Kyla Mae and I having been going head-to-toe in battle the last few weeks. And as usual around my house, it begins innocent enough, only to escalate into full scale war.You probably can't tell much from the pictures, but Kyla Mae is tall and skinny. She is a little bitty thing, whom I can still tote around on my hip with no problem at all. (She will be five in a couple of months.)
She's always been a better eater than Elisan, but has always never really eaten a lot of food, until recently. In fact, it is safe to say, that if Kyla had it her way, she'd graze all day. In all likelihood, she will be one of those high metabolism people that can never put on weight and who need to eat 6 times a day. (Yeah, you know the ones... the ultra skinny people who complain about it?! Yes, I know Angie... it's a real challenge! Haha!)
Anyway... So, she'll eat breakfast/lunch/dinner... whatever and then 30 minutes later she is "starving" and wants more food. I've seen the girl eat. There is no possible way she starving. But, it happens now, every time.
I'm conflicted as to what to do. Usually by the time she wants more food, there isn't any left to give to her. Dinner is done, the dishes are done and the kitchen is clean. So, what do I offer her? A yummy Special K Cereal bar, of which we keep stock-piled in our pantry? Or yummy flavored yogurt? Or yummy goldfish? See where I'm going with this? I'm not sure if she is truly hungry, of if she wants junk-type food. When I offer her something less than appealing - like fruit, she is not "starving" anymore. But, when I offer her a favorite snack item, she'll sit there and eat as much of it as I give her.
But, I don't want to starve my child. If she is hungry, I want to feed her, right? I mean, who likes to be hungry. Not me, for sure.
Which brings us to Saturday's debacle. It was 30 minutes after breakfast. She wanted more food. I guess the bowl of cereal wasn't enough. She wanted a Special K Bar, but I told her that she could have either a Nutri-grain cereal bar or 1/2 of a bagel w/cream cheese. She said she wanted nothing. A few minutes later, she changed her mind and said she wanted a bagel. I fixed it up for her and she sat down at the table, licked the contents off the top and then got down from the table. (Heck, had I known she wanted a spoonful of cream cheese, I would have offered it to her.)
Let me just say, I was very upset with her. The problem is three-fold. First... everyone was done with breakfast. The breakfast mess was cleaned up and the rest of us were getting on with our Saturday. Second thing was that she completely and totally wasted a whole bagel slice. I mean, who wants to eat something that someone has licked clean? So, it wasn't even salvageable. The third thing was that she wasn't hungry at all. I'm pretty sure she was seeing if I'd give her food... which I did.
The short of it is... I was mad, she was punished and I think we've all learned a valuable lesson. So much so, that she scolded Elisan at the dinner table last night for not eating her pizza crust saying, "We don't waste food!"
Ugh, tough one. I have this fear in me about Cate being hungry, and so I often have to force myself to say "no" when she's hungry again after a meal. She can have a healthy alternative, but when she says she wants, say, cookies, uh uh. Not gonna happen.
ReplyDeleteIf she's truly hungry, she's going to eat what's offered. If it's just a craving or boredom (or anything else) and she doesn't want to eat the healthy alternative you give to her, then I wouldn't worry about it. Kids tend to get what they need, which is something I need to remind myself of constantly when Cate does nothing but pick at her food.
I agree with Erica above ... if she's truly hungry I think she would've taken some of what was offered. It's not like she was offered something icky. I
ReplyDeletewouldn't worry about it either. I remember once my pediatrician (whom I adore and was my ped growing up) told me to not worry about what my children eat on a daily basis, but to evaluate it more on a 3-day basis. Some days they eat a lot and others they eat nothing at all. That has really helped me out.
My Lydia does this ... wants to eat right after a meal ... says she's hungry, etc. I have had to do the same - offer a healthy snack. If she says no then it's not for me to worry about it.
HTH!