Mealtimes take forevvvvver . . .

[Elismum]

My 2.5 y.o. DS takes forever to eat! Each meal is at least an hour. I try to curb some of the playing but I never force him to eat. I don't want mealtimes to be regimented speed-eating sessions but sheesh! We've got other stuff to do, too. I end up telling him after about an hour that breakfast (lunch, dinner) lasts for another 10 minutes and after that, we're moving on. He usually fights it with some crying "but I want to eat!" (as if he's starving! Ha!).

Anyone else have slow eaters and found good ways of dealing?

[MamaPhD]

I am comiserating wth you! No good ideas so far. DD is almost 2 and she will eat her first halfof the meal in like 10 minutes, sitting happily at the table on her booster. After that she gets antsy and has to come down, start running around, playing with toys, etc. Everytime she makes it back to the table, she eats a good bite or two, so I know she is not done. So the second half of the meal takes another 30-40 minutes. Luckily (?) I am a pretty slow eater so I can eat & clean up during DD's meal time. When I'm done, I usually tell her she's done, and she's OK with it.

[hakeber]

My DS is a very slow eater, too.

I give him teeny tiny portions now, and he can always have more later after dinner as a snack (meaning we will not be joining him as he nibbles his way through a second meal). So far he has not noticed the smaller amounts of food.

For breakfast I get him up about an hour before school and give him just one thing, like one egg, or one banana, and pack a snack in his bag for later.

[funnygrace]

my first thought was "Yes! Everything takes forevvvvvvver!" Things we do: read to him while he eats, let him get down when he's done and then offer frequent snacks, try not to snack right before big mealtimes, wait until he is older--maybe more sustained, scheduled eating then?

[EzzysMom]

Pretty much deal with it the way you do. I get up and start cleaning up to lessen the attraction of conversation after a long dinner, which is what my DD wants mostly and if she starts to make a mess the meal is over then too. Give warning and then it's time to move on.