What Is The Technique You Accept To Feed Your Young Naughty One

[contactskn 2]

Dear friends its not only my problem but many others too. I have two kids. 3.5 year old boy and 1 year old baby. My younger one does not have any problem in eating right now. But my boy its really the toughest job to make him eat something really which is good for health. Why I am saying that is, he like other kids can eat many chocolates at a time but when it comes to milk or other healthy food it is really very hard to make him eat some. Is it the same with you people also. And if so what is the technique you accept to feed your young naughty one. Please share the same over here. So that if it is a working technique then it could be used by many of the parents like us.

[sheepdog 10]

You better start now. Just tell him no desert or treats/candy until he eats his good balanced healthy meal first. Start teaching him about nutrition. The old "eat your dinner if you want to grow up big and strong has been used on kids for a millinium. It probably still works, at least to a point. Do remember though, even kids that young have taste buds and if they truely dispise some particular food, they just aren't going to eat it no matter what. Of course, it isn't always easy to tell if they really hate it or if they are just being stubborn little brats. When I was a kid I had a milk allergy, and the doctors had my mother making me drink this garbage called mull soy. It was supposed to replace the calcium and protien I was missing from not drinking milk. It was absolutly repulsive. I would gag and retch trying to get it down. I developed very slow eating habits so I could run and dump it down the drain after my parents left the kitchen. To this day I am repulsed by anything with soy beans in it. I get indegestion if I accidentaly eat something with soy in it. It's a common filler in cheap hot dogs. You could not pay me to even taste to fu.Like most kids, I liked sweets, but honestly, even at a young age I was developing tendencies to be a carnivor. I always wanted seconds on meat, but mom wouldn't let me have more meat unless I took more of those dang icky vegtables too. The important thing here is that it is imperative that you teach your child good eating habits at this young age. Do whatever it takes. Those habits will stay with your child for his entire life, and we all want what is best for our kids, so start him off right now. Experiment a little and try to find healthy things that he does like. That way you can give him options at meal times at least, Ok if you don't want those green beans, here are some carrots. That sort of thing. Good luck!

Edited February 5, 2011 by sheepdog (see edit history)

[Parubilla 0]

Well I?m not a parent but my mom has always told me that I was a picky eater when I was little and older as well, and I do remember what she did to made me eat all of my food, because I was not eating she went to the doctor to ask him what to do, and the doctor told him one thing, kids eat when they are hungry, so what my mom did was: she served me food and I as always would start playing with it, my mom tried to made me eat but she couldn?t, so she?ll put the plate away and I was happy but as the time started to pass I started to get hungry and grumpy, and my mom would ask me "are you hungry?" and off course I would answer "yes" so she would bring the food plate back, and I wouldn?t eat it, so the same thing repeated over and over again, until I was so hungry that I would eat all of my food. This is a little bit drastic but it works with me since I?m not picky anymore with my food even if I don?t like what?s on my plate I eat it. And I have met a lot of people that says the same thing like my mom would keep my plate until I eat it.Off course you are not going to keep the same food for days but just do it a couple of time and I?m sure it will work.Another thing I have heard from expert nannys is to put the food in a creative way, like if you make your kids steak and veggies, cut the veggies in shapes put a dressing so they taste a little different, make it boiled, raw, and it will make them eat more, it?s just an incentive I guess and it could work.

[sheepdog 10]

Parubilla, I think your mom was on to something. I really don't think it was at all too harsh. Look at the end outcome. You obviously didn't starve to death or you wouldn't be here posting, and you did eat your food, so it seemed to work out really good in the end, since you ended up not being a picky eater! So when you do have kids, you will have one trick already up your sleeve when your kids try this on one you! Isn't it nice to be ahead of the game occasionally?

