Addison has been doing this recently and Alyssa's thread reminded me of it.

What if your child says she's really hungry, an hour after picking at/not eating dinner? It's almost bedtime so would you:

Give her what she wants to eat because she's hungry?
Give her the plate of food she didn't eat at dinner?
Tell her she should have eaten when it was dinnertime and get her ready for bed?
Something else?

It seems I don't know how to post a poll. I will try to fix this!

I voted "something else" b/c I do give them something to eat but only yoghurt or a piece of fruit. They're not getting ice cream if they didn't eat dinner, but I have a hard time sending them to bed hungry, so I do let them have an alternative to dinner.

I voted give her something else to eat, but only because I have the SAME problem with Jacob. However, he has such a hard time gaining weight that when he is hungry, I tend to feed him. I make it something healthy (Kashi waffle, cereal, something like that) so that he isn't just eating "junk" :dunno:

Caroline has no trouble with her weight, so if she doesn't eat dinner, then she doesn't eat anything else. If you're that hungry, you would have eaten what was there.

I voted to go to bed without anything, which is what we usually do....and Alex will often pull the hunger card to delay bedtime. :nono: He eats pretty well during the day and when it comes time for dinner, he picks and doesn't want to eat.

If he complains of hunger early enough before bedtime (before tooth brushing), he can have his leftovers....but this isn't usually the case. We'll ask him many times before taking his plate away to make sure he's done....and his leftovers often go to the dog, so there's not even anything to give him later.
I agree with Anne - if you're really hungry, you'll eat when you're offered the food. Otherwise, you can wait until breakfast.

I've started doing that too. During the meal, I say, "This is dinner. If you're hungry, you need to eat now. I don't want to hear that you're hungry in an hour because dinner will be over then." And during dinner, I do give them a chance to eat something else if they have tried the meal and truly do not like it.


We'll ask him many times before taking his plate away to make sure he's done....and his leftovers often go to the dog, so there's not even anything to give him later.

It totally depends for us. Peyton is really picky so she doesn't eat her dinner very often so sometimes we will give her something small like cheese, a piece of fruit or yogurt. There are times that she uses this to delay bedtime and if this is the case, then she doesn't get anything.

Give her the plate of food she didn't eat at dinner?

This is what we do.

Alexia is taught that we do not waste food in this house. Anything that's not eaten gets covered and saved for lunch the next day. If she says she's hungry an hour after not eating too much of her dinner, then the dinner she did not eat is what she gets, plain & simple. She usually has no probs in eating it, and I can almost bet that she'll eat almost all of it, if not the whole thing. For us, I can't see us giving her a fruit, cheese or whatever....although it's healthy, she has to learn that you can't have 2 bites out of her dinner then she'll get a 'treat/snack' later. She is a very good eater, so we rarely have that problem of her eating a couple bites of dinner anyway. :)

ETA: Alyssa's post reminded me to add this: that we don't force anything on Alexia at all. We don't want her good eating habits to worsen over time, if she's being forced in eating something that she doesn't like. But, there are very few things that she doesn't like, which is great! So I will 'put my foot down', when it comes to her stating she's hungry after not eating alot of her dinner...which consists of a dinner that she DOES like. Those are the times that she will get her leftover dinner....because 99% out of the time it is something she likes

We're making a really big push with Aidan & Colin when we eat dinner that they each have to eat at least 3 bites of everything we put on their plate. It's working pretty well, meaning we tend to accomplish that 3 bites goal. Often they'll eat all of one or two of the parts of the meal (so all of their rice and meat, or all of their veggies), and sometimes everything. But if they try and don't like it, that might mean they've had just 9 bites of something and might be hungry later. In that case, we will give them crackers or fruit if they ask.

I would like them to eat all of what we eat, but I feel like I can't and shouldn't force it. (I used to be a picky eater and I don't want picky eaters - but man, I remember feeling so frustrated as a kid.) I do, however, want to force them to keep on trying it. And over time, I'm going to move from 3 bites to 5 and so on. And I'll hope their palate matures like mine did!

Katie is not one to use tactics to delay bedtime, so if she says she is hungry, I'll give her something. It is a healthy snack not a dessert.

This is what we do.

Alexia is taught that we do not waste food in this house. Anything that's not eaten gets covered and saved for lunch the next day.

Dawn, what if she doesn't eat it the next day? I keep thinking of "Mommy Dearest" here :)

Dawn, what if she doesn't eat it the next day? I keep thinking of "Mommy Dearest" here :)
If it's not eaten the next day by her (like if we decide to have a sandwich or something else), then DH eats it. :biggrin: But it's quite normal for us to have our leftover dinner for lunch the next day, that is if there are any leftovers.

No "NO WIRE HANGERS" goin' on at this house. ;) :lol:

Caroline has no trouble with her weight, so if she doesn't eat dinner, then she doesn't eat anything else. If you're that hungry, you would have eaten what was there.
ITA! This is what I do with Ellie. If she complains she's hungry after she didn't eat dinner, I say, "Well then, you should have eaten your dinner".

