Our rule is you can have whatever you want for breakfast. You can select from a couple of kid-friendly offerings at lunch. Dinner is what I planned. If you don't want to eat what I made for dinner, don't eat. The kid will just be extra hungry at breakfast. They do have to sit at the table and be conversational, though.

I have had fewpicky eaters. We have lots of food allergies in the family so I make allowances for that. For instance, if I planned something the kid is allergic to (or might be, it is sometimes hard to tell) I will plan an alternate for that child. I'm not hardcore to the point of being cruel.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

My DH would be this way if I let him have his way but I don't as I think it's cruel. We do try to have at least one thing at each meal that each kid will like but if they don't want what we have they are welcome to have a bowl of cereal. Sometimes I'm not in the mood for what we're having so I can understand them not being as well every now and again. I think letting them be hungry from dinner to breakfast (around 12 hours) is simply cruel and something I'm not willing to let happen to my kids.

It is the exact same scenario in my house. I remember going to bed hungry because I wouldn't eat salisbury steak and mixed vegetables when I was a kid.

She is eating a little better this week. She ate cereal and pretzlels yesterday. However, she has a fever today and is not eating very much.

My 2 1/2 year old son was stuck on steak fingers. That's all he wanted for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I only let him have them for dinner, daycare takes care of lunch, and hubby takes care of breakfast (usually fruit and waffles or cereal). This went on for a couple of weeks. One night he got a royal bellyache (gas and/or constipation) and was up most of the night. The next day I made sure he heard me tell his grandparents "I think it was too many steak fingers". He hasn't asked for one since. he is actually asking for healthy dinners (like his Graduates) and fruit, with crackers or cereal for snacks. I'm not really sure if it was the steak fingers or not, but I did use it to my advantage.

At this age, I'll give him what he wants, within reason. we don't get candy for breakfast (except if he goes potty in the morning I will let him have his m&m's, which so far has been once.) He can have 1-2 pieces of candy if he eats a good dinner. I think he's on a growth spurt, he'll plow through a Graduates meal and ask for more food. I don't really do a "family meal" right now. Hubby is a diabetic, so I never know when he's hungry and DS can't wait until he gets home from work to eat dinner. So I fix the kid a meal when we get home and let hubby fend for himself, or get the kid fed then come up with a meal for me & dh. I try to keep lots of healthy stuff around, so he has plenty of choices. But dh has been known to eat scrambled eggs and sausage for dinner and ds will join him.

I'm glad your DD is eating better and I hope she's feeling better soon.

Funny you mention this, my dd was on a chicken fingers kick for several weeks. She had them for dinner EVERY night. I wish she would eat a graduates dinner!

My kids eat dinner around 4pm, too. Occasionally my five year old will eat with Daddy when he gets home. The problem is sometimes he is home at 4:30 and sometimes it is way after bedtime. I got tired of trying to make them wait and then having to feed them anyways.