French Children Don't Throw Food

[juneau]

Has anyone else read this and wants to discuss it?

This is one of the rare books that I actually intend to buy a copy of (after getting it from the library initially) because I agreed with more or less everything bar the French attitude to breastfeeding!

We seem to have done the French thing with sleeping, primarily because DS would be making little noises in his cot upstairs and DH and I, both knackered, would be sitting on the sofa praying we didn't have to go up there yet again... something worked anyway as DS started going for longer stretches at night from around 11 weeks :)

I really like the 'Bonjour/Au revoir' approach too - making adults respect children as people and vice versa seems like a laudable notion to me. Far too many adults appear to think that children don't need to be treated with any courtesy at all; it's one step away from bullying as far as I'm concerned and doesn't teach the kids to respect the adult much either.

I am fondly hoping that DS will be good about food - it's too early to tell right now as he's only 9.5mo!

My attempts to make the 'big eyes' and say No firmly are not going very well. DS just laughs at me :(

just with reference to the point that if you have a good attitude to food then your children will inevitably eat well, I would like to point out that in my house we are so obsessed with good food that we rear and butcher our own pigs, grow all our own veg and soft fruit, keep bees for the honey and make our own apple juice and perry. I even make fecking sorbet from geraniums.

I still have one fussy eater. It doesn't always follow.

Humphrey, is the fussy one the middle one and using food fads as a way of getting attention?
Geranium sorbet - wow, that would be interesting. ? like an aromatic elderflower one.

i wanted to read this but after reading this thread it sounds like its more of a parenting book than fiction? so maybe not much use to someone whos youngest is 6?

no, he is the eldest. Although I must say I never fed him much junk either, no matter what else he refused to eat.

Rose Geranium sorbet is yummy.

I have found some geranium recipes to try

www.abouthyme.com/podcasts/geranium.shtml

Sorry, very late to this thread, but just finished this book yesterday. I thought it was great and want to re read it with a highlighter and get DH to read it afterwards. I agree the bits about breastfeeding and losing weight whatever the cost are not for me, but I agreed with everything else she said. Indent think it is too late to adopt some of these things if your child is already 6, cheesesarnie.

I would be up for enforcing the one snack per day rule, but fear it would be very hard to do in this country where snacking is just so much part of our culture. Even at nursery, my DS (13 months) has mid morning snack, lunch at 11.15, mid afternoon snack and tea at 4.15. He eats everything he is given as well he takes after me the greedy bugger so I can't really say I don't want him to eat the snacks when all the other DCs are.

The thing I liked most about the book was the respect that is demonstrated for the DCs by expecting them to be aware of others and able to control their desires and frustrations.

I mean I don't think it is too late, not Indent...