I voted "something else" b/c I do give them something to eat but only yoghurt or a piece of fruit. They're not getting ice cream if they didn't eat dinner, but I have a hard time sending them to bed hungry, so I do let them have an alternative to dinner.

This is basically what we do. If she didn't eat what I think was a good dinner, then she can only have something healthy later.

Depends- I never send the girls to bed hungry. I know I can't sleep well when I'm hungry, why should I expect them to? It just seems kind of mean to me, and asking for problems the rest of the evening. (we have enough problems with bedtime!)

What we give Isabelle to eat, depends on dinner. If it's something that she may or may not like- we require her to take one bite, and then we'll offer something different (usually chicken nuggets, PB and J, fish sticks, leftover mac and cheese if we have it, and a frozen veggie- things that are quick to make). She knows (we remind her every time) that she has to then eat however much of dinner we specify (we don't give her an amount when we set it out, only after she starts asking to be excused). If she doesn't eat it then, she can't have any snacks- only the leftover dinner. Once she finishes what we specify, she can have another snack later if she's hungry.

I didn't vote because my answer would be different depending on what was for dinner. I make a lot of new dishes and as long as he tastes it I have no problem giving him something else to eat. If he picked at it and just didn't eat his dinner because he was being stubborn then I would give him back his plate. Did that make any sense?

Aidan is Addison's age, and when he pulls that, what I do depends on the situation. If he's not eating b/c he truly, truly doesnt like it (its something new, but he gave it a try), then I'll give him an alternative at dinner *after* he's tried 2 bites. If he's not eating just b/c he's being a stubborn kid, then tough. He has to eat at least 1/2 of what I serve to him and if he doesn't, then he will not get a bedtime snack (applesauce, cereal, sliced apples). If he doesnt eat his dinner, I will cover it up and put it in the fridge and when he says he's hungry later, I will offer it to him...but that is his only food choice. And if he doesnt eat it that night, it goes in the trash (chances are its been touched by his fork and saliva and been sitting out on the table during dinner for about 45 mins...can you say bacteria? ick.)

Rebekah's never been a consistent eater. Sometimes she eats 3 meals a day, sometimes she just munches. It's not unusual for her to NOT eat dinner at all. So I always give her something before bed. Usually it's some pretzels. The other night, she asked for corn. Who can argue with that?

Uhhh...I guess I'm the oddball (heh - shocker)....:dunno:

My kids eat whenever they want...if they eat supper great, if they aren't hungry when we are eating then who cares? They'll eat when they are hungry...if they want toast and cheese before bed then I'll make them toast and cheese...whatever...food is food and if they are hungry then who am I to argue?? or even worse...deny?? :dunno: I don't get it :scratch:

Honestly, the thought of one of my children going to bed hungry makes me want to throw up...I can't even IMAGINE not making sure they don't want something to eat before they go to sleep....

Emma is such a picky eater that if she is willing to eat, we are willing to give it to her. I don't think she is underweight but she is definitely a skinny minny. I can't send her to bed hungry. She has gone to bed hungry because she didn't eat dinner and was so exhausted she crashed but she was up and down throughout the night complaining that she was hungry so at 3:00 am she was eating a GoGurt in bed. I don't want to be doing that all of the time. I really think she only eats when she is hungry and once her hunger has been satisfied she stops so she ends up being a snacker (imagine if Americans only ate when we were hungry!!!). If she does happen to eat a decent dinner she may get a cookie but if she didn't eat we limit it to a healthy snack and consider it part of her dinner.

Eliot needs to eat at least half of what's in his plate during dinner, if it's something I know he likes, or there is not dessert.
If I made something new, we ask him to try at least 2 bites and then I fix him something else with the understanding that he needs to eat it since it will be his choice (it's usually something like a pb&j, chicken nuggets or left overs of a meal he likes).
He gets a healthy snack before bedtime (Ian is usually a sippy cup of milk) regardless of if he ate dinner or not, their little bellies can only hold so much and I don't like the idea of sending them to bed hungry.
Both of my boys are small so I worry a bit about them gaining weight properly, though they're both healthy, so I when they're hungry I don't deny them food though we usually make it as healthy as possible, they love fruit so that makes it easy.

We do a little of both, sometimes no more or here's a cheesestick. Only something good to nibble on before bed. No dinner = no dessert.

My kids are snackers when we get home in the afternoon and I allow it since we normally eat dinner late due to DH's schedule.

The boys will often say they are hungry before bedtime, and I will usually let them eat something. However, their choices are usually fruit, yogurt, or cheese. Especially if they didn't eat a very good dinner. If they have eaten a good dinner, then they will usually be allowed to have something they choose (which is usually ice cream or popcorn.)

Mary
Brendan Michael 1/17/02
Nathan Ryan 3/25/04