[lastpaige]

When our girls pulled the fussy/picky stunt, we did this . . .

First we put them on a high quality multi-vitamin/mineral.

We cook dinner, put very small portions on the children’s plates, and they are to eat it all. We do not prepare something else to eat, as we are a family, not a restaurant. We eat leisurely and in a relaxed, unhurried manner. BUT if there is a pokey eater and the rest of us are done and she’s clearly poking around, dinner is over. What’s left on the plate is covered up and put in the fridge. The next morning for breakfast, Mr. Picky or Miss Pokey gets to eat the rest of their dinner for breakfast, cold. If they did not eat it during breakfast time, back into the fridge it went, and out it came for snack or lunch.

There was no getting angry, no pleading, no begging them to eat, no “It would make Mommy so happy”, nothing that puts the child back in control. Just a short and simple explanation of the rules, and quietly carrying them out and being consistent. If the girls got whiney about cold food, we just remind them itt was their decision, not ours, to not eat dinner at dinner time.

This is a control/discipline/manners issue. This puts the parents in control. The children are being disciplined to eat what’s in front of them (very helpful later when you have dinner elsewhere – the children have been trained to eat nicely and won’t quickly balk when Aunt so and so puts something weird on their plates). And it teaches good manners – respect for the feelings of whomever has prepared the meal (although I’d bring this up later. Right now they may not care about someone’s feelings, and they just need to simply obey!).

If you need a reward, perhaps if they eat their dinner nicely tonight, they get to help mom with dinner tomorrow night. (Pick and cook one of the vegetables to have with dinner, set the table, make the salad, whatever they can do.) If they go a week with perfectly cleared plates, they get to plan an entire dinner. I wouldn’t offer food itself as a reward (a piece of cake if you clear your plate), as that teaches the child to clear the plate for selfish motives rather than to clear it because they’re obeying Mom and Dad and showing respect for the cook.

Hang in there, and remember, they are NOT going to starve!