Picky Eaters: Dinner Time

Helping kids develop healthy eating habits - Part 2

Getting our children on board with eating healthy can be a significant challenge to say the least. This challenge is aided daily by the messages we all receive from high powered marketing ad campaigns that are everywhere. So how do we take this matter in hand and begin influencing our children in a positive, successful manner? In this week’s blog, I am sharing the first of many tips that I have learned in working my children as well as from other parents that have successfully navigated this issue.

Here is my tip of the week for dealing with picky eaters:

Dinner Time: Have you ever had the challenge of your child sitting down to eat and after just a couple bites they claim to be full or not feel well? If you have a picky eater at home, then you know this routine all too well…My son Sam, who just turned four, is a master at this particular technique. He has a list of reasons for not finishing his dinner that is longer than my arm. Here is how we handle this particular challenge with him…

I never make my son finish his dinner in one sitting. HOWEVER, it is an absolute rule that while he can leave the table when he claims to be full, he is not allowed any other snacks or food until he returns to the table to finish his dinner. If he is genuinely hungry and just does not want the dinner that was served, he may move straight into crying or negotiating for some other type of food. What we found however is that as soon as you give in and allow other food to be eaten in place of dinner, he immediately learns how to use this regularly to get what he wants instead of what may be best for his health.

This means that while we will let him leave the table, his plate of food will remain until he is ready to eat - even after all the other dishes have been cleaned up or removed from the table. This also means remembering that his uneaten dinner is still there.

Guaranteed, Sam will return within about a half hour of leaving the table, requesting something else to eat. He will constantly request other foods throughout the evening, and using his well honed skills, he will attempt to wait long enough that you may forget about his uneaten dinner. This is where you must stay sharp! It is a simple case of reminding him: Finish your dinner then you can have something else to eat.

This may require repeated GENTLE reminders. I recommend remaining calm-by first acknowledging that your child knows you well and will use many creative and effective tactics to get you to cave in and give them their way. Secondly, you must commit to following through on this technique-as soon as you give in and let them eat something other than their dinner, they WILL know they can get away with this again.

Thirdly, relax and do not force your child to eat. Every child will eat when they are truly hungry and they will not go hungry for long, nor will they get sick from not eating enough one night. If ever they choose to go to bed at night without a full dinner and you hold to this commitment, they will get the message that dinner matters. For certain they will try again to skip dinner and take you through the routine, but over time you will have successfully contributed to very healthy eating habits that will have a lifetime of benefits for your child.

Stay tuned next week as I continue to share more of the techniques I use to successfully deal with picky eating habits. Next week I will be talking about how to make eating enough veggies and fruit everyday a fun experience for your child. I encourage to you write comments to me with regards to your questions, concerns or personal success stories.

(Note: This blog is a continuation from May 7, 2010)