[web_designer 7]

i was facing the same thing with my baby girl when she was two years old and till now . but i always trying to feed her a healthy food, like less sugar and candy or chocolate, more vegetable and fruits and of course less fat. the technique i followed from the beginning, is like this:- always she should drink milk in the morning if she did not, then i try another thing like milk in different taste like the one mixed with banana or strawberry or at least give her a hot chocolate, or milk and tea or anything that contains milk, if she refused then i won't give her anything else, and always i try to bribe her " no milk, no candy".- usually, i give her a one piece of candy or chocolate a day, and between meals. i mean like an extra meal, but never give her anything even fruits before the main meal. because she will feel full and doesn't eat her main meal.- my rule is no chocolate or candy after 6 pm. or she will be active and that will avoid her from sleeping, because of the caffeine in sweets you know.- since my baby is a stubborn baby girl, so i never force her to eat healthy vegetable like salad or anything she dislike. what i do is i say it is ok, don't eat, just wait till we finished. and me and her father start eating in front of her and talking on how a delicious food it is . and because she is curious she will taste to find out. and that worked till now, well not always but most of the time.- in general, if she refused to eat a certain fruit or vegetable, i try to give to her in a different way. like slicing them or cutting them into small pieces and add some extra things to change the taste or look. like adding honey, or a little sugar on fruits. or adding cheese and salt on cucumber. when i am out of ideas, i start searching the net.hope those will help you a bit, good luck.

[anwiii 17]

i like web designers tactic. i don't think forcing a kid what they don't want to eat should be a tactic ever. i don't like sheepdogs first tactic of bribery and limiting a dessert just because the kid doesn't like a food. i do however love the idea she made of an option and alternative to at least get the healthy stuff inside the growing body.i remember when i was a kid, my parents would make me sit at the table until i was done with my plate or they would actually tell me no dessert. i used to throw my food away in the trash when nobody was looking but my mom caught on to that so then i would roll it up in a napkin and hide it behind other things in the cupboard. it was pretty disgusting when i sometimes forgot to come back later to throw it away and find it all moldy....or worse yet, have my mon find it when she was cleaning :)my mom's last tactic was to sever the portion and just tell me to try it. i was told i have to try at least everything once just to see of i like it. that always seemed to work best for me. just taking a couple bites. it was better than them trying to force me and the sooner i knew the sooner i got up, the sooner i could be doing something i enjoy. i was a really stubborn kid. nobody would be able to force me to do anything i didn't want to do including my homework. i was a handfull, but i was also about principles at a young age. if my parents were going to play games with me, i would show them that i can hold out longer than they can.so being one of those stubborn kids, i can tell you the best option is probably to give an alternative just like what sheepdog suggested, use web designers great psychological tactic, or just tell them it's ok if they don't eat it, but tell them they still have to try it. eventually, you will know the kids likes and dislikes and fix food appropriately while still serving the kid a healthy meal. don't ever try to force the kid. just try to compromise with him or her.also, you have to understand that everyone is different and has different tastes. and everyone's body is different and will react different to different foods. i also know that some kids like or dislike food based on texture so you have to keep that in mind too. what you DONT want to do is make the kid feel like he's being punished for something that really isn't the kids fault. it could leave a bad mark on the kids spirit. also remember that be carefull in these types of situations when raising a child because they will raise their kids the same way you raised them usually. so you think you're just raising one or two kids when really, you are responsible for future generations even after you're long gone dead in the grave

[sheepdog 10]

i was a really stubborn kid. nobody would be able to force me to do anything i didn't want to do

What do you mean by "was?" I don't believe you've changed not even one little bit!

Bribbing a kid to do something has it's place. Coaxing and trickery does too. And I even like the idea of making a kid eat just a bite or 2 of something, especially things that they have not eaten in the past. But sometimes you have to lay down the law with children. And you have to start young. Remember, you are the parent, the authority in the household. Lines have to be drawn that are not to be crossed. When your kids grow up and you tell them not to do certain things, like for example, don't drink and drive, or don't do drugs, do you want them to have the idea that just because you said no that it's ok to drink a little bit when you drive, or try a few drugs?

I'm not saying you have to write everything in stone. But sometimes you have to put your foot down and say I'm the boss of you. Eventually the kids will grow up and understand better about standing by your convicitions and princepals.

