eating battles

[sarahandeddie]

I am at my wit's end with Avery and eating. Every morning she asks for pancakes and then refuses to eat. She whines and cries for fruit snacks, goldfish and any other snack she can think of. This happens at nearly every meal. I am so frustrated!

I try not to give in but DH works nights and has a hard time sleeping through her shrieking. WWJ12 do? I'm pulling my hair out here!

[britbratjf]

Dagny does this too. She'll ask for something for a meal then either change her mind or say she doesn't want it. Eventually she gives in and eats it. Sometimes I will bribe her to eat more (I.e you can have some fruit snacks if you eat 3 more grapes) but if she just refuses what she asked no go. Could your H use a sound machine to drown out tantrums? I feel like if you stick to your guns for a few days she'll get the hint?

[roo1582]

Kayleigh does this a lot as well. I won't lie, we do a lot of bribing in our house. "Have a few bites of this and then you can have a fruit snack...". If she doesn't eat, then she doesn't get the snacks. We do have a lot of fits, but I've found that lately she fights back a little less on this (of course she found new things to have fits about...).

[bliz1712]

This is us at almost every meal. I think it's the age and testing their boundaries. Right now it is extremely hard because she was sick last week so we weren't the greatest at pushing food.

I use the bribing a lot or V and I try to make a game to entice her to eat. I also praise the crap out of her when she does eat well so it's not always nagging her to eat. My kid loves crackers and carbs so she begs for them a lot. You could also re offer the food on a different plate at a different meal. I've heard that work before too.

[sarasansh]

Is it only a morning battle? If it's mostly centered around pancakes I'd just stop making them an option.

Robin is still a grazer, so a lot of times he'll start eating and then get distracted and run off and play. I just put his plate in whatever room he's in and a lot of times he'll go back to it, but like an hour later, sometimes more.

I also feel like, at least with Robin, he's so stubborn that going head to head with him about something usually just makes him dig his heels in further. I won't give in, but I will continue to give him other options that I'm okay with him having--"We don't have goldfish right now, but you can have milk, juice, apples..." etc. and a lot of times I'll hit on a snack we're both okay with.

[summergirl1211]

Ugh, so frustrating! Can you give her two options to choose from? Like pancakes or eggs (or something else you know she'll like) and stick to your guns on it? I know with Riley if we give her too many options she wants nothing at all. Or yes, we also say "if you eat your pancakes you can have two fruit snacks" or whatever. I hope it helps!

[aylafsu1881]

We have eating battles to. E is picky and it is hard to get her to eat much. She would eat bread and noodles every meal if I let her. Our pedi suggested offering one item we know she likes per meal and rotating 1-2 others. This way she will eat something and hopefully try a bite of something new. However, there are days when even rice/bread do not appeal to her. Like others I do the bride technique. When she asks for something else I always tell her to eat 3 bites of something first. Usually she will do it and then I give her fruit, crackers, yogurt etc.

[britbratjf]

Oh also, she eats breakfast in front of the TV. May be a bad habit but generally it's our least fought meal of the day so I think it helps.

[mommymadness]

We are also in a similar situation with B. He rarely ever finishes his meal, sometimes won't even take a bit! It is super frustrating. I think it has become a bigger problem now that we are staying with my parents. There are so many adults around he is eating a lot more snacks than usual and just isn't as hungry at meals. Maybe you could try fewer snacks closer to meal times? I know you said it was breakfast so is it possible to just wait longer before giving her breakfast so she has time to wake up and get hungry?

[sarahandeddie]

I've tried bribery and it doesn't seem to phase her. She's so stubborn. I keep thinking about what's going to happen next year when she's in preschool. She needs to learn to eat within a reasonable amount of time (ie two mini pancakes in less than an hour). Otherwise she'll be starving at school!

Normally DH turns on some music and has a fan going but her shrieking still wakes him. Our current house is tiny and our bedroom shares a wall with the living and dining area. Hopefully we'll be moving in the next few months and that will help.

[paddyb]

bribery only very rarely works for us. I think I give in too easily. Although, he seriously gags when he tries new things (sometimes before it even gets in his mouth) if it isn't his idea.

[sarahandeddie]

The biggest battle is breakfast but she does this at nearly every meal. Since DH is usually sleeping or at work when we eat I'm on my own to deal with it. She's so tiny already. I'm scared she won't grow properly if she's refusing to eat.

[xanthepants]

Breakfast is a weird one for us in that she eats a tiny ting right away and then 2 hours later she is actually hungry and wants to eat something substantial. So I usually try and give her apple slices with cinnamon or a breakfast bar or a veggie muffin. Then later something bigger to sit down with.
We have also been incorporating a lot of conversations about eating healthy and what is a healthy snack and what is a treat (once a day is our house rule). I've tried to pull out apps or even Sesame street videos about eating healthy and such to garner conversation. We also have been prepping meals on weekends together (breakfast too). Would getting her involved in prep help get her excited? Making smoothies by picking the fruit or making homemade granola bars?

[meow84]

xanthepants Do you remember what apps/videos you used?