Category: Parent Talk
heh, I'd have to say, the hardest thing for me is keeping track of how much food noah actuilly gets in his tummy, and how much food ends up on the flore. so say, if he's eating chicken nuggits, or fish sticks, I have to count them so i'll know how much he ate if there's some left on his tray, or if i find some in the flore, does any one elce do this, or what kind of other methids do you guys have?? i'd love to know, because meal time is our most challenging time, he likes to play with his food more then he likes to actuilly eat it, but he did eat 12 fish sticks tonight, so i'm not complaining, lol, that should keep him full for days. heheheheh.
i'd really like to know how meal time is for other blind parrents. thanks in advance, signed, pulling my hair out.
I'll probably catch heat for this, but if my wife was out1 I put a piece of newspaper under her high chair. Some thought that was mean, apparently people use newspaper with puppies, but really, how would she know? She was in the chair and yes, they play with their food a lot.
as i said before i put a cheap plastic table cloth under the high chair. then, after the fun and frolic were finished, I'd shake it out. then every few days i'd wash and dry it.
food should never ever be a power and control game. kids have a better sense of when they have had enough than we do. our moms shamed that out of us in the toddler years.
a rule of thumb for any child is up to the middle of elementary school, they should eat the amount of table spoons they are old of each thing. therefore, a two year old should have two tablespoons of peas, two more of mashed taters, etc. how the heck you measure the meat always beat the heck out of me. since my kids never liked it much and drank a lot of milk and ate dairy i never worried over much.
do not fall in to the habit of being a short order cook for junior. they eat what we eat or they go hungry. even if the only eat some of it. it really frosts me to see mommies saying "sally may do you want oatmeal or cheereos." after a huge argument the mom makes the oatmeal and the little brat says "don't want it. i want the cheereos." then foolish mom fixes them. grrrr!!!!!
if a child doesn't like something they shouldn't have to eat it. remember their taste buds are newly minted and stuff we consume may often have a very nasty taste.
The best way I have found to deal with pickiness is to hide the offensive items in other stuff or have the kid help cook dinner. Once they have a hand in putting the nasty tomatoes in the salad they may be more likely to eat them.
Hope this helps.
Good tips, Holly. Will have to use the tablespoon idea.
that is a good idea to count his fish sticks and other food that can be accounted for. I'd do the same thing. I honestly did not think to do that, but I love that idea. More should take that suggestion. It might help.
I normally stand over the baby, feed him and make a game out of it. I'd watch what the baby would throw onto the floor and all that. But, I like your way better than mine.
Speakingof kids throwing food, you guys should ahve seen wht happened at my friend's son's first birthday party. He took his first-ever slice of cake and ... well, it ended up on the floor. lol
I try not to fuss about food at mealtimes. If she eats, fine. If she starts playing with it, it goes away. That simple. Also, if she doesn't eat all of what I give her, she will most likely come back for it later, so I don't worry about her not eating all of it in one sitting.
I pretty much do the same thing Allie does. We try not to fight over food, but when you don't have a lot ofchoices, it's frustrating to see a kid toss your homemade chicken on the floor...
all of these are very helpfull...haven't gotten that far yet though so I will come back when the time arrives
Well a couple of things. Never, ever, ever force a kid to eat. That is why we have fat adults "Just one more bitd. Do it for mommy. If you don't finish this yummy food she made you, she's gonna cry. Don't you want to be big and strong?" Kids no when they are hungry and when they are full. Have relatively set meal times, but never refuse healthy snacks between meal times if they are requested. Remember that what a kid eats in one day doesn't matter. What they eat in a week, averaged out does matter and is a much better indication. No counting system or measuring system will tell you. Your child will tell you. Look at how many wet and dirty diapers they have or how many times they use the potty. I have a three strikes rule with Jeremy. I will offer a food, then switch to another, then to another, rotating through the meal. If he spits out or pushes away a food three times, with me asking him if he is sure, then that's it, no arguing, no frustration, that food is put away,, and we keep working with the others. If he throws something on the floor though, it goes away right then, whether he was eating it or not. I will not have perfectly good nutricious food wasted, or my floor get messy, he can easily overthrow the edge of a plastic mat, or my dog get sick because Jeremy is throwing food on the floor. I say "Jeremy, no, that's wasteful. All you have to do is tell me you don't want it and I'll put it on the counter, or back into the fridge." He is starting to say "No." or "Fridge." or "Counter." or "All done" when he is done with something, instead of throwing it. I only offer him healthy choices, so that whatever he chooses we won't fight about it. If you don't want them filling up on empty callory, nutritionally lackking startch, like potatos or pasta, don't offer it to them in the first place, or offer them a small amount only, and once they finish what is on the tray of that food, they are done. Never ask a toddler "Do you want to put on your coat to go outside?" If it is non nigociable, then don't confuse or upset them, by making it sound nigociable. "Do you want to wear the red coat or the blue sweater?" "Do you want mommy to zip your coat up, or do you want to try it yourself?" not "Do you want to put your coat on so we can go outside?" Because if the answer as "no" where does that leave you? You have just given them a choice and then promptly invalidated that choice. Same with food. Don't ask open ended questions. If you ask a toddler "What do you want for breakfast?" and they say "Icecream" then you will say no, communicating to them that you didn't really care what they wanted, because you have all of the power. Give them the power. Ask "Do you want mango, or banana or apple?" or "Would you like your eggs fried or scrambled?" A totally healthy toddler who isn't being pressured or neglected, the nice happy balance, might eat nothing all day, but some milk and half a banana, then the next day they might nash down two eggs, a whole mango, some cucumber slices and a small bowl of oatmeal, and that is just fine. Look at their weight, hight and head circomference on the chart, and as long as they are not in the ninety-ninth or the first percentile, stop worrying, and follow their growth curve, not just how they compare to others. If your child is constantly and consistantly in the twenty-fifth percentile, and that stays the same over time, this is good, it just means that they are a small child. If it suddenly drops or sky rockets, that is the time to start looking deeper.
Chloe sometimes throws her food on the floor, but not as much anymore, she just won't eat it if she doesn't want it, and so I take it. I don't try and force her to eat, even though some people tell me I should. I think that's wrong. That would be like someone telling you you have to eat, when you're not hungry. Chloe is a good eater when she wants to be, but if not, I just give her stuff to munch on, so she's not totally going without. She's difficult when it comes to food, but once you find what she likes, she goes to town on it.