if the kids chuck there dinner in the bin

ceridwen

morwenna wrote: »

DD2 eats every type of veg and will try anything, but just doesn't like meat. It's not a moral thing, she doesn't enjoy the taste or texture. I just up the pulses/nuts whatever to keep the protein levels up, any tips with this from "proper" vegetarians would be gratefully received.

I'm no nutritionist - maybe someone who is will come along and be better placed to advise than me. I just work on the basis that as long as I am getting something with Vitamin C in, some protein and some "filler" food of one description or another in each meal then I must be getting it about right. Its very rarely that I have doubts about whether what I have just prepared is short on the protein front - and, if so, I just have a glass of milk or eat a chunk of cheese.

A vegan would probably be better placed than me to tell you specifically about nuts/beans/lentils - as their diet is more heavily reliant on these specific foods than mine is - but I would imagine they would be in a similar position to a vegetarian - ie vegan meals probably pretty much automatically have enough protein (but in the case of a vegan - then I guess they could "top up" if they had doubts with a glass of soya milk or a handful of nuts). I would feel I needed to take a Vitamin B12 supplement if I were vegan thats all.

jinky67

Gingham_Ribbon wrote: »

Nope. Nothing till dinner. Tough. Water allowed though. I can't be doing with pointless waste. I won't make him eat anything but he has to wait for anything else.

Yep me too:D

jinky67

LuciferTDark wrote: »

Mine eat what they're given or go hungry, I did try the "there's kids in Africa" speech once but my smarta$$ oldest son suggested boxing it up & sending it to them rather than eat it himself.

Yep I've had that one too:D

trigger2

Mean Mum here too ! They get served lunch/dinner thats made, there's not a choice. DD (8) is great & will eat practically anything, but DS (5) is more picky but he's learning ! His plate sometimes sits on the table for quite a while, I work on the basis that if he is hungry he will eat it. I wont make anything that they absolutely hate, so I know for mine, this system works. However I am frequently quite disgusted at other people who let their children not eat their meal & then give them something else when they whinge they're hungry :mad: Or what really gets my goat (I'm on a roll now !!) we're going to the in-laws today for dinner. They do a dinner for the adults of cold meat platter, frozen roasties, & some veg, & then give the kids (mine 5 & 8, & SILs 10 & 13) chicken nuggets & pizza !! AAAAARGH just give them proper food fgs :mad:

Now I need a lie down to calm down a bit before we go

regards
Trigger

:xmastree:

iceicebaby

I havent got any kids myself but as a child I remember my Mum making dinner and if we didnt eat it, TOUGH.

I think we pretty soon learned if we didnt eat it we wouldn't get anything else!

As an adult now we will eat pretty much anything as we were not pandered to as kids.

ceridwen

I may be wrong on this one....but I believe on the Continent there isnt this concept of "childrens food" that there is in Britain. As I understand it - they eat the same as the adults do.

It would certainly be a model I would advocate myself - and tell them how Continental/sophisticated/grown-up they were being to do so and try all the different range of foods and different ways of eating them that I believe in.

One of my friends (with children - now adults) said that he would bribe them for instance into eating something new by trying exactly that sort of argument and promising them that if they tried a few bites and didnt like it then he would give them something else they did like. He said it worked very well and that he worked on the basis that when they were adults they might get a job/career that involved a lot of eating out and that they needed to know what was what and be able to hold their own on the food front (basically so as not to come over as an unsophisticated "country bumpkin" to their work colleagues). Just as well in the event - as one has a career involving precisely that as an adult.

trigger2

Spot on ! I dont like this concept of childrens food we seem to have here. I was brought up to eat the same meal as the rest of the family, & that is what I do too. The only time I dont is if DH wants something the rest of us dont like eg liver. I do sometimes make my own chicken "nuggets" with breadcrumbs & herbs, & at least I know what's in them & we all eat them, but generally I don't pander to them.

Lily-Lu

ceridwen wrote: »

I may be wrong on this one....but I believe on the Continent there isnt this concept of "childrens food" that there is in Britain. As I understand it - they eat the same as the adults do.

Mine, now adults, were always given the same as us adults were eating. Just as I was as a child.
They'd happily eat spag bol, stews etc, even as toddlers. They were never really fussy children, and I think that's because they were fed home cooked food from a very early age. My youngest (now 19) was seen as a rather odd child by other family members and other mums, as when he was little, he hated chips (still does). He wouldn't eat burgers, or sausage, either. But loved veggies, tuna, pasta, rice etc

Who wants to make two separate meals every evening, anyway?:D

dorry_2

Shoey1610 wrote: »

As a senior mental health staff nurse who has worked on a CAMHS unit and an eating disorders unit, I'd just like to say that the fussiness with food we are talking about here has little to do with anorexia or any other eating disorder.

I give my 18 month old her meal which she can eat or leave, I don't give her an alternative if she won't eat it but I will give her her usual fruit afterwards which she can also eat or leave. However, she is a very adventurous eater, which I think is borne from personality rather than my parenting. She proved this today by insisting that she had some piccalilli like mummy (it was extra strong too!) and eating the little bit I gave her with her spoon and asking for more!

hi shoey,

my point was that when some children start becoming over fussy with food, it can lead to other problems, such as any eating disorders.

I am well aware that anorexia is a mental health problem and they cannot help feeling this way towards food

The anorexia paitents are obsessed with putting on weight, their whole world revolves around avoiding foods which they say they don't like!!!

I know that many children are fussy eaters, I have one at home, but sometimes if we ****foot around the issue, like some parents do, it can lead to some eating disorders or just make their fussiness much worse.

I have heard others in our family comment upon how I care for ds2, they have said things like, 'make him eat it' and he should sit there until he is finished!!! This attitude could easily damage some sensitive children and lead to other mental health issues later in life

Are you saying that none of your paitients with eating disorders were never fussy eaters at home????

takoo

Hi

I guess I'm a novice at this. Why not make it democratic and have some fun? Sit down with
kid(s) and dad and work out a week's menu the day before grocery etc shopping day.

Have some ground rules about:

• fruit
• cereals
• eggs etc etc
• treats (from kid's / mum's / dad's perspectives
• etra treats can be earned - do washing up.

You may need to trade off expensive treat for two lots of veg etc but that can be fun. I could prattle on ...?

Good luck for the New Year

Takoo