My 16 month old is becoming increasingly difficult to feed and I am starting to feel a little nutty about her eating habits, I fear mealtimes because it is often pretty upsetting....my instincts are telling me to just back off and take the attitude of "if she eats the meal great, if not, no big deal" but for some reason it's really hard for me. I'm so sad about the amount of food that gets wasted.
So, what's happening is this....I make our meal and we sit down to eat (she will often indicate that she is ready to eat by signing "eat" or standing by her highchair and asking to go in) so within 5 minutes of sitting down...after she has maybe taken 2 or 3 bites she tells me she's finished and starts yelling and trying to stand up and get out of her seat....sometimes I try to get her to eat a few more bites, sometimes I make funny sounds to get the food in, sometimes I say in a neutral voice "ok, you're finished" and sometimes I say "fine, don't eat then"
it is SO frustrating for me when she won't eat....I don't really know what to do. I would like for us to eat meals together, not her running around while I finish my meal. I try to give her healthy snacks throughout the day and she has NO problem eating while playing, or with me holding her etc. but she will not sit at the table and peacefully eat. So, this is my problem....I have some choking fears and don't feel safe letting her eat and then play, because she runs around and that makes me nervous. I would really like our mealtimes to be more peaceful and enjoyable. I've thought about getting a booster seat, but don't want to waste any more money on something that is not going to get used. Is this a phase? Is this a power struggle developmental thing? Any BTDT advice?
So, what's happening is this....I make our meal and we sit down to eat (she will often indicate that she is ready to eat by signing "eat" or standing by her highchair and asking to go in) so within 5 minutes of sitting down...after she has maybe taken 2 or 3 bites she tells me she's finished and starts yelling and trying to stand up and get out of her seat....sometimes I try to get her to eat a few more bites, sometimes I make funny sounds to get the food in, sometimes I say in a neutral voice "ok, you're finished" and sometimes I say "fine, don't eat then"
it is SO frustrating for me when she won't eat....I don't really know what to do. I would like for us to eat meals together, not her running around while I finish my meal. I try to give her healthy snacks throughout the day and she has NO problem eating while playing, or with me holding her etc. but she will not sit at the table and peacefully eat. So, this is my problem....I have some choking fears and don't feel safe letting her eat and then play, because she runs around and that makes me nervous. I would really like our mealtimes to be more peaceful and enjoyable. I've thought about getting a booster seat, but don't want to waste any more money on something that is not going to get used. Is this a phase? Is this a power struggle developmental thing? Any BTDT advice?
And they waste food. Try not to make a big deal over it. AVOID the power struggles -you won't win and will be miserable. Try having someone else feed her and offer finger foods. Good luck!
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) and they learned pretty quickly that mealtime is mealtime and we sit for it, and when we're really done eating (not just wanting to play for a couple minutes) we get down from the table and play again. I won't say that it was always seamless or without protest, and we were never angry or harsh with them (were calm and firm, but gentle and sympathetic), and they both got used to it pretty quickly.
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