Toddler Therapy: Messy Mealtimes
I need more therapy. After chicken chunks being catapulted at my face, pineapple smeared on my hardwood floors, dinner rolls thrown at my dogs and green beans splattered on my walls, I decided it’s time to go back into session. Please help me tame my toddler at mealtime. Right now, she gets naked for all meals and, when she’s done creating a masterpiece on her arms and belly with chicken and veggies, she gets sprayed down. I’m OK with the mess. It’s the fact that she doesn’t eat ANYTHING at home. At daycare, they say she eats seconds and thirds at every meal. I thought, maybe she’s not hungry. So, we moved dinnertime back to just a little before bedtime. We’ve also tried all different types of foods, tried her eating with us and without us, tried suction plates, tried taping her food to her highchair (see evidence above) and performed all sorts of silly sound effects as the spoon enters her mouth. No matter the circumstances, she will not eat a bite. I’m getting tired of mopping the pineapple sheen off of my floors and picking cheese out of Curby’s coat three times a day. So, please tell me. How do you get your toddler to eat?
posted by Tay's Mom @ Friday, July 11, 2008
2 Comments:
Sorry...Edwin eats anything and everything we put in front of him. But I did enjoy the picture of all her food taped down!!!
ok, i don't have a toddler but this is what my friends with toddlers say - keep the same approach to meal time. make it preditable and routine like. and put food in front of her. she knows how to put it in her mouth - but if she doesn't eat any of it, fine. don't make a fuss over her (she wants the attention). get a little kitchen timer that you wind around and tick tick ticks until it runs out of time. set it for 5 or 10 minutes. tell taylor that when miss piggy (or whatever little name you can name it) goes "ding" then dinner is over and mommy and daddy will take her plate. and when it dings, take the plate and be done with dinner. maybe then she'll get the idea that dinner time is for eating, not playing, and when it's over it's over. give her no fuss about not eating -but if she does eat, simply tell her thank you and good job. and remember - she WILL eat when she's hungry. (oh, and remind me of all of this if loralai goes through this stage). ;)
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