[anwiii 17]

What do you mean by "was?" I don't believe you've changed not even one little bit!
Bribbing a kid to do something has it's place. Coaxing and trickery does too. And I even like the idea of making a kid eat just a bite or 2 of something, especially things that they have not eaten in the past. But sometimes you have to lay down the law with children. And you have to start young. Remember, you are the parent, the authority in the household. Lines have to be drawn that are not to be crossed. When your kids grow up and you tell them not to do certain things, like for example, don't drink and drive, or don't do drugs, do you want them to have the idea that just because you said no that it's ok to drink a little bit when you drive, or try a few drugs?

I'm not saying you have to write everything in stone. But sometimes you have to put your foot down and say I'm the boss of you. Eventually the kids will grow up and understand better about standing by your convicitions and princepals.

yea i agree with you/ parents have to lay down the law and nip things in the bud at a young age so they don't get to used to certain things. i was just trying to explain how if you want to force a child, it doesn't work sometimes. i think the drinking and driving and the drugs are a bad analogy though. even though i don't believe in drinking and driving for some people and drugs for some people, i don't agree with the laws in place so you lost me there.

now let me tell you a secret i learned a long time ago about life, children, and parents. parents can guide their children with morals and values and those morals and values will usually stick. but anything you guide the child aside from morals and values will usually NOT stick because children aren't supposed to live their lives as their parents did. parents only teach what they know. they guide no further than that. when the child starts growing up, people and enter their teenage years, people call it the rebellion years. in fact, children aren't rebelling, they are just coming to terms with who they are. it's the parents who aren't understanding that one simple fact and they use a term like rebellion to blame the kids. that's my little secret

on a side note, some of the best music, poetry, and art were created under the influence of drugs. also, people have different tolerences to alcohol. if a person can drive safer if they have had a few compared to someone who doesn't drink, why should we limit that person not to drink a couple even if they are above .08?

parents will always want what is best for their kids....but being more specific, what they THINK is best for their kids. sure, kids make mistakes and can be a handfull and problematic, but one of the biggest problems to is parents who don't try to see beyond what they know. they are raising someone who is different than them. NOT the same as them.

growing up, i was raised to eat fruits and vegetables. salads was usually part of our dinner. i remember when i was trying to get some kid to eat salad and he kept refusing. i kept insisting he eat what was made.....especially the more healthy food like the salad. well he finally gave in and started choking to death on the salad. it was one of the funniest things i ever witnessed. sad at the same time though so i told him he had enough and congratulated him for at least trying it. i never fixed this kid a salad again even though i knew it was healthy for him. that is why i am more in to giving alternatives.

your right though. bribing a kid works. there are only two motivators that really work. pleasure or pain. obviously bribing a kid falls under the pleasurable category and should be used before pain...such as sending a kid to his room or spanking a child or limiting his playtime etc. and i don't believe in spanking at all. the actual only time i will ever hit a kid is if he does something that could have gotten him or someone else killed.

anyway, i'm not a parent and never experienced everything in regards to parenting, but i am not new to kids

and your right, i am still stubborn the only difference is, back when i was a kid, i had no logical thinking to my stubborness. now i do only because i see more than one side to any situation now so it's less selfish stubborness

[sheepdog 10]

Yes, that may of been a bad analigy, the drinking and driving thing. It was just one I thought would be the most vivid and easy to understand. Though I don't really agree with your ideas on how some people seem to think that they are ok to drive under the influence because they have a higher alchol tolerance than others. It may be true, but there are a lot of people who just THINK they have a good tolerance to alchol. Would be difficult to acess who really did and who was just a dumb drunk. Perhaps I should of gone with the thou shall not steal thing. We want to impress upon our children that stealing is wrong. Any stealing. It's not ok to steal a little bit. As for rebelious teenage years, now there's a subject for a whole nother topic! I don't think there is a teenager alive who didn't go threw that rebel period. That's just a part of growing up and learning to become an adult. Finding out the kind of person you are going to end up being. If a child has a good solid background in what is right and wroung, the teenage thing will pass and in the end they will be fine. Most of the time anyway.