Eating meals

I don't know why my kids think that lunch and dinner can take hours. We call them for dinner and my 3 year-old twins sit at the table. Then we spend most of dinner telling them to eat. Both my husband and I finish and they are still siting there with their place half full. So we either have to feed them or beg them to eat.

Well, lately I have gotten tire of this habit and told them that once mommy and daddy are finish dinner time is over. If they haven't finished their meal it will be taken away. We have done this a couple of time but I feel really bad because my son cries and wants his dinner. I know he is not going hungry... he is just not finishing his plate, he sits and play.

I don't know if I'm doing the right thing by taking away his plate?

 

I don't think it's bad to have a set time for them to eat in if they are being excessively slow and just messing around. I wouldn't necessarily expect them to eat as fast as adults though, I think 30 minutes is a reasonable amount of time for children to eat in (although if they are going very slowly now you might want to give them say 40 minutes to start off with then gradually reduce the time). I don't know how long you and your husband take to eat a meal, but maybe give them as long as it takes you to eat plus 10 minutes on a timer once you've finished. Then if they aren't done after that then the meal is over.
Also I would stop all the telling them to eat throughout the meal and then feeding and coercing them into eating. That is giving them an awful lot of attention and putting a load of stress/pressure on them (and you) at the same time. I think you should just serve the food, sit and eat yours, tell them that you are putting the timer on and when it beeps lunch/dinner is over and you will be clearing the plates away, then follow through with that. The only comments I'd make to them during the meal are positive things like how well they're using their spoon/fork or how nicely they're sitting. If you can relax and be matter of fact about their eating you may find that they start eating with a lot less fuss.

Good luck!

 

Good advice

 

I've started setting a timer for my girls because they do the same thing. They know what the timer means, too, so when I set it they get down to eating. When the timer goes off, I take their food away unles they are really eating good. As long as they are eating well, then I will give them additional time, but if they aren't, then I take the food away. I give them 30 minutes, which is plenty of time, and if they eat well, they get a treat.