Now I know it doesn't sound nice to trick a toddler, but as a mom, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. And, on the plus side, he's a toddler, so he doesn't know he's been tricked!
#mommywin
The other night, I was making dinner for Mason as Seth was making dinner for us. We were having turkey lettuce wraps and it wasn't overly toddler friendly so I made Mason some chicken nuggets. He's been in a funny mood lately where he loves something one day and hates it the next so I pretty much just make him whatever I feel like and hope for the best.
Typical toddler.
We have a bad habit of putting on the TV at night when we come home and more often than not, Mason will watch TV and not eat dinner. So I opted for leaving the TV off. I thought for sure since he was not going to be distracted by anything, that he would eat.
Haha. Silly mommy.
Seth continued making our dinner and I went upstairs to change. I came back down (literally like one minute later) and Mason had eaten all of his cheeto puffs. That kid loves his cheetos so I wasn't surprised he went for those first but I was surprised how fast he ate them. I thought, "this is great! he's hungry. he will eat!" I was wrong. He picked at his blueberries and a little at the cheese but was eating no chicken. Literally, I think he ate maybe one piece but that is being generous. By this point, Seth and my dinner was ready and we sat down with Mason to eat. Mason started whining and saying "duh. duh." (for done). I told him he wasn't done and asked him to please eat his chicken.
Again...
Duh. Duh.
So, I used my mommy smarts to remember that Mason basically wants everything that Seth or I have.
the food on our plates (even after he's eaten his meal)
our drinks
and the list goes on
So, I used my fork (my adult fork) to pick up one of his pieces of chicken and he couldn't grab the fork fast enough to eat it. Seriously. I was actually kind of impressed with myself! I continued picking up pieces of chicken on the fork and Mason continued shoving them in his mouth.
In the end, he basically ate everything on his tray! (It all started off on the plate above but he quickly flipped it over and dumped it on the tray. But, hey, I was just happy he didn't chuck the plate on the floor!) There was basically only a couple pieces left (which he then threw on the floor lol) at the very end so all in all, I consider it a win.
And that's how I tricked my toddler into finishing his dinner.
Noah has been in an anti eating mood too lately! The only way eating off our fork works is if he's walking around begging for our food and even then it's just a few bites. I'm trying now to trust that he knows when he's hungry, but I still worry.
ReplyDeleteThe fork trick works for us too! Reed will be completely uninterested in something and then I'll give him a fork and all of a sudden it tastes so good! Thanks, fork!!
ReplyDeleteOh man, I know what you mean - one meal they devour it the next nothing. Tyson is on a 'boccli' (broccoli) kick right now so I'm making it about every other meal. I think my husband has had enough, but I'm going to keep feeding it to the kid til he won't eat it. :) What a great feeling though after a 'successful' dinner!! :)
ReplyDelete