How to stop snacking and start eating?!

My 3 1/2 yo is in the middle of a major meltdown. He is hungry. He has gotten into a terrible habit of not eating at meals and then just snacking his way through the day. It's just gotten worse and worse to where he won't eat any lunch or dinner. One bite and he's done. It's so wasteful!! It's driving me nuts! But worse than that is this major tantrum he is throwing right now!! :icon_eek:


It is 1 hour till dinner. Would you ride it out or give in and give the kid a bagel (that's what he is begging for. LOL)? If I don't ride it out....how else to you change this bad, wasteful habit? I have nothing against snacks. We have a large array of yogurt, fruit, cheese etc. But this is all he eats. All day long. And no meals.

What to do....?

 

Ride it out. Give him a drink and be done with it. John was a terrible snacker (my own fault actually). I stopped giving him anything now, except maybe one fruit snack on occasion, and he can have a couple gulps of milk. Also I moved up dinner time for him and the twinks. They eat at 4:30-5pm, and I save the food for DH to eat at 6pm when he gets home. Seems to help them with the hunger issues.

 

I say ride it out. I have no personal experience, but my SIL had to do this with my nieces. Same scenario! She would give them a mid afternoon snack and then that was it, period, done, until dinnertime. I remember how frustrated she was for several days but it really helped in the end. They started eating more at lunch and dinner.

 

Definitey ride it out. Keep him busy with other things if you can. I drag my boys outside or so something fun to keep them occupied. It is usually because they are BOREd not hungry. I find if I do give in they do eat the snack but the dont eat dinner. Of course this happens from time to time when visiting relatives and when my MIL visits. but as a rule the meal is it and nothing unti lnext meal if you dont eat it. DONE.

 

Oh my goodness Rhea, I am going through the same thing with Lorien right now. This actually happened again tonight. About an hour before dinner she was crying for an apple but I don't have any left so I say, how about a banana? So that makes her happy. But then she cries for another. Dh and I decided, whatever, if she is hungry now how can I deprive her and force her little tummy to be hungry for another hour. Bananas are healthy so what the heck. Then came dinner and she only took a couple of bites and was done (which I figured). I was just thinking about this a few minutes ago and thought that if I can give her something that is not as filling but takes time to eat, perhaps I can trick her. She loves raisins and they take a while to eat (she eats while she plays) and they are not that filling. Otherwise I am going to try to give her milk. My girls barely drink any milk during the day so if she is really hungry, perhaps she will drink it and then it will digest by the time it's time for dinner. I'm still playing around with this one so I wish us both luck.

 

We went cold turkey on the snacks too with my 3 year old. We were having the same issues too. Somedays I cave and then she doesnt eat her dinner and now thats my fault. But like today she had a snack of apples at 2:30pm dinner at 5:30 and she ate it all plus seconds on everything. Thats not the norm, but she definitely eats better without snacks.

 

I try to ride it out. Same with the older kids. If they are absolutely starving, we have a vegetable only rule past 5:00 (we eat between 6 & 6:30), so raw carrots, peppers, cucumbers, etc. are okay but nothing else. I figure if they are that hungry they will eat the vegetables & at least I feel like they are getting something good for them.

 

Hi -
I am having the same problem with my 18 month old twins- well I am having two problems- they will not eat in their high chairs at the table and I have to put them in their bedrooms in highchairs- and they prefer to walk around and eat dry foods. The girl will pick up wet food- like fruit or pasta- but the boy will not. He also will not feed himself most times either even if it is pbj sandwich. I have to put it in his mouth- and I bet if I chewed it for him he would like that even more!

So I am about to ask the doctor for a feeding tube because I cannot take this drama with mealtimes. When one cries and spits out food the other does the same- :mellow:

Jackie

 

maybe milk as it will fill him a little. We're just starting to try this is for lunch/dinner and if u don't eat it, "fine" but nothing until the next snack/meal, its so hard, but hopefully they will start to understand.

 

I'm sure sure a 3 yr old should only have three meals a day, that is a ong time to go inbetween eating, IMO. Usually our snacks are the same type of thing they would have for breakfast or lunch, except if we are on the go, then they get a snack trap with dry cereal. Have you tried saving the meal he didn't eat and then offer that when he whines for food? I did this with my oldest when she was doing something similar. I felt bad riding it out because I knew she was hungry, haven eaten little breakfast or lunch...once she figured out she was getting her leftover lunch instead of whatever snacky thing in the pantry sounded yummy she started to eat her meals better.