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Depends on the kids
Hi,
I have to disagree with lastpaige and NJNative here. Two of my kids were starving themselves when we got them. Kids who have been instutionalized are often not "healthy" and will act counter to what is normal and healthy.
Two of our three Polonia were underweight. I don't mean skinny. I mean underweight. E at age 7 was 3 percent for height and 0 percent for weight. D was negative 15 for weight and negative 5 for height.
We had a policy that you had to have all of what on the first plate and then you can have seconds of whatever you'd like.
E's problems with eating, we found out as time went by, were largely due to hidden dental problems. Once these were addressed, E started eating fine ~~ with just coaxing to drink milk. His stats at his last physical were 5 percent for height and 20 percent for weight. He is very lean and well muscled. We think that a large part of the weight gain was from calcium finally entering the bones in a signifant fashion.
D's eating issue are deep and predate her living at the orphanage. Her medical records verify that she was more than likely a failure to thrive baby.
With D, it often took a hour at each meal to make sure she ate enough. We started kid movies at night an hour after the meal, so if you ate slow, you didn't get to see the movie.
And she fought every pound. After more than year of this fighting, I cried at the doctors and he prescribed her a medicine that is an antihistimine but also gives normal people an overwhelming appetite. With her, it gives her a more normal appetite.
After all this, her stats are 15 percent both height and weight. Her HC stats also increased.
Now that we've been home for a while (2.5 years), we now can do what lastpaige suggests. But know everyone is on the charts and everyone knows that you can't throw food on the floor or try to throw it in the garbage when Mum or Dad's back is turned.
We also don't run a resturant. We do account for some dislikes such as M the youngest and R the bio Boy don't like Tomatoes, so they get Carrots instead for their veggie.
But you don't serve snacks if you find that it cuts into meals or if they try to wait you out at meals and then try to score a snack later.
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