All inclusive

[strawthatbrokethecamelsback]

Seriously I thought it was the easy option! Currently on holiday in Menorca, lovely hotel, food is generally good but my 4 year old twins hate it.

this is our first time abroad, we usually get a cottage in the uk so of course I do all the cooking. The breakfast cereal is not the same - we have shreddies, bran flakes or weetabix. Wouldn’t entertain cornflakes or the “sugarpuffs” either. That then led into not eating anything and sitting and crying.

lunch no better, bit of bread & butter eaten, cheese not the same colour as ours - you get the picture.

and then having to run around the food hall 16 times to get their food, then your food so no one is actually eating together.

massive stress

someone tell me it’s gets better as they get older

I honestly believe it's not until kids are a lot older that holidays are remotely likely to be less stressful than home.

At 4 it's just same shit different place.

They might surprise you, especially once they realise the usual rules don't apply

Would they not eat some pancakes, or croissants, or crusty bread and jam and some fruit for their breakfast? There’s usually big bowls of yoghurt or, in some hotels, there’s pots in a fridge. There’s always scrambled eggs, beans and toast. Maybe they’re a bit tired still from the travelling?

TBH I wouldn’t care if they had pizza for lunch and chips for tea while they’re on holiday. It’s just a week, or two after all.

We go to Menorca all the time. Don’t worry. There’s always something to eat, I find. There’s always pizza, pasta, chips, loads of salads and fruit available at lunch and dinner, and breakfast choices are great, too.

Have a wonderful time.

From experience, small human beings can indeed survive off melon, cornettos and Parma ham for over 10 days. We have now conducted this experiment with 3 children and on recent holidays have brached out to chips with too much salt on, Nutella pancakes and fizzy pop. All 3 have gone back to eating normal, home cooked food with 2 kinds of veg when we got home. Let them eat any old chap as long as they're fed, and teach them to carefully refill your wine (into a glass with no stem if they're only 4). Enjoy!

We have just returned today and it sounds exactly like my son.
First day he hardly ate anything, day 2 I ended up buying cornflakes from the shop and taking them into breakfast with us. But by day 4 he had some porridge or cheese spread sandwiches.
It didn't get much better, he lived off chips, pizza and ice cream for all the other meals. I did get some yoghurts and fruit pouches from the supermarket which he ate absolutely fine.

They need to go and have a look! So much choice can be overwhelming but they are capable of looking for something they’d like!

Maybe make a game of it and let them choose your dinner?

Don't take them up to the buffet. Instead you or DH go up, while the other waits with the kids. Get two plates of food - one savoury and one sweet. So bread, chips, plain pasta, nuggets etc all on one plate - just a spoon of each. Fruit, cakes etc on another. Put in front of them and say they can have anything they like, including just bread and butter. They may find it easier with a smaller selection in front of them, and if they're all known foods. Don't bother with veg unless you know it's a favourite - it's one holiday, they'll survive. Then you and DH go and get your food one at a time. Ditto breakfast - toast, pancakes or whatever on one plate and fruit on another.

Bread and butter @headcheffer ! Think of the generations of Europeans who have lived off this as a good 80% of their diet. And in so many rich forms: sliced bread, bread rolls, garlic bread, etc!

Haven’t been on one since my youngest was 5 (only time we went). Had similar food choice issues!

He’s now 9 and we are going again - I’m looking forward to him being able to go up and select buffet food himself (without this being massively unfair to other dinners as when little kids do it and make a mess everywhere) and being able to carry his own beach/ swimming stuff about! And being able to sit on the side and watch him swim (not all the time but to have the option). Hooray!

So I think it will get better!

Are you overwhelming them OP?

At home you just give them there meal they don’t get the vast choice of AL, would it not be better if you just went and for them some of the foods they like and leave them sitting with another adult while you picked their plates?

To the parents whose DC haven’t eaten much on All inclusive holidays how are your DC when you eat out at home?

I remember when my DC were very young I’d make them up a plate of food of no more than 4 different food items so it looked similar to their dinner at home.

I also remember one sweet thing that started happening after a few all inclusive holidays. My oldest by 21 months DC liked to walk around with myself or my DH and choose the food for their younger sibling. My youngest would then give it a rating out of 10 and it was always 8 or over.

Mine do this. We go abroad quite a lot and sometimes they do it, sometimes they don't. Infuriating!!

Try not to put too many things on the plate and just keep it quite simple, find something they like and stick with it!! Mine normally like things like, oranges, toast, fried egg, plain pasta, cucumber and tomato. Surprising how many things are 'different'!

Tonight was awful again, i got one of my girls plain spaghetti, plain chicken, carrots & cheese. Very very similar to what we have at home. She just sat & cried and refused to eat a single morsel of food. It’s very embarrassing wasting all of the food.

we grabbed a banana as we were leaving and she ate 75% of it plus a big cup of milk.

we then went to the show & my other DD who is very gregarious & outstanding just sat & cried when the entertainment came out.

so we’re back in the room with our G&T’s

living the dream 😂😂😂😂

Not outstanding outgoing 🙄

Ah that's miserable. How long have you been there? Ours took a day or two to settle after a stupidly early flight.

I'd just take the pressure off and shovel crisps, ice cream, toast etc in at every available opportunity. Aim for avoiding hanger rather than nutrition!

If they enjoyed Kids' club earlier, maybe they are just too overtired to enjoy the evening entertainment. Tomorrow is another day.
I recall an AI trip to Majorca when mine was a similar age. Normally a great eater, but lived off chips and cucumber followed by ice-cream. I did not give her a (child sized) plate full due to the waste element, she got more if she ate the bit she'd been given. So maybe a little plain pasta with nothing else then seconds if needed.

I remember my DS first AI he was 6 - he couldn't believe that Mummy was letting him have doughnuts for breakfast - I had 2 rules - first don't pile yr plate up - you can always go back ,2nd rule - you need at least one fruit or veg - he loved it

He was pretty adventurous. The thing he liked doing in the evening before the entertainment was going to a food point where they cook it in front of you and you choose all the components - that and he added fries to mist dinners- well we were on holiday

Are they having afternoon naps? Mine needed them at that age or they were grumps. Infact they still tend to have them now and are 10, 13 and 18.

Do you think they might just be hot and over tired OP because of the heat ?? That's one reason we tended to go for the villas, apartments and Eurocamp- because our son was getting grumpy when small by around 8.45pm- so evenings out were a bit of an adult right off and we decided we would rather go for a meal around 6.30 and get the drink in and sit on the patio whilst he was in bed- he wasn't quite so bad if he had a sleep between 3 and 5 pm - he could then manage till around 9.30

Magic life's hotels are fab. They have a kids corner with a chef. Kids activities where the play group leader even sits with the kids too.

I wouldn't make a fuss about it just say fine to your girls and they can eat at a snack bar later on.

I've never had this with DS and we always go AL.

Have you got a kids club and splash Park for them OP?

I've always struggled with DD at AI hotels. Then we found holiday Village Majorca, they did chips in cones of "newspaper" all day around the pool and she lived on them. She liked the Indian restaurant there too. But last year we went to a bog standard AI and ended up feeding her from the subway over the road if we didn't go out to eat.

What is the attraction of AI such that you've continued to go despite your DD struggling with the food?

@TheOrigRights I actually think it's often poor value but perceived as good value by people whose children want/demand multiple snacks and ice creams all day plus partners or themselves who drink a fair bit . by the way this isn't bashing those people- it's just being honest about who it's perceived as good value for -- for others who don't drink that much and aren't massive buffet fans it's often not that great value.

I think maybe they are hot and overtired?

Enjoy your g&t