Alternatives

[lillibet]

I'm curious what other parents think of this post. Our solution has been that Alice doesn't have to eat what she doesn't like at dinner and then she has a before-bed snack of yogurt mixed with oatmeal and fruit, so she won't go to bed hungry, which drastically affects the ease of bedtime. And, mostly Alice will find something on her dinner plate to eat if she's hungry and if it's not a hungry day, very little is acceptable. And she does eat so many things that it hasn't been a big deal. But forewarned is half the octopus, so I think about strategies.

I understand the theory behind what these folks are trying, but in the family I know who did this, the alternative was for the kids to nuke themselves a hot dog and the outcome was two teenagers who really didn't eat anything but hotdogs.

Comments

[kirkcudbright.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much the approach we took with Kylie. She had to try it, then she could go make peanut butter or Cheerios or whatever. (If it was something she had previously rejected, but more than a few months ago, she had to try it again.) She took that option a lot when she was younger, but not now that she's a teenager.

Travel was a challenge when she was a pickier eater. She was 10 the last time we were in Scotland, and didn't like most of what was on offer, but discovered cheese out of desperation. Since then, she hasn't met a cheese she doesn't like, even some I won't touch.

My own childhood was one of "you have to take some of everything, and you have to finish what's on your plate." What a complete waste of time.

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes--past the first bite, we don't ever coerce Alice into eating something she doesn't want. My own childhood was filled with the mixed messages of "eat more" and "eat less" and I'm trying very hard not to repeat that history with my own daughter.

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

By the way, speaking of food, how's your tummy?

[kirkcudbright.livejournal.com]

Much better now, thanks! I blame HMart - too much yummy stuff to eat it all at once - combined with early and deep-seated training in Not Throwing Food Out.