Please help with your thoughts about withholding food. Yes, that sounds terrible. Here's the situation.
My toddler verging on pre-schooler (old enough to understand and old enough to try to get his way) is a big food thrower if it's something he doesn't want to eat.
I won't force him to eat something, but I do not like the messes, and also can not take the whining and whining and whining throughout the day for something else to eat when he doesn't eat at designated meal times and designated snack times.
Should I let him go hungry until the designated meals?
Today is a perfect example. He threw most of his breakfast on the floor, then was whining for treats and snacks non-stop. At lunch, we had a delightful and healthy meal of sandwiches and sides and he refused to eat any of it, then ended up throwing about 99% on the table and the floor and sweeping it everywhere with laughter (he has sensory issues, but still).
Not 10 minutes later he was begging and whining for cookies, for something to eat, and he doesn't want anything healthy.
His tactic truly is to throw food and then whine and complain and throw fits until he gets his desired food, which is usually snack kinds of foods, treats, or junk food.
I shop and eat healthy. I always have. But I caved in a little with DH and his less than ideal diet, and I've also slipped with my child and use food as incentive (I need to cut this out right now).
The other issue is the budget. I want my DS to eat when I make food, and not whine non-stop when we go places to wear me down so he can get cookies, treats, crackers, and other sweets just so he'll stop whining. I can't take him anywhere without spending at least $5.00 to stop the whining and it is getting out of hand.
Thoughts?
My plan is to stop allowing him to snack. He has to be hungry enough to eat the food at the meals and not throw it around.
What do you think of that? Right now, he's whining and telling me he's hungry over and over again, but he didn't eat his lunch even though he was told several times to and I really tried to work with him to sit down and eat it. I've tried leaving it out, but he usually throws it all over the floor deliberately so that he can have something else he prefers. ("Oops, Mommy, I can't eat this, it's all over the floor. Can I have a cookie?")
My toddler verging on pre-schooler (old enough to understand and old enough to try to get his way) is a big food thrower if it's something he doesn't want to eat.
I won't force him to eat something, but I do not like the messes, and also can not take the whining and whining and whining throughout the day for something else to eat when he doesn't eat at designated meal times and designated snack times.
Should I let him go hungry until the designated meals?
Today is a perfect example. He threw most of his breakfast on the floor, then was whining for treats and snacks non-stop. At lunch, we had a delightful and healthy meal of sandwiches and sides and he refused to eat any of it, then ended up throwing about 99% on the table and the floor and sweeping it everywhere with laughter (he has sensory issues, but still).
Not 10 minutes later he was begging and whining for cookies, for something to eat, and he doesn't want anything healthy.
His tactic truly is to throw food and then whine and complain and throw fits until he gets his desired food, which is usually snack kinds of foods, treats, or junk food.
I shop and eat healthy. I always have. But I caved in a little with DH and his less than ideal diet, and I've also slipped with my child and use food as incentive (I need to cut this out right now).
The other issue is the budget. I want my DS to eat when I make food, and not whine non-stop when we go places to wear me down so he can get cookies, treats, crackers, and other sweets just so he'll stop whining. I can't take him anywhere without spending at least $5.00 to stop the whining and it is getting out of hand.
Thoughts?
My plan is to stop allowing him to snack. He has to be hungry enough to eat the food at the meals and not throw it around.
What do you think of that? Right now, he's whining and telling me he's hungry over and over again, but he didn't eat his lunch even though he was told several times to and I really tried to work with him to sit down and eat it. I've tried leaving it out, but he usually throws it all over the floor deliberately so that he can have something else he prefers. ("Oops, Mommy, I can't eat this, it's all over the floor. Can I have a cookie?")