Moo
Abbie has gotten into some bad grazing habits. If she sees something she wants to eat at mealtime, great. If she doesn’t want to eat anything, she won’t, opting instead to grab a snack a little later.
I’m trying to break these grazing habits with a multi-prong approach. When she doesn’t want to eat her meal, I strongly encourage her to reconsider. When she asks for a snack a little later, I refuse and remind her that she needs to eat better at mealtime. When I catch her running out of the kitchen with a handful of raisins, I remind myself that I need to lock the snack cabinet if I’m going to crack down on snacking.
When Abbie wanted a Goldfish snack this morning, I refused. She didn’t eat much cereal that morning in her mistaken belief that she’s too good for Fruit Rings. With lunch only about a half-hour away, I didn’t want her having any excuse to not eat her yogurt. I calmly reminded her to eat better at breakfast, and told her she’d have to wait a little while until breakfast.
Abbie doesn’t accept calm reminders. Simple directives like “Be patient” will throw her into a tantrum, especially when food is involved.
Abbie screamed at me, and I coolly started work on lunch. She threw a bowl at me, and I sent her to her room before resuming work on lunch. She emerged from her room after several minutes of screaming with blood flowing down her chin after biting her lip hard enough to break skin, and I might’ve panicked a little.
That girl is not afraid to go for drastic measures to get what she wants. I suppose a Goldfish request denial is a drastic measure for a toddler, so she responded in kind. I ensured that her wound was superficial, gave her a burp cloth to contain the blood, and sent her back to her room so I could finish lunch.
Lunchtime went okay. She ate a little more yogurt than usual, and that’s an improvement. I even sprinkled a few Fruit Rings on top to remind her that they’re still good to eat.
I’m trying to break these grazing habits with a multi-prong approach. When she doesn’t want to eat her meal, I strongly encourage her to reconsider. When she asks for a snack a little later, I refuse and remind her that she needs to eat better at mealtime. When I catch her running out of the kitchen with a handful of raisins, I remind myself that I need to lock the snack cabinet if I’m going to crack down on snacking.
When Abbie wanted a Goldfish snack this morning, I refused. She didn’t eat much cereal that morning in her mistaken belief that she’s too good for Fruit Rings. With lunch only about a half-hour away, I didn’t want her having any excuse to not eat her yogurt. I calmly reminded her to eat better at breakfast, and told her she’d have to wait a little while until breakfast.
Abbie doesn’t accept calm reminders. Simple directives like “Be patient” will throw her into a tantrum, especially when food is involved.
Abbie screamed at me, and I coolly started work on lunch. She threw a bowl at me, and I sent her to her room before resuming work on lunch. She emerged from her room after several minutes of screaming with blood flowing down her chin after biting her lip hard enough to break skin, and I might’ve panicked a little.
That girl is not afraid to go for drastic measures to get what she wants. I suppose a Goldfish request denial is a drastic measure for a toddler, so she responded in kind. I ensured that her wound was superficial, gave her a burp cloth to contain the blood, and sent her back to her room so I could finish lunch.
Lunchtime went okay. She ate a little more yogurt than usual, and that’s an improvement. I even sprinkled a few Fruit Rings on top to remind her that they’re still good to eat.
posted by Matt at
11:51 PM
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