to have told my DS "tough" and sent him away crying?

[sickoftheholidays]

to give a littl e background, DS (6) is a fussy eater. I mean really fussy, whingy, and with a small appetite for proper food and a huge appetite for biscuits and junk food.
He came home from school today complaining that he was starving, so I got tea on straight away, it was ready for 4.30, it was pizza and dough balls. Not at all nourishing, but I do do it once a week, usually when I've had a rough day at work and cant be arsed to cook anything more complex.
DS has 3 pieces of pizza and 3 dough balls on his plate. He has 1 bite from the end of each piece of pizza and then says he's finished. I say no, you can have a proper go at eating it, he then has another reluctant bite from each piece of pizza and again says he doesnt like the cheese any closer to the crust as it tastes funny. Oh, and the doughballs taste funny too.
So I said fine, off you go outside and play but dont be asking for anything else to eat as you wont be getting anything.
10 minutes later he's in the kitchen cupboard looking for biscuits because he's starving, cue me hiding all the biscuits and kicking my crying and allegedly starving child back out to play with his friends.
AIBU to think he is just being an awkward bugger and its tough shit if he's hungry, he will learn to eat his bloody dinner!
I've tried ignoring his not eating, I've tried bribery, I've tried everything, nothing works. I'm not a bad cook, but whatever I give him, he manages about 2 mouthfulls then says he's full before begging for biscuits within half an hour of finishing. If I let him (which I dont) he will eat an entire packet of custard creams between meals, but refuses healthy snacks like carrot sticks, cream cheese and bread sticks, ham, grapes etc.

Stop buying treats.

So her DD who is a good eater gets no reward?

Wonder how long it would take to have two fussy eaters on her hands verytelly?

He sounds like a bit of a pickle to me...trying to assert himself and exercise his independence too!

Difficult one - but I do think you did the right thing.

I guess you've tried involving him in decisions about what to have for meals (not every meal obviously...but some)?

DS1 has been trying on this fussy eating nonsense, just at home, mind.

His latest ploy was "I've eaten most of my tea" so DH gave him "most of" his pudding. In this case a corner yoghurt. DH took the nice bit of the yoghurt away. We are winning slowly, but it's been bloody hard work.

no yanbu.

Mind you I wouldn't inflict liver on my worst enemy..

It does sound as if he was being awkward by saying it tasted funny.

Maybe he just didn´t fancy it?

I think I would have offered toast of a sandwich, but that´s it.

Do you ever as what he would like or just present him with stuff & expect him to eat it?

"DH took the nice bit of the yoghurt away."

Does that mean that you gave him just the revoltingly sweet corner bit, then?

YANBU.
my youngest was doing something very similar over every meal.

just one more bite is that enough ?or if she eats x then can she leave y. refusing food we knew she liked. spilling drinks into it. wanting dc2's potatoe because it looked nicer than hers. she also wanted the food removing immediatley when she had 'finished' .

It was turning each meal time into a battle.

We had to totally clamp down to resolve it. No to any snacks at all. All meals sat at the table. everyone. No discussion about the food in anyway (all other subjects were fine). Everyone had to sit there until each person had finished the amount they wanted. Reminding her when the next meal was so if she left it there was nothing else until then.

It was hard at first as she really wanted to bargain over it all. The no discussion of the food stopped that completely. She was told repeatedly that she could eat it or leave it but we were NOT talkng about it. When she said she had finished that was fine but because she had to sit and wait for everyone else to finish she would carry on eating.

We have now been able to relax things (after about 6 months) as there has been so much progress. She eats a much larger variery of things and nearly normal amounts also. All snacks are healthy yogurts and fruit and are there at the end of the meal regardless of amount eaten. Sweets are reserved for occasional treats. All the tension from the mealtimes are gone.

It felt so harsh at first but like yourself OP we had tried everything else favourite foods,explanations of body needing food to be healty, bribery, bargaining. rewarding siblings and leaving her out. everything we could think of. none of it worked so this felt like last resort. even if this had failed it had taken away the battle and she wasnt any worse off because she wasnt eating anyway. It worked for us.

My ds2 can be fairly picky when he wants to be but our rule now is to sit at the table and eat the meal or it goes in the bin. If they leave the table they get 2 warnings, and if they leave then the tea goes in the bin and there's nothing else until morning. I wouldn't say this has made ds eat more though, he has just learnt not to ask for anything else as he know's he won't get it...

One thing I did wonder from reading your post is that maybe you are giving him too much on his plate? Try smaller portions, maybe 1 slice and 1 dough ball and he might not be so daunted by all the food on the plate.

Excuse my ignorance, but what are doughballs?

I agree with Curly about the amount on his plate. Unless it was a tiny pizza, I think 3 slices might be a bit over powering if he isn't a great eater. He may look at it and think "gosh I've got to eat all that".

I'm the same actually, I hate a huge plate of food, It really makes me lose my appitite.

I am scratching my head and wondering if I actually posted this it is just like my ds(9)

YANBU. You are right. It is tough shit for him and hopefully he will learn

Kids eat when they are hungry enough

Did mean to add sickof I agree with what you did. Stick to your guns, get rid of the snacks and I'm sure he will soon get back into eating at meal times.