Yes, another "my kid won't eat" thread. Hoping for a miracle solution, but not holding my breath. Venting will at least help me feel better for now. As I type my dd is sitting at the table, with an almost full plate of food in front of her. She spent an honest to goodness 30 minutes chewing the same bite of meat. She has been sitting there for well over an hour...maybe close to two hours. I told her she can get down, but then I throw away her chart and she has to start earning her prize all over again, so she doesn't want to get up.
She's 5. She won't eat dinner. Unless it's one of a handful of things. I've tried everything. We've tried bribing with dessert and toys, we've tried punishment, we've tried the whole "if you don't eat this tonight you will have to eat it tomorrow" bit. We've tried just letting her not eat.
WTH. I dread dinnertime. I dread the struggle and stress and tension. I dread the comments... the "ewww... I don't like this."
We eat normal. It's not like I am making monkey brains and cow tongues for dinner.
Just let her not eat? I mean, she is healthy and I know she won't starve. But we tried just letting it go and it didn't sit right with me or DH. Wasting food is not acceptable (a whole plate full, that is). I don't like her controlling the situation- and she is being a bad example to her little brother. He has always been a great eater, and recently he has been pulling the same crap.
I am all about gentle parenting, but I do not believe a 5 year should be allowed to just choose to skip dinner 3 or 4 nights a week just because she doesn't want to eat. At the same time, I can't imagine going on for the next year or two or goodness-knows-how-long dealing with this stress. And I am certainly not going to limit our dinners to just the things she eats.
Bah. I am so fed up with this!
She's 5. She won't eat dinner. Unless it's one of a handful of things. I've tried everything. We've tried bribing with dessert and toys, we've tried punishment, we've tried the whole "if you don't eat this tonight you will have to eat it tomorrow" bit. We've tried just letting her not eat.
WTH. I dread dinnertime. I dread the struggle and stress and tension. I dread the comments... the "ewww... I don't like this."
We eat normal. It's not like I am making monkey brains and cow tongues for dinner.
Just let her not eat? I mean, she is healthy and I know she won't starve. But we tried just letting it go and it didn't sit right with me or DH. Wasting food is not acceptable (a whole plate full, that is). I don't like her controlling the situation- and she is being a bad example to her little brother. He has always been a great eater, and recently he has been pulling the same crap.
I am all about gentle parenting, but I do not believe a 5 year should be allowed to just choose to skip dinner 3 or 4 nights a week just because she doesn't want to eat. At the same time, I can't imagine going on for the next year or two or goodness-knows-how-long dealing with this stress. And I am certainly not going to limit our dinners to just the things she eats.
Bah. I am so fed up with this!