I'm no longer making my 4 year old dinner..

[acaisha]

so over it.. he refuses to eat no matter what gets made. We had bbq cheese burgers tonight, he loves cheese burgers and 2 hours later its still sitting at the table and so is he.. picking at it (he hasn't been there for 2 hours just on and off because I refuse to make anything else)

So tomorrow I am not giving him a plate of dinner, just going to make him sit at the table with no food.

okay found a link to the video it was Dr Sears from the Doctors.

http://video.filestube.com/watch,f1911a7d79b14dd203ea/How-to-Handle-Picky-Eaters.html

[redneckmama2]

My kids are given what is made and they are given 30 minutes to eat. What ever is left on their plate after 30 minutes is removed from the table and that is it. I dont do after dinner snacks but if they dont eat breakfast or lunch than no snacks...

[jcm28]

My friends dd eats when she feels like it and what she feels like eatting. In one year she didn't gain one pd. I seen her mother let her eat ice cream for lunch or crakers.

[avonleafan]

My kids go through that sometimes. I put the plate in the fridge and tell them that they can have it later, if they are hungry. Sometimes they'll come back and eat; other times, they wait until the next meal. (This happens at more than dinner, lol). Either way, we eat together, as a family, and they stay at the table whether they eat or not.

[jcm28]

Your son could just be testing you. Stand your gound.

[Fields456]

Quoting amyrw:

Make what you want and tell him its what you made or nothing. My son did this to me and I kept giving in. I felt like a short order cook. This was the advice his doctor gave me. Eventually he will learn its what you make or go to bed hungry.

This is what I do still with my 6 year old. Occasionally we have a fend for your self night so I'll make her whatshe wants. But when I cook a meal my rule is 1.take it 2.leave it. I even have that sign hanging in my kitchen

[MarinaVictoria]

She's not refusing him. She's simple telling him that he can not always get what he wants. He needs to eat what is cooked or else he can go to bed hungry. The food is there, if he doesn't eat......that's on him. Eventually he'll get hungry enough to eat what everyone else is eating, even if it's not his favorite.

Quoting MyLittlePwny:

It's illegal to refuse your child food. What I do with my four year old is put very small portions on her plate and offer it to her. If she doesn't eat then she gets no snacks. It's pretty simple. She usually ends up going back to her plate and eating.

[amyrw]

Yep, my son is almost 6. And when I'm making something I know he hates, like shrimp, I'll make him something different otherwise its the same as you, eat what's made or don't eat.

Quoting Fields456:

Quoting amyrw:

Make what you want and tell him its what you made or nothing. My son did this to me and I kept giving in. I felt like a short order cook. This was the advice his doctor gave me. Eventually he will learn its what you make or go to bed hungry.

This is what I do still with my 6 year old. Occasionally we have a fend for your self night so I'll make her whatshe wants. But when I cook a meal my rule is 1.take it 2.leave it. I even have that sign hanging in my kitchen

[finnbar]

ooooh, you are headed down the path to the Food Wars mama, I don't recommend it!

the problem, as you have noticed, is one can't very easily MAKE another person eat.  I have seen abusive parents beat their kids into eating but am assuming you don't want to take that route.

As many others have suggested, take the control issue out of it.  Cook what you will and serve everybody.  If your child eats, allow "extras" like like juice, desserts, snacks, etc.  Whenever your child fails to eat a meal, withhold all these other sources of calories.  I have found that most children who won't eat either A. hate that particular meal or B. are sufficiently filled up on fruit roll ups to not NEED to eat. kwim?

[JenieceMojica]

omg my son did the same thing and it drove me CRAZY, dont worry mama he will grow out of it.... i make my son eat everything we eat except my DD who has very bad food allergies  but now they all each everything except a few things

[acaisha]

no its been a food war.. tomorrow the control is his.. I usually fix his plate and tomorrow he gets to pick from the choices what he will eat or he can eat nothing.. but im not making him a snack.. he can have more dinner.

Quoting finnbar:

ooooh, you are headed down the path to the Food Wars mama, I don't recommend it!

the problem, as you have noticed, is one can't very easily MAKE another person eat.  I have seen abusive parents beat their kids into eating but am assuming you don't want to take that route.

As many others have suggested, take the control issue out of it.  Cook what you will and serve everybody.  If your child eats, allow "extras" like like juice, desserts, snacks, etc.  Whenever your child fails to eat a meal, withhold all these other sources of calories.  I have found that most children who won't eat either A. hate that particular meal or B. are sufficiently filled up on fruit roll ups to not NEED to eat. kwim?