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

[http://users.livejournal.com/urban_faerie_/]

Looking back on my own life I ate what the grown ups were eating pretty much from the time I was able to sit at the table. I always thought this was because there was no such thing as "kid food" in my house growing up. My mom didn't keep junk food or even frozen chicken nuggets in the house. I would go over my friend's house and find their food confusing and scary. I think I barfed the first time I tried kool-aid. To this day fast food still gives me a stomach ache.

My mom had this annoying rule of saying I had to have a, "No thank you serving" of whatever was on my plate that I didn't like (i.e eating one green bean) but she generally didn't force the issue because I ate most things save for a few things I really can't stand to this day... like peas, I still HATE peas. I think kids have much more developed taste buds than adults do so things we think are delicious are things they find yucky or overwhelming or just can't stand the consistency of. So a kid may refuse food for reasons other than being picky or bratty.

As an adult I know plenty of people who are healthy eaters who have picky children, so it is possible that my parents just lucked out. You know, I think a lot of the food wars that happen in families with small children have more to do with kids learning to assert their autonomy over their own bodies and push their boundaries than it does with not liking particular foods. It can be tough to be a kid and have somebody else regulating everything you do with your body, what you eat, when you bathe, use the bathroom and go to bed, etc, even the most in-tune parent isn't going to get it right all the time. Damn it makes me cranky just thinking about it.

I think what you do with Alice is a good compromise. She isn't forced to eat anything but she also isn't rewarded for being picky. This way, she can come to eating a variety of foods on her own. I'd say this is the way to go!