As I posted in the previous thread on eating issues, my day care kids have some seriously bad eating habits.

I started a new rule for lunch time: Clean your plate, get dessert.

5 year old dcb ALWAYS picks out stuff he says doesn't like from his foods, without even trying it first. Beans, onions, peas etc. Name me a healthy food (even fresh garden strawberries...gasp!) and he automatically hates it and refuses to eat it. I was tired of throwing away. I was tired of giving him a snack at 3pm knowing he didn't eat very healthy earlier in the day.

For the last week, he has not had dessert while all the other children have. I used his favorites to see if he would attempt to try the veggies. Fruit Snacks, home made chocolate cake, home made rice crispy bars, gold fish were all served at dessert time and he got nothing...until today.

I made goulash (made with macaroni, tomatoes, onions, kidney beans, tomato sauce, shredded Parmesan and Romano cheese) with a side serving of fruit cocktail and fresh baked mini bread loafs w/garlic (optional). His mother brought dough-nuts this morning for all to share, and he had helped her pick them out this morning. I used them as dessert today and he actually finished his plate!!

Maybe the lure of dough-nuts was too enticing for him, and maybe tomorrow we will be back to no dessert..but today, I win!

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Awesome! I am glad it worked. Hopefully he will keep it up!
All my daycare kids eat pretty well, but I might use this with my own 2 kids at dinner time.

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I do something similar. But I don't offer dessert. They all get their helping of whatever we are having. Like today, we had french toast sticks, scrambled eggs, and water melon and strawberries. If they eat everything on their plate, the can have seconds of whatever they want that I served. They can't just scarf down the french toast sticks and then ask for more. They have to eat their eggs and fruit too. Then they can have seconds. Hope it works for you!

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I have done this as well for about 5 yrs. now, I hardly ever ever have a problem, with anyone eating everything that is on their plates!!!!

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While I TOTALLY respect this concept, in TX you can NOT withhold dessert. Food can not be used as a reward nor can it be withheld as a punishment. Which in a sense that is what you are doing. You are punishing the child because they are not eating.

Now don't get me wrong. I agree with the reasoning that you shouldn't just eat dessert blah blah, just merely pointing out a fact

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Same rule here in VA.

I recently started making my kids clean up the playroom before anyone can sit down to eat lunch. They ate lunch 45 mins late the other day and I think they are finally catching on. It's not like if they flat-out refused to clean up that they wouldn't eat lunch that day - but THEY don't know that. So it's not technically withholding food - it's just the threat of withholding food

For clarification MN Mom, you are offering the dessert as a bonus at lunch time but you are still serving a regular snack later in the afternoon that this boy eats, right?

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Yes, dessert is a bonus. Snack time is still at 3pm sharp.

I talked with his mother a bit today, and told her how proud I was of him for eating his food. She was surprised and very happy I was able to get him to eat the hot dish, as she said he won't eat veggies ever, and throws tantrums when she tries to make him.

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Yes, I do this too. It works best for the kids who are always hungry. Yesterday we had Mac/Cheese with cubed ham, peas, applesauce. Dcg ate the mac and cheese and wanted more. Of course I told her she had to eat everything on her plate if she wanted seconds. The peas and applesauce were gone in minutes.

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Yes, actually I think it is the same here in Kansas. Not to say I wouldn't try it Just not when licensing was there.

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I could care less when these guys don't eat. Doesn't bother me in the least. I don't use desert as anything other than part of the meal. We usually have some kind of home made bread for our treat. Yesterday I made a banana bread with Ritter Sport Alpine chocolate bars shivered into it. It was delicious.

If a kid doesn't like something at my house I really believe they just don't like it. I keep little containers in my freezer of different kinds of stews so I can nuke one for the kid that doesn't like such and such. Maybe once a month or so I will pull one if I make something new that one of them doesn't really like.

It's rare though. Pretty much every day they all eat all of the food. The only food problem I have is getting them to stop licking the bowls. My two year old boys think it's hysterical. Nan doesn't.

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Recipe please! That sounds yummy. I have a whole slew of bananas in my freezer to make bread with..need to use them soon before freezer burn takes hold.

I'm sure he doesn't like veggies. He's not really been exposed to them much in his short 5 years because of regulars like McDonald's and Burger King. In fact, because he did soooo good at lunch yesterday, mom took him to Burger King (again, this is the 2nd time this week) for supper Nothing like countering the good foods I gave him yesterday...Oh well! Maybe his doctors will say something to mom at his Kindergarten check-up. He's borderline obese. His belly hangs over his jeans, and most of the time we can't even get them buttoned / zipped. I've suggested sweats or larger jeans to mom, but he's so short any size bigger and they are way to long.

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Bread Machine recipe: All organic except for the chocolate
3/4 cup water
1 large egg
2 tablespoons
2 cups wheat flour
1 cup white flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
2 medium rotten frozen bananas
1 ritter sport alpine chocolate bar slivered into tiny pieces

Cook in my bread machine on the fruit bread setting on Fruit and Dark

Mix the chocolate and bananas together and let sit while the bread is mixing. when the "add fruit" buzzer goes off put in the banana chocolate stuff.

It's awesome.

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Thanks Nan. I will definately be trying this. I love new things to try in my bread machine. I'm excited to try the "jam" setting this fall!

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You don't have to use the expensive candy bars for it if you want to cost it down a bit. I LOVE this brand of chocolate for breads: sams club real semi sweet chocolate baking chips. Put them in thre freezer then take them out to shiver them into little shards or dust. Use about 3/4 to a cup of them for the loaf. I use less chocolate when I use the fancy chocolate.

Another good ritter sport one to put in the bread is the Cornflake one. It's CRAZY good in banana bread. It's like rice crispy banana bread. Yumm

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so if child refuses to eat do we HAVE to give them something when they decide they want it? I had already cleaned up lunch and daycare kid wouldn't hardly eat while everyone else was on seconds or thirds then got it all cleaned up, and the whining starts that the kid is hungry. Parents think I should give in and fix something and offer different lunch if kids says they don't want what I serve. I think I have vented about this before.

p.s. I am on the food program.

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I would say it depends on the situation. If the child took two or three bites to see if they actually like it and decided they didn't I would probably make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwhich. I wouldn't want to do this all the time though, but I know if they're not hungry and don't want to eat at all that food will not be served again until the next planned meal/snack.

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I just had a visit from the FP site monitor and I asked her this question. She said NO, the only thing that we have to do to stay in compliance is offer them the proper food and proper amount. We cant force them to eat. She said that 30 min was more than enough time and if they didnt eat then they would just have to wait until the next meal. She also said that if we give in and make special meals that we are setting ourself up for trouble....lol hope this helps...

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I think it's the same thing here in MN. We just have to offer the foods, we can't force it into their mouths It's there for them and it's their choice whether to eat it.

Now, it's MY choice to not give them a "reward" for picky eating. I understand kids are hesitant and sometimes stubborn about certain foods, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to give in and give them unhealthy food instead. My yummy snacks in the afternoon are reserved for those who make good choices. Those who don't still get a snack, just not the same kind of snack that the others who ate well do.

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I'm not a short order cook, I cook a healthy meal and if you eat, fine but if you don't, well you don't get desert (a lollypop, a cookie...) I think the whole problem is that kids now a days don't know what healthy eating is. I have one mom who only cooks nuggets and fries everyday--I kid you not. Another mom only makes finger foods like nuggest, grilled cheese or lunchables for dinner or even better canned speggetti.
I think thats why its so important to teach children to eat healthy so they know that there is other foods out in the world that tastes good and is good for them.
I also find that parents also give up on dinner.

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