What do you think of this? On how NOT to have a picky eater.

My son has autism
We can't do the "eat now or go hungry" thing. He doesn't grasp that concept.
If he wants food a half hour before bed,I make it
You've never been hungry/not hungry at odd times?

Actually, what he said sounds more like it would create picky kids. I agree with you.

Nope, I made meals, and my kids sat down and ate what I made for dinner. I didn't make them eat it, but I also didn't make them special food. If they didn't eat their meal, I put it in the fridge so that if they got hungry they could eat it later. I have 3 adult sons that eat everything.

We have meals at set times. All 5 of my kids have learned that. Some are pickier than others. If they are hungry at non meal times there are always fruit/yogurt options available.

I make dinner around 6 also & I'm like you, if they don't eat it then they don't eat it. I am sure to make only things that they like, which is about everything, so they normally eat pretty well. But I sure wouldn't let them eat dinner whenever they wanted. They are still young and it is important to sit down and have dinner together.

Do what works for you. You are not a short order cook that jumps when someone tells you to. I agree that his line of thinking would probably create more picky eaters than it would prohibit.

Dinner is between 5-6 eat if you're hungry or wait until breakfast.

I think it might work for some kids, but you know your family best. I let my kids pick what they want for breakfast (mainly it's which cereal they want! lol), and within reason for lunch (we homeschool. I give them select options - you can have soup, a pb&j sandwich, or corn dogs, for example). But dinner is planned and we eat when we eat (usually between 6-7), and if they don't want to eat it, then they go to bed hungry. Period.

Of course, my boys are ALWAYS hungry, so to "cook when they are hungry" would mean cooking all the freaking time. For me, it's more "I'm cooking when I'M hungry, and you'll just have to wait to eat until then." lol

Breakfast and lunch are served at random times, but dinner is always right around 6 pm. My kids are 8 and 11, they're not picky. They have certain things they don't like - don't we all? But for the most part, they'll eat just about anything, sometimes things I won't, like lettuce, onions, and cooked cabbage. I think it's more important to introduce a wide variety of foods to your kids and not insist they eat every veggie on their plate if they say it's icky and they don't like it, especially if they haven't even tasted it yet. I've always done the one bite rule even on foods I knew they had previously liked, but were now claiming not to. Some things, I KNOW my kid hates so I don't mind if he picks it out of his food. It's just something he doesn't like.

My children are snackers, in their perfect world, they would literally eat a small portion of food every 2-3 hrs so, a set meal time is difficult in my home. But, we always eat dinner sometime between 5-7pm. It is normal for my children to beg for food right before bedtime. And, I'll give them some, usually a small portion of fruit or cheese. Because everything I've read suggests that eating more frequent, smaller meals is healthier for children.

that seems like it would make picky eaters...cause they would eat whenever they wanted and whatever they wanted.

my kids are always hungry...they eat little bits all day. but dinner is always around 6 when DH gets home. and then its "eat this or nothing" which has never been a problem. im more picky than they are! we've always had the "try it first, if you dont like it you dont have to eat it" rule and it works perfectly. 90% of the time they like the food. i also make sure theres always at least 2 things on the table that they do like (a meat, a carb, and a veggie). strangely its the meat they usually dont like haha.

as they get older, i will let them make themselves a sandwich if we are eating something i know they dont like. theres not liking a food and then theres being picky. picky is an attitude.