Dessert if they don't eat their lunch/dinner........yes or no ??

[nutcracker]

O.k dd1 and 2 know my rule on this, which is they have to eat a good proportion of whatever I have given them otherwise they donot get anytihng for afters ie yoghurt, fruit, biscuit etc.

Ds is 2 and a half and doesn't get this at all.

He has just had cheese on toast, one peice cut into 4 and he only ate 1 square. He asked for yoghurt so I said he had to eat another sqaure first. He didn't so I threw it away got him out of his chair and haven't given him the yoghurt.

I feel mean though ..

I very rarely offer pudding ...
DS is a brilliant eater ... always eats everything I give him and has a healthy and varied diet, but I just don't have pudding in the house ... I don't eat 'pudding' and nor does DH.
I don't class yoghurt as a treat or pudding. It is part of a healthy diet ... DS normally will often eat yoghurt as a snack ...
He does have treats, biscuits, chocolate whatever but I don't give it as a reward for being 'good'.
I don't think that food should be a 'reward' or 'comfort' ... eg "Aaaah, did you hurt yourself, here have a biscuit!" I don't think that leads to healthy eating habits.
Sometimes, very sometimes we have icecream in the house .... but we often forget it is there.
If DS asks for ice cream or chocolate because he fancies it then it depends on the time of day (too close to dinner etc) if he can have it.
What a boring ramble, sorry.

Mine have to eat a 'reasonble' amount of main. Puddings are usualy only ever yoghurt or fruit.

Message withdrawn

if L won't eat her meal after all the usual tricks of persuading her, yes I will give her some fruit and a yoghurt.
She only refuses the main meal now and then and I put it down to not feeling like spag bol that day, or just not feeling that hungry.

I have a fussy eater and a dustbin for sons aged 3 and 4. I've been there and done that with all the different ways of trying to get my fussy eater to eat. The best way I have found to encourage eating is if its a food I know they eat they need to eat at least half to 3/4 of it before pudding if its a new food they need to at least try it as long as they try it Im not bothered they can have a pudding although if they only do have a mouthful its only a small pot of yoghurt for pud rather than something scrummyyummy. Ive heard many times and its worked that way for me also that a new food has to be introduced up to 19ish (think that was the figure)times before a new food will be accepted.