How do you get a child to eat and not play at meal time and by play i mean takeing there sweet time?

Question

How do you get a child to eat and not play at meal time and by play i mean takeing there sweet time?

Answer 1

make meal time fun.  meal time can tend to be boring. serve them green mashed potatoes, face sandwiches, or let them help make the meal. they'll eat what they have a hand in making quicker then anything. make mini refrigerator biscuit pizzas that they can make them selves with a grown ups help baking.

another problem maybe that they aren't hungry when your eating. maybe use an open meal time. basically if they are hungry they will eat if not they won't.

Answer 2

If your child is hungry he will eat. I have 2 kids . my oldest is a very picky eater. He is now 5 and eats dinner. If he does not eat then his dinner sets there until he goes to bed. If he is hungry before bed time there his dinner sets. I try to feed him healthy food through out the day. Just try and make sure you child is hungry when he sets down to eat. Just be patient he will eat if he is hungry. Just go about you day if he is sill setting there eating let him. If he is reayy hungry he will eat.

Answer 3

Set an example and be patient. This is the best you can do for most parental struggles.

Answer 4

not meant to offend, but if you recall - one of you is the parent who calls the shots.  meal-time is a fun family time in our house, but the kids also know they eat what is on their plate without complaint.  one time of going to be hungery after they failed to follow directions worked like a charm.

oh, remember - you are there to be a parent and not a friend?

Answer 5

You dont. When you force children to eat under specific structures you cause food issues. its not healthy to force a kid to eat fast or clear a plate. I would seriously rethink the idea of wanting a child to eat a meal in a set time.

Answer 6

Don't make it a battle. If the kid wants to eat, he'll eat.  Otherwise, when dinner time is over, it's over.  If he's begging for a snack 20 minutes later... just say it's not snack time yet, and make him wait a couple of hours.  He'll get the idea after a couple of times of being hungry.

Answer 7

If you can figure that out, let me know.

The answer would be worth a trillion dollars

Answer 8

Well, eating slowly and enjoying your meal is a good thing. Teach them table manners but not *how fast or slow* to eat.