At my wits end

Out of ideas. Every single tea time without fail, my son, who is normally a good lad (for the most part) becomes the naughtiest demon there is. He wont eat his tea no matter what it is. This hasn't always been the case, just the last 6 months or thereabouts.

He's not ill, he eats breakfast and lunch. Just tea time, he'll deliberately throw his cuttlery on the floor, sulk, pick at his food with his fingers, everything except eat.

Making a game of it doesn't work. Threats that he'll go to bed straight away if he doesn't eat stopped working ages ago. I've even told him I'm sending all his stuff back to santa unless he's good. Nothing works.

I'm sick of being in a mood at tea time.

Any ideas?

 

Maybe a lighter lunch for him, My jessie(7yr) is never to keen on tea after a school dinner but she likes it if i make her a little party of a sandwich(no crusts on) jelly or yogurt,biscuit etc not a huge amount thou,i stopped nagging her yrs back i figure she isnt going hungry so why stress Then maybe cereal before bed if she then pekish

 

Poppy wouldn't eat at all after her mum left, she was only 2. I was at my wits ends too, tried everything.

Having had enough one day I boiled up some plain sweed & potato, she ate the lot

Think i'd been over doing it on the flavours.

 

firstly what do you have at lunch and what do you eat tea and how old is he ?

 

IVe got a screaming banchee from four onwards atm so I feel your pain. She tends to like to do things that wind me up toddlers def know what buttons to press :/
I give her a plastic bowl and cutlrey and give her 15 mins to eat it. Voila if I ignore her antics and just carry on chatting to her as normal she eats. She scoffed smoked haddock today {she is three on sun)
Tiredness plays a big part in it im sure

 

At lunch time, he usually just has a sandwich or some of those awful chicken nuggets or other such stuff that for some reason appeals to kids.

He'll be 4 year old in a couple of weeks.

 

ah this is quite simple at this age he is testing boundaries
he knows it gets a BIG reaction so he is playing up

what battle is it that you want to win is it that he eats healthily or at this point that he eats ?? then do you care if he uses cutlery or not ... REMEMBER which battle is it you want to win ?

 

AWe bless him almost exactly a year older than mine . WHat time does he eat dinner and tea and start his bedtime routine

 

I want to ensure he gets a well balanced diet. I suspect most kids would, if left to their own devices, choose sweets and biscuits over proper food, and my son is no different in that respect. We let him have treats, but not for at least a couple of hours before meal times, and never too much.

I'm partly worried because he starts school full time in September, and once he starts staying at school for lunch, we wont be there to try to make him eat. If we were to feed him like a baby, he'd eat, he just can't be bothered to do it himself, and that's half the battle.

There's also the point that if we let him leave his tea, then come bed time, he'll wait til he's in bed then start complaining that he's hungry.

Dinner is around 12:30, tea around 5:30, bed time around 8.

 

Does he have fav foods? jess loves the horrid chicken nuggets aswell! Also garlic sausage slices which i will cherry toms and celery on cocktail sticks to go with(prob not a good move with your young lad thou)
i chop hotdogs in pieces and put smiley faces on them with tomato sauce or let her do it(a right pain!) and a mess
Alphabet potato shapes,spelling things with her before i cook them
Kids do prefer finger foods for sure
i would love to see a royal kid training programme!

 

is he in school yet ?
if so he does he have school dinners ? if he isnt he soon will be, so a big meal at lunch time ( if he has school dinner) and a picnic lunch if pack lunches all of these things need to be thought of .... basically you are about to stage war on a little person who has learn to manipulate parents since the day they were born you just have to understand this and be a game play ahead

 

i seem to be having problems posting is it just me

 

whats his favorite treat ?

 

They would let you know clueless if he wasnt eating but if you are still feeding him at 4yr old like a baby then you need to stop i think,he will eat when he his hungry ...do you hold his sandwich to his mouth at lunch time?

 

Cluless

I was a nightmare for not eating when I was a kid , I was just fussy with what I eat it was the texture of the food that put me off baked beans was the worse my poor mum. I looked like a rib bone from what my elder brother told me but I did like cereals and lots of milk , still the same now and yes I still hate Baked Beans .
Some kids just dont need as much as others and as my Doctor told me last year
"better to rattle than roll"

Spruce