Thank you, thank you!
Thank you for all your thoughtful responses, stories and sympathies on my Elsa eating post. I also talked to one of my IRL best friends who may just be the best mom I’ve ever met. We basically have the same parenting philosophies, but she’s a lot calmer than me. She sent me THIS LINK which basically says everything you all were saying.
I have a problem–I don’t understand how number 1 and number 2 work together. Number 1 says trust a child’s hunger instincts but number 2 says to have scheduled eating times.
After all your comments, talking to my friend, and working things out in my own head I’ve come up with a plan (that Mike supports, though he was not really a part of the making of the plan since he was working. He has a big presentation this upcoming week).
From now on all eating will take place at the table. Meals always take place at the table anyway, but I’ve gotten into a bad habit of letting her bring snacks down to the basement to watch TV. That’s over. Snacks will be much more regulated. When she goes on her “I’m hungry, I’m hungry, I’m hungry” kicks she will have the option to eat various fruits that I know she likes.
When she cries for junk food, she’s going to be in time out until she stops crying.
We’ve already started implementing this on Friday and things are already getting a little better. The true test will come next week when I will be home alone with no adult back-up for a week.
And, of course, I will still be talking to her doctor about it at her 3 year check-up. My sister has type I diabetes and celiac disease, so I definitely want to have a conversation with a medical professional. I’d really like both kids to get tested for celiac now that we know my sister has it.
I’m really hoping she’s just having a growth spurt. I know kids do go through phases of eating more food than usual. With Erik it was always like he subsisted on air, then suddenly he would spend a few days eating regular size meals. I guess since she is already eating regular sized meals, eating constantly might be her way of having a growth spurt?
Caroline said,
May 2, 2013 @ 6:47 pm
Having similar issues here – India is an eater, and a sweets fiend, and a snacker – all like me. She also has inherited my body build (lots of junk in the trunk) and is more of a reader/crafter than an athlete. Cici is lean like her daddy, piles up plates of fruit at the buffet table, and eats only half of the ice cream in the bowl because it “gets too sweet” (what???). I don’t want India to get pudgy like I was, particularly since I’m quite short and never had the growth spurt/beanpole phase as a young teen to use up the puppy fat….I just had puppy fat. I’ve started regulating the snacking a lot more closely and am adding a lot more fruit and veg to the snack rotation, but it’s a chore – much easier to grab a granola bar, or more typically, a bowl of snacks than it is to get out crudites and cut them up. I don’t want to get rid of all the snacks because I put some in lunches, but training India not to eat snacks at the end of the day is haaaaarrrrrrrd. So we have flip-flopped things – fruits and veg with lunch, snacks later when the tired-hungries kick in. Some limited success, but at least it’s something.