Last night was our second attempt at getting Anna to eat what we are eating for dinner. On the menu for the night was sloppy joes and green beans. Again, pretty kid-friendly I thought. Well, she sat in her chair for a minute or two and then started crying. Instead of scarring her for life by forcing her to sit there longer, I let her down. I figured I would try again. I tried five or six more times to get her to eat from her plate, either with her sitting in her chair, sitting on my lap, or running around. She didn't eat a single bite. She went to bed hungry. I think she really understands what is going on though and it is a battle of wills. She walked into the kitchen twice with her hands reaching up to the counter saying "please?" It's breaking my heart!
I realize that I need to set some goals:
Goal #1: Have a nice, quiet sit down meal with Anna at the table eating the same things that we are eating.
Objective #1: Force Anna to sit in her booster seat at the table for longer and longer periods of time each night. Last night she sat for approximately 2-3 minutes. I will work to extend each night by 1 minute until she can sit with us for a full meal. Consider only feeding her meals in her chair, instead of wherever I can catch her at the moment.
Objective #2: Introduce new foods at breakfast and lunch at daycare. We have to consistently keep trying new foods, not just at dinner time, or else I think she will fill up on her normal foods during the day and go hungry each night.
Objective #3: Keep firm at night. If she doesn't eat it, she goes to bed hungry
Objective #4: Limit milk intake to 15 ounces per day. The rest of her fluids should be from water and juice (not currently drinking juice). This might help her to eat more food.
Objective #5: Keep reasearching and reading! Ask for advice and help from family and friends.
Reading Material: Just Take a Bite. http://www.amazon.com/Just-Take-Bite-Effective-Challenges/dp/1932565124/ref=pd_sim_b_1
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