Better eating habits and kids....Need more help!!

[miss_thenorth]

Plain and simple. you eat what is put in front of you or you don't eat. Period. Don't allow him to make his own food. (And get the ritz crackers out of the house ) Also, make him take at least three bites of what is offered. If he still chooses not to eat anything after that, so be it. Eventually he will eat. He will never allow himself to starve. Also, if my kids did not want to eat a meal, they weren't allowed snacks either.

Get him to help you plan the menu for the week. Sometimes when they get to help with the planning, they are more apt to eat it. Present him with about 9 choices of what you want to eat, and put one of his favourite meals in there. Get him to choose the 7 meals, and let him decide which day to have which meal.

My son was a big cracker and cereal kid. While I still buy cereal on occasion, I stopped crackers cold turkey. He squawked for a bit, but now when he has the munchies, he goes for fruit or raisins. We also pop popcorn.

My son was the more difficult one, and this trick worked for him. The only option I give him, is he doesn't like potatoes, --never has, not even french fries. So, this I don't fight, but I say he can either have bread or pasta in lieu of the potatoes. Getting him to eat potatoes was a battle I didn't choose ti fight, since when I was a kid, I didn't like potatoes, but had to eat them.

 

[Wifezilla]

I need this child to eat.

He wont starve himself to death unless his OCD issues are REALLY bad...in which case he need to go to the doctor.

Don't allow him to make his own food. (And get the ritz crackers out of the house)

THAT!

 

[freemotion]

Two thoughts came to mind.....now, I don't have kids, but I was one, in a household with times of severe financial woes. I remember my father blowing up one day when one of us (my bro, I'm sure, I was pure sweetness ) complained about dinner. He said something to the effect that our mother was doing the best she could with what she had and we were NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, to ever again complain about any food that was put on the table. Ever. Only warning. And it was....my growing-like-a-weed young teenage brother complained one more time, was immediately sent to his room (by Dad) without food, and didn't get any food or get out of his room until breakfast the next morning. No one ever complained again in the several years that we lived there.

Let your husband teach your boy to be a man. He will survive it.

Rule number two was that we always had to eat our veggies, and what was put before us. We were allowed to hold our noses and use a milk chaser for certain items, but it had to be done without drama or it was considered complaining. Only very rarely were we allowed to NOT try certain things.....stuffed beef heart and beef tongue could be skipped, but we had to stay at the table and eat our veggies and not comment on the horror before us! I did have to eat liver, though.

And the second thought....as Miss_thenorth stated...get him involved with the planning....but I would take it a step further, he now has to help with preparation and all the steps, including clean up after. That will make complaining not so much fun.

And from teaching healthy lifestyle classes to many, many moms, one thing that always comes up in every group is how to get the kids to eat properly. I like to let the other mothers answer that one, it has more impact than it would coming from childless me. They always say that the kids are too young and foolish to make health choices for themselves, that is the job of the parent. And, as was said, don't buy the stuff, then they can't eat it...at home, anyways. Usually someone also says that they just tell their child that they love them, so that is why they are making them eat veggies and not buying junk anymore.

This doesn't work as well with husbands....they are slower learners sometimes....but it does work!

 

[The Vail Benton's]

I like the sit down and talk approach with the older kids... I remember one year at Thanksgiving when I made everyone responsible for planning, shopping and preparing part of the meal. I think my boys were 11 and 13 back then. It turned out to be the best meal we ever had - everyone participated, everyone tried what everyone else cooked, and nobody turned thier noses up at anything. It was a great meal. I think when children feel like they're included in the decision making process, they're more likely to make sound choices. That's just my humble opinion.

 

[Dace]

OK all opinions are appreciated here

Dh would like the 'Let your husband teach your boy to be a man. He will survive it.' approach perhaps you are right I am too soft. Obviously!

Ok, we will have a sit down and I know that you are right about getting more particiaption in the kitchen...I of all people know that participation opens up the doors to partaking in the food.

