Will you or do you or did you force your children to eat?

[Kris10Leigh]

Aurielle, my mom cooked the "bejeebers" out of vegetables too! Only I thought it was normal! Every vegetable had to be cooked at least 1/2 hour and they were always limp and flavorless! No salt for us. I've learned so much since then! She didn't like vegetables and didn't eat them herself though. She only made them for us, so her heart was certainly in the right place! And everything else she cooked was always amazing.

[Diolla]

Originally Posted by tgavin71

I too only make one meal. I offer the same food to both my children. If they don't eat they get any dessert. But they can make themselves a sandwich or get a piece of fruit.

I am assuming you meant they don't get any dessert. That's what I mean, what makes dessert a 'reward'? If you eat all your yucky food I'll let you have something nice? We grow up thinking that something sweet is good and vegetables are bad. I personally would have loved to skip dessert, I have never liked sweets and do not have them even now. I can just imagine a mom saying "You can't have any green beans until you finish your pudding"

[BooBerry]

I have never forced my children to eat. Their pediatrician told me not to worry about them not eating, as long as I kept offering them balanced meals. She also says a child won't let themselves starve!

[tgavin71]

Originally Posted by Diolla

I am assuming you meant they don't get any dessert. That's what I mean, what makes dessert a 'reward'? If you eat all your yucky food I'll let you have something nice?

To me dessert is a reward. Life is about doing "yucky" things to get rewarded. Studying for exams to get a good mark to get into university to get a good job etc etc etc. You can't expect to have a "nice" time of it without going through the "yuckies" as well.

[PrincessPerky]

Originally Posted by Diolla

I am assuming you meant they don't get any dessert. That's what I mean, what makes dessert a 'reward'? If you eat all your yucky food I'll let you have something nice? We grow up thinking that something sweet is good and vegetables are bad. I personally would have loved to skip dessert, I have never liked sweets and do not have them even now. I can just imagine a mom saying "You can't have any green beans until you finish your pudding"

I in many ways agree, a reward is food you know they like (In my house) like the english muffin, I do not use cookies as rewards however, I don't want them thinking they 'deserve' junk food..I suppose offering a safe food or a fun art activity is almost as bad, but I don't think so...I have to bribe myself sometimes to finish a chore, so I don't mind bribing htem, with a safe bribe..one I don't mind handing over every 5 minutes as needed.

I do not find most of like 'yucky' I actually spend very little time doing 'yucky' things, or eating 'yucky food' I love being with my kids, I find ways to make most chores fun (towel race) which is a lot more fun for them than me, but I certainly wouldn't classify it as yucky (though plunging toilets on the other hand is yucky! DH does thoise, and the kid always want to watch the 'fun' DH gets a kick out of how fun they think it is, I would just be puking, so to each his own 'fun'))

[mariec99]

Aurielle, my mom cooked the "bejeebers" out of vegetables too! Only I thought it was normal! Every vegetable had to be cooked at least 1/2 hour and they were always limp and flavorless! No salt for us.

Me, too! It was awful! And no my Mom did not add salt or any other seasoning. And "salads" were bowls of torn iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing on top. My Mom really hated to cook. To this day she subsists on Cokes, and candy bars. I am not kidding. And she has the health problems to go with it.

Unfortunately, my parents did force us to finish everything on our plates. And I have troubles with food today to show for it.

My nieces are avoiding some of those problems -- now, they have better varieties of lettuce in stores. There has been a lot on cooking shows and in the media about grilling veggies and new varieties of veggies. Much different than in the 70's. They are also given a lot of fresh friut and veggies. I never knew until I was an adult how good a snack of green beens right out of the can are until a 3 year-old showed me!

My nieces also have to take one "love" bite of each food they are served.

[Ima saver]

Sorry, but as a child with serious eating problems even as a baby, I don't think food should be forced on you. I would have starved rather than eat what my mother forced me to eat. I think that is why I am still a picky eater. When I go to parties, I usually do not eat anything unless my husband tries it and tells me if I will like it. (he knows me well)

[Kirbycruiser]

My son is usually a really good eater. I demand he try everything and yes I MAKE him eat his vegetables. Most food products these days have very little nutritional value and nothing substitutes for the real thing.
I will not sit there and watch him eat a whole plate of macaroni and cheese and eat nothing else, he has to at least try a little bit of everything. He doesn't like spinach so I try not to fix it too often, but when I do he is required to eat at least a small amount.

Don't think I am abusing my child to eat, it's not like that! Most people won't show signs of years of bad eating untill their 30's, 40's, 50's and later. I really believe it will show up in the form of Cancers and other diseases.

I have a neighbor who has a daughter that always wants a special meal and she will actually cook it for her. This is absolutley ridiculous imo. I think some kids are just spoiled.

[Roupey03]

I will never force my children to eat. They say at an early age children are able to know when they are hungry and eat. It is not untill a later age when they begin to over eat and become obese.

[simpleselu]

When I was a child we were happy to have any food. We knew from a very young age that there was no room for wasting food and I remember my mother going without food so my sister and I could eat. Yes, this was the early 1980s in the USA. We did not waste food. Ever.

I don't have children but I do quite a bit of weekends and vacations with my nephews and nieces; we don't discuss it. They know auntie cooks meals and will offer them whatever is cooked or they can have PB&J. Auntie is not a short order cook, and auntie does not flake like mommy and daddy do. I explain it to them and just offer them the PB&J and that's it - no cajoling, smacking, yelling or anything like that.

[asmom]

I never force my kids to eat either. It sets them up for bad eating habits later in life and we all know how bad that is for your health. I have had a lot of battles with my husband over this as he is of the opinion that if it is on their plate they should finish it. I think that's silly. He needs to stop putting so much food on their plates. He is also unable to understand that small children do not understand portions so if they put a lot on their plates, it isn't because they are being "greedy". *sigh* It's a work in progress. Bottom line: if they are hungry they will eat. We eat too much in this country anyway.

[PrincessPerky]

serving size for those of us who insist the kid try it:

teaspoon..literally a teaspoon of an unknown food or a little liked food..little waste..can practically fit the whole serving in one bite for DS

tablespoon for well liked foods..less of expensive ones More of positive foods (I am lazy)