And while that sounds like a simple thing, it's really pretty remarkable!
We have really been working with Lily on her meal habits. About a month ago, I got fed up. Completely fed up. Dinner time was complete misery. Lily wouldn't eat the majority of her food unless we fed it to her. And even then, she wouldn't eat much supper and 30-45 minutes later she'd be all up in our faces crying "I want something" which is code for "I want a snack and I want it to be something good like fruit snacks or cookies or candy or cereal."
So one day, I instituted new rules, no exceptions. We will no longer feed Lily her food. She must feed herself, she's plenty capable. Secondly, she must eat everything on her plate (which by the way isn't ridiculous portions.... nice, realistic amounts of fruit/veggies/protein). If she finishes everything on her plate, she gets a treat (one cookie or one piece of candy). If she doesn't finish her plate, it gets plastic wrap on the top and put in the fridge and if she starts in on "I want something" that plate gets pulled out of the fridge. At least that's the threat, but ever since we started this rule, she EVENTUALLY eats everything on her plate! It takes her a while sometimes, and often I have to remove her plate from the table at least once and put it in the fridge. She'll then scream that she wants candy and I say "No, you didn't eat your food" so she screams to get her plate back. This usually works well if I wait about 2 minutes before getting it back out and then tell her if she gets back in her seat, I'll bring her the plate. Most of the time, she'll then finish her plate so that she can get a piece of candy.
As for Tyler, about a month ago, he really started to show an interest in utensils and would fuss and grunt for someone's fork or spoon. Mostly he just wanted to chew on it and bang it on the table. Then about a week and half ago, he was able to use a spoon to feed himself applesauce, with my help on loading it up.
Then this week, I made the bold move to entrust him with an actual bowl of applesauce on his tray and let him completely feed himself.
And he did great! He didn't throw the bowl full of applesauce on the floor and managed to get about 90% of it in his mouth! Last night, I made the even bolder move to give him a container of strawberry yogurt. I was sure that it was going to end up all down his bib and in his hair (but it was bath night so I told myself to relax.... even if it was in his hair, we could deal with it - I don't know why I get so worked up over messes.... I really need to chill out). Anyhow, again he did really well and managed to pretty much eat the entire container of yogurt. I think he did a better job than even Lily does with getting out the last few spoonfuls.
He's so proud of himself!
We have really been working with Lily on her meal habits. About a month ago, I got fed up. Completely fed up. Dinner time was complete misery. Lily wouldn't eat the majority of her food unless we fed it to her. And even then, she wouldn't eat much supper and 30-45 minutes later she'd be all up in our faces crying "I want something" which is code for "I want a snack and I want it to be something good like fruit snacks or cookies or candy or cereal."
So one day, I instituted new rules, no exceptions. We will no longer feed Lily her food. She must feed herself, she's plenty capable. Secondly, she must eat everything on her plate (which by the way isn't ridiculous portions.... nice, realistic amounts of fruit/veggies/protein). If she finishes everything on her plate, she gets a treat (one cookie or one piece of candy). If she doesn't finish her plate, it gets plastic wrap on the top and put in the fridge and if she starts in on "I want something" that plate gets pulled out of the fridge. At least that's the threat, but ever since we started this rule, she EVENTUALLY eats everything on her plate! It takes her a while sometimes, and often I have to remove her plate from the table at least once and put it in the fridge. She'll then scream that she wants candy and I say "No, you didn't eat your food" so she screams to get her plate back. This usually works well if I wait about 2 minutes before getting it back out and then tell her if she gets back in her seat, I'll bring her the plate. Most of the time, she'll then finish her plate so that she can get a piece of candy.
As for Tyler, about a month ago, he really started to show an interest in utensils and would fuss and grunt for someone's fork or spoon. Mostly he just wanted to chew on it and bang it on the table. Then about a week and half ago, he was able to use a spoon to feed himself applesauce, with my help on loading it up.
Then this week, I made the bold move to entrust him with an actual bowl of applesauce on his tray and let him completely feed himself.
And he did great! He didn't throw the bowl full of applesauce on the floor and managed to get about 90% of it in his mouth! Last night, I made the even bolder move to give him a container of strawberry yogurt. I was sure that it was going to end up all down his bib and in his hair (but it was bath night so I told myself to relax.... even if it was in his hair, we could deal with it - I don't know why I get so worked up over messes.... I really need to chill out). Anyhow, again he did really well and managed to pretty much eat the entire container of yogurt. I think he did a better job than even Lily does with getting out the last few spoonfuls.
He's so proud of himself!
No comments:
Post a Comment