Am i right to lie to my child?

Question

I dont believe in lies at all. So why am I now lying to my 5 year old daughter? She is a very fussy eater, and it makes mealtimes very difficult. She will only eat Aunt Bessies Roast potatoes, so the other day, i did mashed potatoes and told her aunt bessie had made it. She ate it.

She also hates vegetables except for carrots. I did a stew and put swede in - i told her they were white carrots, and she ate them.

She loves noodles, but wont touch pasta, so i made some pasta and told her it was different shaped noodles, and she ate them.

Lying to her is making her eat different foods, and my mealtimes are a lot less stressful, but i feel terrible about lying to her. Am i doing the right thing or not? Will she ever forgive me, or will she never trust me again, and lose respect for me? I know she is only 5 years old, but kids are amazing what they remember.

Answer 1

The fact that you are concerned about all of this means that you are a great parent. Do not ever doubt yourself about that. You are doing a great job & simply doing your best to try to get her to eat healthy. Keep on doing it. Once she gets older she will laugh at all of this & thank you for teaching her to like different foods. Have her help you around the kitchen. That will make her excited about eating healthy and enjoy meal time more.

Good Luck! ;-)

Answer 2

I wouldn't feel badly about it! I would do the same thing if I needed to. By the way, I thought pasta was just another word for noodles, so I wouldn't even consider that a lie. You told her the truth, it was just a different shaped noodle.

After a while she'll be so used to eating stuff she won't even remember where you told her it came from or even why she felt that way. You have to make sure she's a good eater, so do whatever it takes!!

Answer 3

I truly think there are white lies and there are bad lies. If you are telling your child a little lie to try and get her to eat, at least she is eating healthily and will be healthy in the future.

I was lied to by my parents because I was a fussy eater too. I hated anything orange (except for oranges) for some reason until I was 7 or 8. My mum would just tell me she put orange juice in anything that had chopped carrots, yams, etc in it.

Eventually I just ate the orange things and realized I liked them.

Kids are strange. I wouldn't worry about it though. You are doing the right thing.

If you want to try and get her to eat different foods you can try what my aunt did (her kids will now eat anything!). Everytime they ate they had to have one bite of everything. Just one bite. Eventually their taste buds got used to more "adult" foods and they would enjoy eating things they previously wouldn't.

Answer 4

yes lieing is generally considered wrong, but i think what you are doing is considered one of those white lies, which i think are fine, especially in this case..., i mean you are only trying to get your baby to have a full tummy, its not like you are telling her mommy will be right back and you dont show up for days on end. sometimes kids are picky eaters, (or at least think they are) until they try something else they like, and how else do u presuade a stubborn 5 year old to eat new foods, or foods they dont "like", but wont try cuz it looks yucky other than shoving food down their throats... i think that what you are doing is fine!!! if she really does not like how it taists you will know, she oviously had no problem with "white carrots" and "different shaped noodles"!!!

Answer 5

My cousin has a very bad eatting problem. His mom (when he was little) would always make meal time into "play time" and she would not make him eat anything he didn't want.

Now all he will eat are french fries and waffles. Everytime we go out to eat he will just ask for a plate of french fries. Because of this, he is really short and someone could probably snap him in half.

I think what you are doing is ok, just make sure you don't over do it. You could also try easing her into eatting different foods using the method you are using right now.

Answer 6

Normally,no,but in this case,bending the truth has been beneficial to you both.It's all about kid-ology.Now that she has eaten the things that she says she does not like,talk to her.Tell her what she has eaten,after each meal.Make her feel that every time is an achievement.Make her know how proud of her you are,and you can feel proud of yourself also.It's surprising what a little white lie can achieve with children. Make her meals a fun time,and encourage her,and you will both benefit from it.I know children have good memories,and the memory of you giving her the food she likes will stay with her.

Answer 7

Keep it up...she is only 5 and getting her to eat right now is more important than anything. As she gets older, and her tastes change, introduce the things back to her and tell her the truth about them. If she has a problem with it, tell her that you only wanted her to eat good, and by the time she finds out anyway, it probably won't even be an issue.

Answer 8

does she believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and all that too? because if you think what you are doing with the food is "lying" then so is all of that stuff.
you are doing what every other mother in this world would do to get their picky eater to eat what they should eat. another trick I like is when I make a new dish, I tell my daughter she loved it last time I made it....she tastes it and right away says "mmmm this IS good"

Answer 9

You are your child's biggest learning tool, they learn everything from you. If you teach them to lie, they will lie. I know these are just fibs and some people might think they are all right, but I disagree. I think that fibs turn into lies and lies turn into nightmares. Don't fib or lie to your child. Find another way to make her eat her vegetables that are not made by Auntie. I find that if my child won't eat and I tell her that there will be no movie, cartoon, etc. unless she eats well that it is a great motivator. My child also loves to go to grandpa's house, so if she has not eaten well that privilege is taken away for that day.

Our children have enough problems trying to figure out right from wrong, I don't think that you should give them any ideas about lying, especially when they are that young.

Good luck!

Answer 10

Well..you are not lying to hide something bad so dont feel bad. You are doing it because you care. If it makes you feel any better, you arent lying about pasta. Pasta and noodles are the same..just a different word : )