a battle to get him to eat anything.

moped replied:
Same here, even if I give him something he asked for he goofs around with it and never sits and eats - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

He just asked for Cheerios and milk for lunch and a PB sandwich - fine, but do you think he is eating it - nooooooo

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I serve what I serve. If they don't want to eat it, fine... but don't come whining that you're hungry later, which they inevitably do. And when they do, they get their reheated meal.

No toys at the table.
You sit at the table until everyone is finished.

moped replied:
Does that work for you Rocky? Do they always obey those rules?

AlexsPajamaMama replied: Alex goofs around at dinner time alot and I think its because he is trying to get attention and put his 2cents in the conversation...dh is at the dinner table and during breakfast and lunch its just him and I and he doesnt have to fight for attention.

If he doesnt eat all his supper its sits there for a while and he usually goes back and eats more...or the cats get into it and its gets thrown away.
If he asks for a snack right away he doesnt get it I tell him if you dont eat your supper you cant just ask for a snack. This too shall pas.

Calimama replied:
That's how it was in my house growing up.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
Absolutely.

amynicole21 replied: Sophia is a terrible eater - very picky. We have fallen into a terrible rut with the "just eat two more bites" rule, so now she won't even eat more than two bites if that's all we tell her to eat. If it's something she's reluctant to try, we say to just try a bite, but that's all she will eat (even if she likes it).

She's all about dessert, so she usually just tries to eat enough to get by with during dinner just so she can earn dessert (which is typically yogurt or fruit). But she is invariably hungry later in the night and we have a huge fight every night about no snacks after dinner.

AAARGH!

bawoodsmall replied: Aiden has a tendency to do this. With him it is usually because he is afraid he is going to miss out on something else in the house. The kids and I eat together at dinner(usually not dh because he eats at a diff time) You eat what I make or you dont eat...and you are not going to drink a bunch of milk or juice to fill yourself up.

luvmykids replied: When mine started doing that I started giving them smaller portions. If they wanted a sandwich, I'd only give them half and if they complained I said they could have another half when the first was gone.

And I still have the same rule, if they don't eat at meals, nothing until the next one. They learned If they eat good meals, they do get snacks but if not they're out of luck.

sparkys2boys replied: I'm the same as Rocky here to with a twist. I have a two bite rule in this house, don't tell me you don't like it, until you have taken two bites. If then you don't like it.. knock yourself out and make a sandwhich. I do not cater diffrent meals anymore. I also do not allow funny business at the table, we eat as a family most of the time and we talk. That's it, if you can't behave then you leave the table hungry or not And trust me they have left hungry before and after a few times they got it, I mean business and that's that!

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
I don't even do that.

Life's not fair most of the time...and the least of their concerns is meals. They're lucky to HAVE regular meals. They have to deal with it. If they don't like it, then starve. They can eat what they want when they buy their own food...and I tell them that whenever they complain that they don't like what I am serving. Until then, the thing to be said is: "suck it up princess, life's not fair. You want a sandwich, I want a vacation..we can't always get what we want, and sometimes have to do things we don't want to. That's life. Deal with it."

sparkys2boys replied:
OMG that made me laugh!!! I have heard me say life's not fair to!!

PrairieMom replied: Mine eat what I serve, and if they don't eat, then no snacks after dinner, and nothing to eat before breakfast, which I serve no sooner than 7am. None of that waking mommy up at 5 am because you are hungry.

Mine also sit at the table until everyone is done.

gr33n3y3z replied:
That was my rule also
And they ate it
Just remember when he gets hungry he will eat

jcc64 replied: No dinner, no dessert. Not that dessert is a regular thing around here, but if Corey knows there are sweets in the house, she's like a heroin junkie. It's all she can think about.
I don't force her to eat anything. When she's done, she's done. And I don't really care about goofing off at the table, though I don't like toys at the table either.

Jamison'smama replied: My SIL has an interesting twist--she never makes the kids eat but there are only sweets/desserts one night a week--they choose the night but it is the same night for 6 months..then they can switch the night if they'd like. She does this because the kids would eat as much as necessary to get the dessert instead of listenting to their bodies. On dessert night, they can eat as much or as little as they want and they still get dessert, on other nights, they eat as much or as little as they'd like but that's it.

boyohboyohboy replied: we practice the "give me five " rule
eyes forward, sit still, feet on the floor, no talking (with food in your mouth) manners..if any of those are broken they get a warning, about GIVE ME FIVE, and after that, its no more dinner and then to their room. even jake is getting the message. now we dont make them sit the entire time the grown ups are eating, its just to long for jake, but caleb is the one we mainly have to worry about.
we dont do sweets during the week at all.
i think its a pattern they get into, if they get away with it once they try it again.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: We never tell the kids when there's dessert involved... and definitely, if they ask "can we have dessert" or "what's for dessert", we don't have ANY.

