How can i get my 9 year old boy to eat proper meals?

Question

He is nine and just will not eat properly. I am getting so fed up with making him a different meal that i am at the end of my tether. I know i shouldnt make him a separate meal but i work long hours and i just dont need the hassle when i get in on an evening. He has a 2 1/2 year old brother who eats fine but im worried in case he starts copying his older brother.

Answer 1

Don't make him seperate meals. He knows you'll eventually give in so he knows he can get away with acting this way. If he's hungry enough he'll eat what everyone else is eating.

Answer 2

At his age, if he wants to be hungry instead of eat what's provided, that's his business. Stick his dinner in the fridge and re-heat it the next time he asks for food.

I'd also teach him to cook. He can make fruit salad. Spaghetti bol with grated veggies in the sauce is healthy enough. Make pizzas with veggies on them. I remember my brother going through a pizza phase at that age, carrot and bean pizzas are better than they sound :) Kids will often eat things that they've cooked themselves, that they wouldn't eat otherwise.

Answer 3

At dinner time, tell him this is what you made for and everyone will be eating this. If you don't want it you an go to sleep.

Answer 4

The only way to get him to eat properly is to not allow him to eat anything else. He'll fight it for awhile but when he finds out you're not going to give in, he'll stop.

If he won't eat what you cook, then he doesn't eat. It won't hurt him to skip a meal. In the morning, he'll have breakfast and hopefully will have learned his lesson.

If you give in because you don't want to be hassled, not only are you making it worse for you, but you're teaching your children that if they push your buttons enough, you'll give in because you don't want to be hassled.

Good luck!

Answer 5

If he won't eat what you prepared then don't make him eat at all, but if he only eats sweat things and not the healthy things, bring a book or something to the table and wait for him to finish. If he disobeys you and leaves, take away his mattress-its weird and sounds harsh but trust me. it will work.

Answer 6

i know the feeling.my 11yr old is the same i work shifts but she eats what she wants even though it is the wrong things i have tried my best to explain to her that bullies are out there and to get her eating properly but they will not listen its hard and i understand but we must just perservere

Answer 7

I have twin 9 year old boys and when they get picky I just tell them if they do not eat what we are having......they do not have to eat, trust me you stick to your guns on this one just once and he will not be so picky. Don't get me wrong some kids just don't like certain foods, but do not let him be silly about it

Answer 8

Sounds like you already know what to do, quit making him a separate meal.

Make one dinner and if he doesn't like it, he doesn't have to eat it. He's nine, that's old enough to pour himself a bowl of cereal if he doesn't want to go to bed hungry.

I don't think you have to worry about your younger son learning bad eating habits from his brother.

Answer 9

He either eats what's put in front of him, or he goes hungry. If he misses a few meals he won't starve to death. Wrap cling film around his meal if he doesn't eat it, and pop it in the fridge. If he whines later, take it out and reheat it - and if he doesn't eat it, he gets nothing else.

Don't make him a different meal, that will just reinforce it to him that all he has to do is whine, and you'll give him something he does want.

Don't give him snacks between meals either.

Answer 10

You're letting the inmates run the asylum.

YOU are the GROWN UP!!

Set the rules, and stick to them.

If you can't work, and raise your kids, then you need to quit working!!

AND RAISE YOUR KIDS!! You have a responsibility to make sure that they contribute to society, not take away from it.

Answer 11

don't give him any junk food

Answer 12

Make the meal, and tell him that is his tea, like it or lump it.

Tell him there will be nothing else, and STICK TO IT!!

No child ever willingly starves themselves (except anorexics i suppose).

Good luck!

Answer 13

You are running a resturant, fix whatever you want to fix, if he doesn't eat, he'll live and soon he will get the idea.

Answer 14

explain to him the benefits of eating a well balanced meal and the consequences of eating junk food. if that doesnt work just blend some veggies into a fruit smoothie

Answer 15

give him V8 juice. It's healthy and tastes good. just don't tell him it's veggie juice and you'll be just fine. also make him smoothies with fruit and drop some veggies in. i went to costco where they were making smoothie samples so when i drank some it was so good so i asked what was in it. i was so shocked! it contained, strawberries, bananas, spinach, carrots, and mango! try feeding him THAT.

Answer 16

Beat him.

Answer 17

I hear ya, I do what you do as well. I don't force my kids to eat anything they don't like. Try it once, yes, but MAKE them eat it, no way.

This is what I do, I ask the family what they want for dinner. Say they want chicken, I say ok, chicken it is, but I pick the side dishes (or they pick the sides I pick the main course etc). So basically we meet in the middle, they get their dish, and I get mine. So unless they plan on just eating chicken by itself, lol, they'll eat the sides too. And they do.

