Meal times can end up being such a battlefield. I am always amazed at what can happen when a child decides he does not want to eat what I have served for dinner. There is now contention and discord instead of peace at the table. So how do I deal with this? Well here is the first thing that I have found to be crucial, don’t serve snacks. Make sure your child is truly hungry at mealtime. It is not a cruel thing to have a hungry child! Also bottles (if they are bottle age or have a bottle habit) are a real meal deterrent. I had a few bottle babies and when they would just want the bottle for comfort I filled them with water. I did the same for nighttime bottles, just water. If they are past bottle age the snacking all day is not going to be good motivation for eating well at dinnertime. This can create a circle where the child is not eating well at mealtime and then the mother worries he/she is not getting enough food, so they feed snacks. At some point this circle needs to be broken. Cut out
the snacks and feed them well at mealtime. Now what do I do when I know my child is hungry but is refusing to eat? This I would view as a battle of wills. It has become his/her will not to eat and my will that they do eat. The first thing is to simply excuse him/her from the table and they can go without the meal altogether. Usually having to do this once can be all it takes. But I have had a tough case or two and it took a few more tries. The child realizes he does not like being hungry and decides it would be better to eat than not. If that still does not solve the problem than I would skip the meal and serve the same food to him warmed up for the next meal. I have never had a child that did not respond to this by making the wise decision to eat what mom has served for dinner (or any meal). I know that my child will not starve or become malnourished by missing a meal or two, especially when it is his choice! The lessons learned by the child as you go through this process will have a long lasting result, they will bring peace and enjoyment to the dinner table instead of contention and strife :)
PS......
I just want to also say that I am not against feeding children snacks. There are times when children do need snacks and when they are not causing any trouble in a child’s diet. I personally cut out snacks in order to train my children to eat well at meals. When the meal time issues are over I do resume snack time occasionally or as needed. |