New rules. Eat. No complaining.

 

[Wifezilla]

I never forced my kids to eat something they didn't want to but I was a real hard-@$$ about trying new foods. You had to AT LEAST taste it. No whining, no drama, no stupid faces...you had to give it an honest try. If you didn't like it...no problem. If you acted like an idiot...you had to try it TWICE.

 

[elijahboy]

put everything you like them to have on the top shelf of the fridge and tell them they can have whatever is on the top shelf

if it doesnt need to be cold put it on the counter tell them they can have whatever is in the bowl on the counter

you will be putting the things on the top shelf in the fridge or the counter and no worries

 

[rebecca100]

Dace-I am having the same problems only mine is with sugar. They(husband included)REFUSE to drink water. Tea and cokes. We go through about 2 lbs of sugar a week. I weaned them from about four. My dh would make tea so sweet it was sickening. I got them down to 1 cup per gallon instead of two. I am thinking about limiting the kids tea to 1 big glass a day and the rest water or milk. And our finances are really tight right now and it is hard not to buy things that are cheap like ramen noodles and macaroni which are not good for you but go a long ways when prepared with something else. Here lately i have been stuck between healthy and cheap. And I am the only one it seems on the healthy side. For a while I put anything not eaten on their plate in the fridge and wouldn't let them eat anything else until it was finished. That really worked. Mine were younger then though.

 

[me&thegals]

Plain and simple. you eat what is put in front of you or you don't eat. Period. Don't allow him to make his own food. (And get the ritz crackers out of the house ) Also, make him take at least three bites of what is offered. If he still chooses not to eat anything after that, so be it. Eventually he will eat. He will never allow himself to starve. Also, if my kids did not want to eat a meal, they weren't allowed snacks either.

Get him to help you plan the menu for the week. Sometimes when they get to help with the planning, they are more apt to eat it. Present him with about 9 choices of what you want to eat, and put one of his favourite meals in there. Get him to choose the 7 meals, and let him decide which day to have which meal.

My son was a big cracker and cereal kid. While I still buy cereal on occasion, I stopped crackers cold turkey. He squawked for a bit, but now when he has the munchies, he goes for fruit or raisins. We also pop popcorn.

My son was the more difficult one, and this trick worked for him. The only option I give him, is he doesn't like potatoes, --never has, not even french fries. So, this I don't fight, but I say he can either have bread or pasta in lieu of the potatoes. Getting him to eat potatoes was a battle I didn't choose ti fight, since when I was a kid, I didn't like potatoes, but had to eat them.

This is EXACTLY how it works in our household, too. I would add that it would help to try your hardest to not make it a power struggle. Once it becomes that, well, then it is just that--a power struggle. Even if you feel frustrated, tense or upset, try to act very calm and not let him know it is getting to you. Plus, then it really is about enjoying mealtimes and not fighting over food.

I've never known a child to self-starve.

I don't claim to be parent of the year, but this is how we have always handled food with our kids (and I'm talking ALL kinds of fruits and veggies, literally ALL kinds), and they are absolutely incredible eaters.

Our kids DO have to try at least 1 bite of each food at a meal. They simply have to try the food, and that we did fight about when they were young. Eventually, they learned to just do that since they knew they didn't have to eat more if they didn't like it.

Maybe having your children garden with you would help. Kids are so proud of things they have grown and picked that they just have to try eating them

Good luck!

 

[me&thegals]

I never forced my kids to eat something they didn't want to but I was a real hard-@$$ about trying new foods. You had to AT LEAST taste it. No whining, no drama, no stupid faces...you had to give it an honest try. If you didn't like it...no problem. If you acted like an idiot...you had to try it TWICE.

That's great! I wish I would have thought of that for my son--he would have had LOTS of 2-bite tries!! Thanks for making me laugh out loud over the idiot part and stupid faces