Should I punish my child for not eating?
Adrien Klein
2025-07-19 06:04:19
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: 10
We've tried bribes, ignoring, letting him go to bed hungry, involving them in the cooking process, spoon feeding, and nothing seems to work. I know this is pretty common, but it is SUCH an emotive issue isn't it. The 4 year old has a fast metabolism, and I know if he doesn't eat regularly and a decent amount of protein his energy slumps and he flops about all over the place. He has real spikes and dips of energy. Tonight, as usual, they both sat staring at their dinner, and I let myself get proper angry, so withdrawal of TV/WII privilege. FUCK SAKE it's SOOOOOOOOO ANNOYING. And tonight I let myself get proper angry, so withdrawal of TV/WII privilege, bad move on part, unreasonsable as fuck.
Mariano Casper
2025-07-19 04:30:31
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: 14
Don't put pressure on your child, and don't punish your child for not eating. Although it may turn into a power struggle, a child not eating isn’t a reflection on you. When we put pressure on our little ones it backfires. At mealtime, it creates a toddler or child that simply doesn’t want to eat. We can’t “get” our kids to eat. I want you instead to think about letting your kids eat. You can check out more about the why behind this method in this post. When we think about “letting” we can remind ourselves that it’s not our job to get our kids to eat. Food refusal may happen, and now, let’s talk about what we can do when our child refuses, or just does not seem interested in eating.
Elaina Tromp
2025-07-19 03:07:30
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: 8
Rewarding your child for eating, punishing your child for not eating, or forcing your child to eat can reinforce poor behavior. Besides causing an unpleasant mealtime environment, these behaviors can create a picky eater or result in your child becoming overweight. Forcing children to eat reinforces poor eating habits such as eating when they aren't hungry or cleaning the plate when they're already full. If at all possible, ignore the misbehavior. If poor behavior continues, remove the food calmly without comment until the next mealtime or snack time. The goal is for your child to learn that mealtime is for eating, not playing.
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