refuses to eat, but whines and cries about it the whole time as well. Tonight for example. mac and cheese and hot dogs..not the most nutritious I know, but we are snowed and iced in....she took one bit e of the hot dog, didn;t want it, so I told her she had to eat the mac and cheese. Instead of just eating it she would put some in her mouth and then start whining and literally crying about how yucky it was, over and over again. I finally got up took her plate and said,
"listen, their are thousands of starving children out there who would take your unwanted plate of food and happily eat it while asking for more, so since you do not want to eat it you can have what they are probably eating tonight if anything,"
and i gave her a glass of water and a plain hot dog bun. Then I told her that we are going to volunteer at a local homeless shelter serving food to homeless families so that she can get a first hand look at what it looks like to be homeless and cold in the wintertime.
2007-02-25 15:20:46 · 10 answers · asked by juniormintsrock 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
what else can I do to get her to at least be a respectful family member at the dinner table...anyone with a similar experience willing to share with me?
2007-02-25 15:21:22 · update #1
we also sat down and came up with a list of dinners that she would like to have to incorporate into our monthly meal planning so that she can help cook and have a hand in preparing food that she knows she really likes.
Most of the crying whining comes about when its veggie time and not over the mac and cheese.
2007-02-25 15:24:18 · update #2
i got this from a book : serve her food on a paper plate but write something on the bottom, but she ca only read it if she finishes her food. put like she get's pick of the next rented movie or someother treat she would enjoy. good luck, i feel for you.
2007-02-25 15:36:39 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
When she complains, tell her she's free to make her own dinner. Other options we used on our various children (depending on their personality), saying 'okay' and taking their plate. They can go to bed hungry. Saving the food and serving it for every meal until they eat it. Say 'thanks for your opinion', and keep eating. Ignore the drama, she sure does know how to push your buttons.
You don't even have to lecture about starving children if you don't want to, just let it go. Once my kids started making meals for the family, they realized how hard it was, and they surely did stop whining about what I made.
Make sure you follow up on the volunteer work. But I wish it hadn't been turned into a punishment. So much good could have come from family time that was spent serving others, but now she'll just block most of it because she's supposed to learn a lesson.
2007-02-25 23:27:31 · answer #2 · answered by ? 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
When I was younger and refused to eat dinner, I was made to sit there until it was gone. If this took all night, and it was bedtime, Id go to bed and get it for breakfast. I wouldn't be allowed anything else to eat until I ate that plate of food. My parents didn't go for the whining and crying either, it was completely ignored. Either that or maybe a time out before being brought back to the table to try again?
2007-02-25 23:25:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
let her go hungry if she acts up, and dont let her eat anything the rest of the night, she will learn to eat really fast. there is no sense in fighting her on this, she will impose her own consequence by not eating and then being starving later. the trick is to NOT give her anything else the rest of the night, no matter how much she whines. if she is whining and wont eat make her leave the dinner table so that nobody else has to suffer from her whining. having her help choose dinner ideas and cook should help, but if it doesnt try this method, its fool proof and stress free on your part. just dont make a big deal out of her eating
2007-02-25 23:43:28 · answer #4 · answered by krystal 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It won't hurt her to go to sleep hungry once or twice. don't buy in to her trying to manipulate her into feeding her what SHE wants... she is, after all, part of a family. If she doesn't like what you're serving her for dinner, then she can leave the table and go to her bedroom so you don't have to listen to her whining. But the same plate of food will be set before her tomorrow morning for breakfast... and every meal until it spoils or she eats it.
Don't allow yourself to become a short order cook... for heaven's sake...
2007-02-26 01:11:11 · answer #5 · answered by Amy S 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
That is waaay too much drama. If she's not going to eat, excuse her from the table- but do not allow her to disrupt the family or meal after that. Tell her she must go read quietly in the living room or some other activity until the family is done with supper, and that there will be NO food or snacks served to her afterwards- then stick to it.
2007-02-25 23:39:50 · answer #6 · answered by Lirrain 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
If she doesn't want to eat, she can sit quietly and do something else. Don't make a spectacle out of her. Just ignore it.
2007-02-25 23:25:07 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
At least twice a week, ask her what SHE wants for dinner. That way she can't refuse to eat it.
2007-02-25 23:24:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
Send her to bed without her dinner, she won't starve to death from missing one meal and she will be more apprciative the next time around. But please refrain from the "there are starving children" lecture My response to that one is "So box this crap up and send it to them I'm not going to eat it."
2007-02-25 23:25:59 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
just make her something else, as long as it takes under 5 minutes
2007-02-26 00:55:32 · answer #10 · answered by The_Pink_One 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