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Without having a lot of facts I would venture this is a control/manipulation thing.Kids eat when there hungry and if their diet is correct they alway ready to eat.If this is a powerplay ,a few evenings of no dinner will take care of that.(no dinner no dessert) was the rule in my house,but my kids ate like horses all the time .Be firm but keep an eye on this one closely, and send more facts.
Went through the same thing with my daughter, she was around 5 @ the time. Well, let's just say that she is going full steam ahead every since then. Her thing was DRINK. she loved juice and soda. I know it's not healthy but if she wouldn't eat, I wouldn't give her anything to drink. It is amazing how much willpower they have @ that age but eventually after going to bed hungry and thirsty a few times, she learned what to do. Her dinner plates started off very small but then they gradually grew. Now, I'm going through the same thing with my son. Luckily for me I've been down this road.
Good Luck!!
Rick, you have a beautiful family. This thread takes me back to when I was a little girl. When I was 8 years old I would play with my food rather than eat it. My siblings would eat their dinner and leave the table, but I was still sitting there looking at my dinner. My father use to tell me to eat my dinner that there was starving kids in China who don't have a lot to eat. So, I told my father that the kids in China could have my dinner, however, he made sure that I ate it. Now I have a 5 year old niece who won't eat her dinner, and sometimes I would sit next to her and try to get her to eat. When that doesn't work, I would promise her a snack or let her play dress up with my clothes and shoes if she finishes her dinner. And it works every time she's over my house.
Dinnertime is still not perfect in our house...the kids are not bashful about saying they don't like something...but they eat.
Truth is, it only took 2-3 times, over a couple weeks, going to bed hungry for them to get it. And they've learned that some things they thought they hated are not so bad afterall.
And we are kind about it: We don't make foods that we know most of them dislike...and make an honest effort to make stuff we know they all like.
Unfortunately pointing out the starving kids of the world just doesn't sink in for them.
And you wisely point out to: Sometimes bribery works too.
We had this problem with my god daughter. If you only put a small portion on the plate and tell them they only have to eat a certain portion they usually do okay. We would tell Emilyne that if she at 3 chicken nuggets, 2 bites of carrots, and 3 bites of potatoes she could be excused. We gradually upped the number of bites. She will eat about anything now. Plus it helps if there are no distractions if the TV was on or people were coming and going she was often too distracted to eat. The key is not to excuse the child until they take X number of bites.
Every dinner is a battle..anyone have any advise on this..
Can you give us a little more information? A battle as in she won't eat veggies, or she complains about the food, what is it? Was she a good eater before? Did something change like a new school or maybe having problems in school, new family member (a baby) or is there a physical reason like she might have a stomache ache???
I have this problem with my five year old too. She will tell me shes hungry like every five seconds but if i give her something to eat then i have to give her my evil mommy look and she pouts. i found out when she says im hungry it really means i want candy. Maybe you should practice your evil mommy look in the mirror and then test it out. it wrks on men too.
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