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9yo won't eat in the kitchen

5 replies

MuminMama · 07/11/2017 13:06

9yo DS is refusing to eat in the kitchen, which is where we eat and where the table is. He says his sister is chewing too loudly (I think she is chewing normally) or he can see the cat food (I can understand that one and have moved it away). He refuses to come and sit down for meals and then of course is hungry. I have asked and asked what the problem is with the kitchen. He says he just doesn't like eating there. My instinct is not to push him and make it a battleground, besides which, if I insist he comes and sits down with us, he just doesn't. (He's not the world's most compliant and can be very stubborn.) At the moment he is living on fruit and crackers, which they are always allowed to help themselves to as long as it's not just before a meal. Part of me wants to cook something not messy and eat it in front of the TV for a change, just so he gets a proper meal in him, but it doesn't feel like the right way forward.

OP posts:
dreamingofsun · 07/11/2017 13:34

have you talked to him about potential solutions? Could he sit furthest away at the table? My concern would be quality of food......so i could live with him eating in kitchen after daughter maybe.....as long as he wasnt snacking on crackers and actually mainly fruits not great

Part of me thinks he needs to man up; but the other part remembers my BIL who used to eat with his mouth open.

AtleastitsnotMonday · 07/11/2017 14:31

Would he eat a meal at the table with just you? It may give you a starting block to build from.

Blondie1984 · 07/11/2017 22:06

Hmm...i wonder if making mealtimes in the kitchen seem/feel fun and exciting might entice him to join you? For example could you get him involved in making and serving the food so he actively wants to stay in the room to see the reactions? Could you put on a CD or the radio and play "guess the song"?

ozymandiusking · 07/11/2017 22:13

If he doesn't eat at the table, he doesn't get any dinner.
Hide the fruit and crackers.
He's 9 years old, you are the adult, he does as he's told.

MuminMama · 08/11/2017 09:21

Thanks for all your replies. All good ideas and things to think about. I may make special effort to have a fun meal with music tonight as Blondie suggested. After I posted yesterday he did actually just sit down and eat dinner with his sister, so fingers crossed it was a temporary thing.

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