I don't want my kid to be the rude one woh goes over to someone's hosue and is rude enough to say stuff like "I don't like mushrooms" or "what's for dessert"

I think it's fair for my kids to advise a parent if there's a food allergy, but as far as I'm concerned, if my kid gets invited for a meal at someone's house, they had BETTER eat it, and with manners.

lovemy2 replied: I don't like to make meals/food a battle of wills and rules - Olivia isn't the best eater but she eats good food if that makes any sense - she has never been a BIG eater - meaning alot at one time - she never took more than 6 ozs of formula - so I can't really expect her to eat a big meal - KWIM - she gets a bit of everything that is served - but I don't expect that she can eat more than 4-5 bites of everything - sometimes she does - sometimes she doesn't - she knows the only rule is one for each year she is - so 5 bites of chicken, 5 bites of veggie - she can eat when she wants for the most part - but most of the time - its ask first then get it yourself - as for in between food - she has certain choices, yougurt, fruit, cheese, crackers, etc. Its not so much a battle with her its just how she is - and the harder I fight it the less she eats and she is only 35 lbs at almost 6 years old.....

Dylan on the other hand - well he just eats whatever I put in front of him - his current issue is wanting to feed himself no matter what it is and use a utensil which he isn't very good at yet

My3LilMonkeys replied: I'm more lenient than most, but so far we have had no problems at all with eating so I've never really had to be strict.

If it's something they've never had before or claim they don't like when I know better, they have to eat a minimum of 2 bites.

Brooke prefers her foods plain - no sauce, gravy, etc. - so I let her eat it plain. If we're having spaghetti, I give her plain noodles. That's really the only thing she doesn't like, and so far Madison will eat anything.

I don't make them stay at the table until everyone's done. I wasn't raised that way, and neither was DH, so it's not really an important issue for us.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I just want to clarify one thing... i don't force my kids to eat something tey really don't like... for example my dh doesn't like peas, so i don't make peas... often. I do include them in tuna casserole... and he will eat them when i make them. I'm not hypocritical about it, either.

Emilie doesn't like mushrooms... but she will eat them. I just don't put as many on her plate.

Zacharie isn't a big fan of carrots... but he will eat them. I won't give some to him for, say, a snack... but if I'm steaming carrots, he gets some, same as everyone else.

I just tell them to eat them first... then the rest of the food will take the taste out of their mouth.

Naomie will eat anything.

I don't eat much meat... it's a texture thing. So I still make it... but i don't take as much of it. I'm not about to tell my kids they have to eat what i make and then not eat it myself...

reese replied: Well, I have an eating rule. My rule for my child is always to have a balance diet everyday. I always feed him carbo and fruits.

Boo&BugsMom replied: No dessert (when it's there, which isn't often) unless you eat everything on your plate. If it's a new food, you must try it. If there is something on your plate that you do like, you need to eat half of it. Obviously if they aren't feeling well or a similar situation such as that, rules are bent. In common situations, they (well, mostly Tanner for now) have to eat a certain portion before they are let up from the table. Generally it turns out to be half of the portion, and they are given age appropriate portions as well. I don't make them eat something I know they don't like either, since I don't eat things I know I don't like. However, since having the "tasting" rule that has helped Tanner realize he likes a lot more than he thinks.

Tanner has a habit of playing and goofing around at the table too. That is a whole other seperate issue in itself. We practice what table manners are, but sometimes it doesn't sink in. He is not allowed to get up from the table until the meal is done though. He gets up...bye bye food.

I also do not make something different when we are eating as a family at the dinner table. We all eat the same thing and if you don't like it then you can wait until the next meal to eat. I'm not a short order cook or a restaurant. . For the most part Tanner and Aiden aren't that picky. I think we've done a pretty good job so far at fostering appropriate healthy eating habits. We don't buy a lot of "junk" so I know what he IS eating is at least somewhat healthy and decent for him (whole grains, fresh fruit and veggies, non-processed meat, etc.).

mckayleesmom replied: Im a little like Rocky....They have to eat what I made or starve....Im not a short order cook.

If they goof off and don't eat by the time I do the dishes...then there SOL.

We usually don't do deserts very often....

They have to use their manners, no toys at the table, no bodily humor, and they have to ask if they can be excused.

jem0622 replied: I don't give the younger ones (ages 5 and 3) much food at meal times. They eat small, frequent meals throughout the day.

My 8 yr old sits and scarfs everything down and usually asks for seconds. I would say he got much better about sitting still once he was used to seeing the kids in the lunchroom and coming to appreciate it all. When you only have so much time to eat and you fool around...and then have to go hours without food until you get home...you tend to come around! LOL.

I don't make eating or cleaning the plate an issue at all because my parents did. Not good for them, IMHO. They truly sit still and eat when hungry.

The kids eat the same thing. DH and I may not because we eat later. When we have family dinner, then we all eat the same thing.

Cece00 replied: At least X # of bites per food (by age...so my 5 yr old must take at least 5 bites of every type of food to get up from the table...)

No other meal will be made except the one I am making. I wont make someone a sandwich because they dont like the beef stew w/ veggies. Too bad for the kid who doesnt like the food.

If you dont eat your food, you do not get a dessert if we happened to be having one (which is rare). If you werent hungry enough for dinner, you arent hungry for a treat.

I dont make any snacks for kids who refused to eat, except for something like an apple or carrot sticks. No treats/snacks if you didnt eat your meal, unless you want a healthy snack only.