Advice pls- trying to stick to 'no food if you haven't eaten your dinner'

[deaconblue]

But tonight just before bed ds was begging to be allowed the cold remains of his dinner. Is that ok with the super nanny type approach or is it best to have a clear no food at all message?

Bump

Depends why he wanted it, I suppose. If he was genuinely hungry, why not?

If it was procrastinating bedtime, depends whether you want to play that game.

How old is ds?

Mine does that if he doesn't want to go to bed. He's 4.

Was he upset at dinner time, or just saying he wasn't hungry/ didn't want it.

What was dinner? Would he usually eat that?

We've allowed both kids to get into the habit of eating half their dinner and then giving them crackers and cheese when they say they are hungry later. I think they eat til they get bored rather than til they've eaten enough. We need to get them out of the habit. I warned him that there was a new rule and he had to eat all his dinner or there would be no more food today. I'm sure he was genuinely hungry but was worried if I gave him the leftovers I would be continuing with the bad habit of some food at dinner and then more before bed.

He's 5 btw

I think you should tough it out.

If it's to instil a new regime then you've got to be hardcore :)

He'll be fine for one night and extra breakfast tomorrow.

My DS sometimes only eats half his tea and says he is full as an excuse to play. (He is 6). After his bath, he will then say he is hungry. I used to give in and give him fruit or crackers or a scone. I have gotten wise to it now and if he doesn't eat all his tea, I put a dish over it and he has to finish it off later if he is still hungry.

Yes, I think five is old enough to understand that rule, and I think it's fair enough.

I also do bath straight after tea. If he thinks that he's going to watch a dvd or something before bed he's often 'full'. If I spell it out that leaving his food will bring forward the bath/ bed he's less keen to finish :)

Yes stick to your guns, it will soon pay off, I say cafe's closed after a certain point and they need to a reasonable amount of their tea.

I think if you've decided that this is the new rule then you have to stick to it. Perhaps remind the dc at the beginning of tea that they need to make sure they eat enough to not be hungry because there's nothing later on - that way they can't say they didn't know :)

I throw away what they haven't eaten after 20 minutes of sitting at the table. If they finish their main course they can choose some fruit or a yoghurt. Some people have told me that's too strict but I have 3 dcs and am also emergency foster carer so can't be doing with any mucking about! They get the message quickly - it all depends on your expectations imo.

It depends on how much you put on their plates;DCs don't need to eat a lot to feel full. IMO and E pushing them to eat past the full signal is not good for their future attitude to food (see the Paul Mckenna thread on the weight loss club page).

It's best not to stress out about meals, they can always finish their food when they ARE hungry later. 6 small nutritious meals a day is much healthier than 3 large ones.