DD's eating habits have me at my wits end

[Erin_25]

I'm just throwing this out there and it's just IMO.....but does it really matter?

What is the problem, that she will not eat or just not eat dinner? If they are getting enough variety during the day then I fail to really see the problem...

I understand the whole teaching them it's dinner time etc, but I don't see the point in fighting it. I'm not a fan of all the baby books that tell us we have to do this and have to do that getting us all worried about one persons opinion that worked for them, but I did get advice once and that was "pick your fights"....if it's not worth the fight then why not leave it.

Don't get me wrong, we turn off the telly, set the table with our placemats and DS1 special placemat and his special cup. We always serve up a plate of what we are eating and we let him know it's dinner time. 9 out of 10 times he will not eat it, but he gets the point that we all sit down to eat dinner. He doesn't always sit at the table either but he knows we will not play etc until dinner is finished. It saves the stress & there are no fights....I cook a nice meal I like to enjoy it also without out all the fights and stress just before bed time. He is a day eater, from breakfast on he will just eat and he has a good variety and diet, so I just go with that. I know he's eaten enough, he hasn't had junk and if he wants something at dinner that's not what we are having then he gets a choice of something easy like an apple or a bannana. (so I don't have to cook another meal). I understand the "if you don't eat it then go to bed without" approach but hey I know what it's like to be hungry and try to sleep, or just not feel like something. Nothing worse than hunger pains early in the morning.

I'm yet to meet someone who only eats apples at dinner because that's all they had at age 3......but like I said, it's just my opinion. I think if you just set the example and don't worry yourself over it, lots of kids that age don't eat certain things, or dinner etc. It will all change again. I also rather not make dinner time a battle as to me it will set a negative example on dinner time.