s/o Food Battles

jensriot

I try not to fight food battles with the kids. What I make for dinner is what's for dinner. The kids get it and will sometimes choose not to eat. No problem. Recently though we have a fun dynamic. Each kid will only eat portions of their meals. For example, tonight is pasta with shrimp in a tomato sauce and some bread. DD1 will only eat the pasta, DD2 will only eat the tomatoes and some bread, DS will eat the shrimp, but not touch the pasta or tomatoes. If your kid only likes one thing on their plate, do you let them have as much of that one thing as they want? Do they have to eat the other foods on their plate to get seconds of their favorite? I'm leaning toward letting them have more of the foods they like without a fuss. If I do though, some nights the only thing DD2 will have for dinner is bread. I'm torn.

sschwege

With DS I just keep getting him more of what he wants, like last night all he would eat were the tomatoes, so I just kept giving him tomatoes.  He's still so young it's not like I can really explain things to him.

With DD I will typically do about 2 helpings of whatever it is she is eating after that I tell her she must finish what's on her plate to get more.  It's more out of a desire to not waste the food, usually she will finish it to get more of the 'hot item' but sometimes she declines and says she's done.

penguingrrl

It depends with me. They may not leave the table without tasting everything (even if it's one small bite) and without eating a full serving of whatever veggie. They also may not have seconds of anything before trying everything. If they want a small bite of everything else and 3 servings of veggies, they are welcome to it. If they want only pasta they usually have to have veggies in between each serving so they aren't entirely filling up on grains. If they only want meat or fish they also need veggies between servings.

joyfullyfound

DD has to try everything on her plate before she can have more of any particular item. It's never a battle, she begrudgingly but quickly tries it all so she can get more of whatever she wants haha.

zbeesma86

Z & I food battle. Too much! She used to love eggs. Now she won't touch them. She used to love pb&j. Won't eat a sandwich. It's so frustrating!!! I take it too personally & it ends up a fight. But I cave & make something that she will eat. So i usually end up making 2 dinners tell me this gets better. I know I need to stop but dammmmnnnn!

Mrs.Hizzo

As long as it's not unhealthy like french fries or potato chips, I'm happy to let them have as much as they want of one thing. Sometimes I'll say "I'll get you more chicken, but I'd like you to try a bite of the asparagus first." I do this with my youngest because he always decides he hates something based on the way it looks, and sometimes if he tries a bite, he realizes he likes it.

catycate

He has to try everything on his plate before getting seconds of anything and it depends on if I give thirds or more of an item. Tonight we had taco salad, and all he wanted was chips. He got seconds but declined to eat any more of the actual salad or meat so he did not get thirds. Had he been crazy about the avacado, I would have kept giving until he didn't want any.

rosesandpetals

DD is still young but I pretty much know what she will eat and what she won't. If dinner is something I know she won't eat well, I cater her snacks to that. I know she won't eat asparagus so if we're having it for dinner, her daytime snacks are cut up peppers instead of cheerios. I'm more worried about the day's intake than one particular meal.

vlagrl29

hls19 said:

Z & I food battle. Too much! She used to love eggs. Now she won't touch them. She used to love pb&j. Won't eat a sandwich. It's so frustrating!!! I take it too personally & it ends up a fight. But I cave & make something that she will eat. So i usually end up making 2 dinners tell me this gets better. I know I need to stop but dammmmnnnn!

I still have to make 2 dinners at times because DD hates meat.  It is frustrating.

jensriot

Thanks ladies. It sounds like we're not too far off from everyone else. I want them to try everything at least once. If they want seconds and thirds of veggies, I'm not going to worry about it. More helpings of nothing but bread may get me to encourage more bites of everything else.