Getting children to eat and not waste

Newtonlot

:j
dd1 finally caved in at 5.30. She had a spoonful of her lunch (all that was left after dd2 got her mits on it).
They both then had a plate of mash, brocolli, peas, cauliflower and yorkshire pud. dd1then asked for a cake. So we gave her one and explained that she only got a cake as she had eaten all of her dinner. Then they both asked for grapes and cheese. Oh and dd2 had her usual 6ozs of milk before bed.
So for all my worrying they have still eaten the same amount of food, but in a shorter space of time.
Dh backed me up the whole way and I feel much more confident to stick to it.
They are at childcare tomorrow so will only be with me for brekkie, but I will be sticking to my guns for the rest of the week and hopefully I shall see an improvement.

Thanks for all the advice. It's really helped, it's also helped knowing others have been through it and have survived :rotfl:

gairlochgal

Oh the best is yet to come. Wait till they start school and come home saying they hate....something they have always loved.....tomatoes in our case. And then there's the small one turning against broccoli when she was 4ish - she had a year or so of crying whenever she saw broccoli on her plate.

I'm quite tough on the idea that they still have to eat things they don't like. There's a lot of data about how many times kids have to try things before they become accustomed to the taste, and it leaps up rapidly as they grow older. So I see it as trying to give them a good palette and healthy diet to last through their lives.

Spendless

I had the opposite when they started school, they came home loving something they'd always claimed they'd hated at home.:rolleyes: OP well done.:T I once served the same pork chop to my son 3 times cos he claimed 'he didn't like them anymore' He gave in on 3rd time think it was the thought of it being served for his breakfast.:eek: as I'd threatened.:rotfl: :rotfl:

Savvy_Sue

Spendless wrote: »

I had the opposite when they started school, they came home loving something they'd always claimed they'd hated at home.:rolleyes: OP well done.:T I once served the same pork chop to my son 3 times cos he claimed 'he didn't like them anymore' He gave in on 3rd time think it was the thought of it being served for his breakfast.:eek: as I'd threatened.:rotfl: :rotfl:

that backfired for me with pizza: we discovered one day that pizza does not dissolve in the washing machine! Fortunately for him, he was at school when I made this discovery. :rotfl:

BTW, I am not for one moment suggesting that this is the case for the OP, or any of you, BUT some children (and adults) really struggle with some textures / colours on their plate, or have to have each kind of food separate, not touching at all. DS1 dislikes anything where he can't clearly see what's in it, eg casseroles. He's learned the hard way there might be onions or other things he doesn't like hidden away!

And I also learned the hard way not to give him peanut butter. He doesn't have an allergy, but he did vomit after accidentally taking a bite of one! He has never liked nuts or things with nuts in. And some things it is not worth struggling with ...

IF it's any comfort, DS1 has come back from Uni eating pizza, preferably plain. And Chinese food. And most of my strange concoctions. It's amazing what you learn to like if it's being given away! :rotfl:

FairyElephant_2

DH used to spend ages making different meals for his 3 when they came to stay - mainly because he gave them choices and let each one have what they chose!
I let this go until we moved in to a new house together and I took over pretty much all of the cooking (not being sexist - I like to cook, he prefers my cooking and he doesn't mind the clearing up!).

I cook one meal for everyone, and if they don't eat it then they don't get anything else! When it was a case of 'new' food they had to have at least 3 spoons or forks of it, then if they really didn't like it they were 'let off', and could have toast.
If they have eaten it before, they were/are expected to eat it again - I don't put up with faddy eating! It may sound harsh, but I was brought up that way, and we can't afford to waste food due to people being fussy!

I try to either give smallish portions and have extras in the kitchen for the hungry ones, or put food in the centre of the table so they can help themselves - the boys (who don't like most veg) seem to eat more variety this way. For Sunday Lunch we always have 4 veg, and they have to have at least 2 of them. One goldeen rule is when it is 'help yourself' you have to eat everything on your plate - otherwise it WILL be served up again for the next meal!
We used to eat all meals at the table, to try to teach them table manners (their mother didn't/doesn't often eat with them and it showed!), but now they are older we tend to have a 'pizza nite' or similar in front of the TV for one evening, which they think of as a treat!

FairyElephant_2

DH used to spend ages making different meals for his 3 when they came to stay - mainly because he gave them choices and let each one have what they chose!
I let this go until we moved in to a new house together and I took over pretty much all of the cooking (not being sexist - I like to cook, he prefers my cooking and he doesn't mind the clearing up!).

I cook one meal for everyone, and if they don't eat it then they don't get anything else! When it was a case of 'new' food they had to have at least 3 spoons or forks of it, then if they really didn't like it they were 'let off', and could have toast.
If they have eaten it before, they were/are expected to eat it again - I don't put up with faddy eating! It may sound harsh, but I was brought up that way, and we can't afford to waste food due to people being fussy!

I try to either give smallish portions and have extras in the kitchen for the hungry ones, or put food in the centre of the table so they can help themselves - the boys (who don't like most veg) seem to eat more variety this way. For Sunday Lunch we always have 4 veg, and they have to have at least 2 of them. One goldeen rule is when it is 'help yourself' you have to eat everything on your plate - otherwise it WILL be served up again for the next meal!
We used to eat all meals at the table, to try to teach them table manners (their mother didn't/doesn't often eat with them and it showed!), but now they are older we tend to have a 'pizza nite' or similar in front of the TV for one evening, which they think of as a treat!

Rikki

FairyElephant I like the double helpings of posts too.

Spendless

My 2 don't like mushrooms cos "they taste like eyeballs" :eek: I frequently serve eyeballs so I can understand how they made that comparison.:D I haven't got a problem with anyone saying they don't like something after they have tried it. I don't like sprouts and as I am fond of telling my MIL my tastebuds don't change just because it is Christmas Day.:p What I do have a problem with is announcing they don't like something, they've previously eaten fine or not even trying- this isn't exclusive to kids either, we have equally as faddy adults in my family!:rolleyes:

Savvy_Sue

Spendless wrote: »

My 2 don't like mushrooms cos "they taste like eyeballs" :eek: I frequently serve eyeballs so I can understand how they made that comparison.:D

:rotfl:Another of DS1's dislikes is mushrooms, even now. Once his best friend's mum had prepared mushroom soup for tea. When she realised she calmly dished it up as SouperSoup, and everyone gobbled it up, including DS1. He was about to have seconds, when his friend said "Mum, this is mushroom, isn't it?" At which point he decided he hadn't liked at all! :mad:

tincat

If the kids will eat something e.g. bananas / apples / bread, try the following:

Make good food as normal. Dish up your own food. Put only a banana on their plates, or something very bland that they will eat. All eat at the table as usual.

I bet they will be smelling your food, and looking at you obviously enjoying your food, and want to try some. If they only want the banana, let them only eat that as it's quite nutritious.

At least this way you can keep what goes uneaten for another meal and you won't stress about waste. Kids sometimes go through phases of limited eating, and this will take some of the stress off you. They will not die of starvation.