Is keeping a child pre-occupied during mealtime a proper way of feeding?

Question

My 22 month old son can finish a cup of rice only when he is busy doing other things. ie watching tv, playing with his toys etc. I'm worried that this is not a proper way. When he is bored, it's so hard to feed him. : (

Answer 1

I dont think you need to panic,my daughter and I used to eat with the TV on and now that she is 4 I insist we turn it off-no problem.The main thing is to keep meal times stress free and not to panic him.The most natural thing in the world is to feel hunger and to eat so if you are really determined perhaps keep meal times really short,making sure he is hungry and take food away when he wants to go back to playing.

Answer 2

Are you saying you still feed your 22 month old son, as in spooning the food into his mouth? Wow, well my first guess would be that yes he is bored because if he were feeding himself, like he should be at this age, he would be occupied with that. I am sorry if this sounds rude, I do not mean it that way. I can understand they are messy, and usually end up with more on them (and everything else) than in them, but that is the ONLY way they will learn. What when he turns 2 were you just going to throw a spoon and fork at him and expect him to just know how?

Sorry had to get that out. Okay, now you have a 22 month old that will not eat unless he is busy doing something else. Personally, I do not see anything wrong with him watching tv, or something. But you should consider letting him experiment with utensils, and I think it would be a lot easier on you and a lot more fun for him. I hope I did not miss something, but if I did i am sorry. If you don't like the thought of him watching tv or playing with toys, why don't you try to sing a funny made-up song about eating or something else like A is for asparagus, or whatever you may be eating. Lol, sounds silly but kids love that stuff.
I hope this helped, and I hope I did not offend you that was not my intention. I just started my kids off much earlier.

Answer 3

Children will eat when they are hungry. Adults will eat when they are bored. That is why there are so many fat adults. He doesn't need to finish a cup of rice unless he is really hungry. Also, if you teach your son to eat all over the house now, then when he is older he will have learned all sorts of bad habits and it will be hard for you to make him eat at a table. It's not really a matter of what's proper and what's not as much as whether or not you want to have to undo this when he's four or five.

People do eat more in front of the TV, but that is why you don't want to eat in front of the TV. We don't notice how much we eat when we're munching like that and it sets people up for obesity. We try to make kids eat, but they know if they're hungry or not. They will naturally get the nutrition they need.

Answer 4

There is no proper way to feed a child. It is normal that your son wants to be doing something fun or interesting all the time, and you shouldn't be worried. If it bothers you or if you have trouble feeding him if he is doing something else, why not make the food itself more interesting? Build a tower of celery and carrot sticks. Add food colouring to the rice so that it's red and blue and green. Make it fun to eat!

Answer 5

My ideals I had before having kids were sitting down at the table and eating a nice home-cooked dinner. I barely cook and eating in front of the TV is very normal for us. My daughter is 2 1/2 and as long as she eats I don't care what she's doing. I don't think it's "proper," but who's watching us and judging us but ourselves. Oh well, as long as our kids our healthy and happy!

Answer 6

i dont know if you have heard of the show "the truth about food" on discovery health, but they did an experiment where they made a little girl eat pizza in front of the tv one day, and at the dinner table the next day. She ate more food while in front of the TV.
My little brother doesnt eat enough, so i always make sure he's preoccupied while eating so that he does eat more.

Answer 7

at 22mo's they are exploring their world. and the stomach is to be filled on the run. at least, to them. maybe let the Lil' one go -and at each meal time make a big to "DO" about his eating. other than that ,just serve snacks on the run. they are way to excited to sit down and focus on every time you eat -there is a formal set-down. this is very normal. if you were to go to another planet and only had an attention span of micro seconds to know every thing there is.... that 's what going on in their little heads right now, when they get to be 7 or 8 you'll be able to direct their behavior to meal times and better manners. ar'nt they fun at this age?