If your ds/dd doesn't eat dinner to you let them go to bed hungry?

[northerner]

After many battles at the dinner table, I have decided to change tactics.No more cajoling, bribing him to eat his dinner. I tell him if he doesn't eat it he gets nothing else and no tv before bed time. We are only on day 2 so again he has chosen not to eat.

dh thinks he will be hungry and should have some toast or cereal before bed, I think not. He'll hardly starve will he?

bee3; I am going through the same thing as you. ds 21 months will hardly eat a thing (compared to dd at a similar age), often even refusing his favourite food. It's v worrying

My experience is different to frogs'. If ds doesn't eat his dinner, he wakes up very early (like 5 am) adn this has continued for months and still won't eat breakfast. ds can't talk and doesn't understand no dinner, no nothing, bed.

So no advice really, just sympathy

Mercy, thank you - you have my sympathies as well

It is worrying, and that's the crux of my problem, I think. It's my own anxieties about his eating that make it so hard. He's absolutely fine, and on the whole he does eat really well, so the odd missed meal won't harm him at all. If it was more than that, then I'm not sure what I'd do.

Good luck with your ds - I'm going to be tougher and see (not sure I could cope with 5 am starts again, as he's been a good sleeper so far as well - but only time will tell).

Agree with Pifle.

Actually, DD 3 has become very fussy and one evening point blank refused the normal everyday supper. So didn't make a big deal about it but told her there was nothing until breakfast time the morning. She was very stubborn and refused to eat anything so threw it away when I tidied up. That was at 6pm. At 8pm she was hungry on her way to bed and I gave her ONE rice cake with nothing on it to see her through the night. The next morning she was up early ready for breakfast and I reminded her why she was particularly hungry. She has since gone to refuse her supper a couple of times pushing her plate away but when I have reminded her that there is nothing until breakfast, not even a rice cake, she pulled her plate towards her and starts eating!!!! I didn't feel cruel, just determined that a food issue was not going worse.