But talk to him, see what he likes, you can probably find a healthy version of pretty much anything too, say it's mashed potatoes for example, not so healthy huh, but not too too bad either. Try putting a bit of broccoli in there, not bad at all, barely taste it...Just an idea of how to meet in the middle, he gets mashed potatoes, but you can feel better knowing it has good stuff for him too.

Answer 18

I wonder where he got the bad junk food habit in the first place?

Answer 19

the best thing you can do is cook something for everyone and make him at least try it.He will soon get hungry and have to eat it.Children these days dont get made eat what they are given and you giving into him is only making him worse as he know you are only going to make him something else.

Answer 20

Have him help u prepare the meals...kids are more likely to eat something they helped to make..also get creative with the food =]

hope i helped

xoxo

JD

Answer 21

Just don't let him get his way... If he won't eat what you cook then he will starve and get hungry and sooner or later will want some of the food you made.

Answer 22

Slap him in the mouth

Answer 23

What everyone else is saying is right: don't accomodate his spoiled behavior. Make one meal for everyone at dinnertime, then tell him that he doesn't have to eat what you made, but what you made is all that's being served.

Do not buy any cookies, chips, or other unhealthy snacks; if he doesn't snack during the day, he'll be hungry at dinnertime and will learn the hard way to appreciate your food. And, obviously, you have the right to withhold dessert priveleges (and other priveleges) if he keeps this behavior up.

He'll probably complain a lot, but you're the parent and you should be making the rules. You also control the pantry and the fridge and have to power to control what he eats. Put your foot down and be consistent; if you do, he'll come around.

Answer 24

I wouldnt worry about what he eats too much

most children dont starve themselves intentionally at that age

however you can offer him choices - baked beans or sweetcorn, brown bread for toast, organic tomato ketchup, chicken breast, nuggets, fish fingers, low fat sausages, spaghetti bolanagnaise, pasta, bacon, eggs,

i think that kids tastes do change - at 2 they tend to eat most things.  At 9 their tastes are a tad more 'discerning'

some research has been done that suggests that kids when left to choose their own menu will pick foods that do balance up naturally so perhaps preparing his own meals separate to the family's isnt such a bad thing for him nutritionally

i would pick your battles carefully and make it over things that make a difference to his ongoing progress (homework, friends, chores, behaviour etc) rather than over food

Answer 25

Don't give him treats or snacks until he eats his meals

Answer 26

dont make him seperate meals

explain to him that he will eat whats put before him or he will not eat at all

and try to make it fun

make smileys out of his vegetables or something

it will make him more excited to eat right

Answer 27

you have to stop buying junk and don't give him extra money to buy junk.. he can eat what you make and you should stop feeding him separate meals...when the boy gets hungry he'll eat

Answer 28

Give him a nice long hard spanking.

Answer 29

My nine year old was the same, and I did this and it worked.  It will take a week maybe 2 but if you stick to your guns he will convert!

At meal time, tell him this is what he is eating, nothing different.  Make sure he has on his plate 1. meat or protein group, 1 grain and 2 veggie choices, either raw or cooked.  In order for him to have desert (which for my son is a cut up breaburn or honey crisp apple with cheese, occasionally he can have ice cream) he must eat the meat most of the grain or starch and all of one veggie or half of each.  If he doesn't no desert at all.  Everyone else in the family should eat desert, but he doesn't. There will be yelling (if hes a yeller) but it worked in my house and with my friends kids and to this day, he will tell my family he has to have veggies before he can have desert.

Answer 30

When I was young, my mother sat my brother and I at the table and put food on our plates.  We had to sit there until it was gone.  I remember one night she had cleaned up the kitchen and I will still sitting there with corn and peas on my plate.  She turned off the kitchen light and went in the next room and told me when I was finished, I could join them.  

I eventually ate the food and discovered it was nasty when it was cold so I never did that again.  Now that you have started fixing him what he wants, you have not only caused yourself extra work but you have let him know all he has to do is pout or protest and he can have his way.  Not the right message to send to a child.

I have a cousin who had to eat everything his mother fixed whether he liked it or not.  He did get beat if he didn't do it because his father was very abusive but he learned to eat what was on the table.  Today, he likes anything and everything when it comes to food.  His father went about it wrong but he did have the right idea.

You just have to decide who the boss is and quit buckling when he won't do what you tell him.  Who makes the rules, you or him?  If you don't do it now, you will have one wild teenager on your hands, plus, he isn't learning to respect authority.  Definitely a wrong message to send him.

Good luck

Answer 31

Get an adult to take care of him until you get home.

They can cook for you both.

Or be a parent and tell him he WILL eat what is set before him or go to bed without anything.