Do you tell your child, or do they ask, how many bites they have to eat of something?

One of our nephews asks the minute he sits down at the table. It used to drive me nuts, but now I am seeing the value in giving M a goal. If she's really not hungry she stops, but usually she is just busy being silly or playing.

What do you think?

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Both my dds are good eaters, but if they're getting antsy I usually tell them they have to take 3-4 bites of a certain thing. I survey their plate & kind of figure how many bites it'll take to get something substantial eaten & then i base it on that. also, i tell them it has to be a full bite. Hope this helps.

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AKA Mommyof2girls

I only do that when they don't want to eat. Like if we're having pork chops i know ds likes them so I'll tell him he has to at least eat like five bites.

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My daughter wants to be a picky eater, so we started making her eat 'so many spoonfuls' before she could say she was done. This backfired, because she now sits down at the table and, before she takes the first bite, wants to know how many bites to be 'done'. Now we have to argue with her about how we expect her to eat everything on her plate. The only time we pull out the 'how many bites' discussion is over things she claims she doesn't like--we've learned kids need to try things several times before they know if they truly like or don't like it. Now, with our son, he is expected to clean his plate, and we will occasionally allow him to just have a few 'bites' of things we know he really doesn't care for (like fresh tomatoes). Just keep in mind, it's our job to offer variety of foods to our kids to keep them healthy. I have a friend (a picky eater himself) who's kids were allowed to be picky in their eating as well. I can't tell you how many meals I've cooked for these kids where they turned their noses up at what was offered and just had toast for dinner. Very annoying. Oh....and one more thought. I am of the opinion that picky eaters are ultimately created. My parents and my Aunt and uncles grew up during the first Depression....we're talking about a lot a people here, and not ONE is a picky eater. I guess you can't be picky when you can't afford to be...

I dunno. food is one of those things that some things they will like and some things they won't, YET you have to introduce these foods many times before they can develop an opinion.

I think with my girls it would backfire as well. oldest doesn't like broc. I made it one day with cheese and crackertops. She loved it, I just asked her to try it before making an opinion.

I also like the idea of them "naming" the dish. Whether they like it or not, it gives them power to have made a title out of the food. And it gets pretty silly!

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married 8 years to a crazy Brit, mommy to a banana, she is 5 and a pineapple who is just about 2 , mommy to 4 ~angel~ babies

None. I don't battle over food.

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If she is playing around or wanting to rush and get down to play I will typically tell Rebecca 3-4 bites. If it is something new that she doesn't want to try she is told 1 bite.

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If it becomes an issue they have to take at least 3 bites of each item on their plate.

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SuperSavinMommy
SAHM of DS #1 (born 8/06) and DS #2 (born 6/08)