At mealtimes, do your minders sit at the table until everyone has finished?

[CrazyBabies]

That's it really. I have my own older children, and 3mindees 4,3 and 11 months.
Really appreciate all your comments

yes mine do, unless one is taking a ridiculous amount of time, which generally by then I would probably take it away from them.

The kids tend to stay around the table. All the kids do not have the same meal. Some have snacks from home and some I provide.

I also have one of my mindees who comes later than the others (senior school)

They are free to get up when finish or when they need the toilet.

Mum2bless do they all have to wait until everyone has finished before getting down. I see your threads often and like yor advise.

mine don't. i feed babies/toddlers in highchairs and when they are finished they go off and play - older ones sit together and finish together but no one is forced to stay at the table. my older ones are my own however and mindees are all babies.toddlers.

I find that if one child is a picky eater and goes off after only a few bites, then the others will soon want to follow, and won't eat their food either. So I try to keep the faster ones at the table until the others are at least half way through their food. Often the picky eater will have a few more bites when they realise that they can't go and play. I don't force them to wait until everybody is finished.

Mine stay at the table, unless there is some reason why one might be late/taking longer, in which case I let them go. We use it as a time to chat and the children don't mind being there. It is distracting if some are playing and some are eating.

Yes mine stay. As someone else stated if one gets up they l want to.

I stagger too. Slow eaters sit at table 15 minutes before to get a head start Then hopefully all finish at sake time!

Im a nanny and make my charges sit at the table until everyone has finished however if someone is being super slow then I do make exceptions.

I'm the same as grabaspoon. They have to learn that there is no point in gobbling their food or leaving it, as they still need to sit up for a reasonable time while others finish anyway. However, I do sometimes find I have to remind my afterschoolers to punctuate the chat by eating, or we'd be at the tea table until midnight.