Taking Charge at Dinnertime

Do you feel like a short order cook at dinner time? It can be so time-consuming and frustrating when your kids give you a hard time about dinner! 

It can be tempting to make your child what they ask for at dinner. That sure is easier than listening to them complain about the meal. And at least you know they will eat and not be hungry. BUT that gives you an extra meal to cook, makes you dread dinner every night and doesn’t give your children exposure to new foods. Remember, even if they don’t eat the new foods, they still are getting exposure.

If dinner time is stressful in your house, I have some tips to help you move towards no stress dinners!

1. Cook what you want for dinner. You are in charge of the WHAT for dinner.

2. Serve dinner family style and let your children decide what they want to put on their plate and how much.

3. Do not get into the “no thank you bite” trap. The  ‘no thank you bite’ is having the rule in your house that your child has to have one bite of an item before they say they do not want it. A lot of times when a child refuses to eat something, the parent says “just take one bite.” We call this the “no thank you bite” because the child has to take the one bite in order not to eat it. This may get the child to try it that one time but is not a way to get them to feel comfortable around food or be likely to try it in the future. The key is to help set up a situation where the child feels comfortable on their own to try something new, not be forced into it. 

4. Always serve 2-3 items that you know they will eat so they have something they can fill up on, and you don’t need to worry that they will go to bed hungry. This also increases a child’s comfort at a meal and when they have other food they know they like at the table, they will actually be more likely to try something new.

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