I Don’t Want That For Dinner

There are plenty of things to worry about as a parent. Is your child growing like they should? How are you going to get them to sleep? What should you do tomorrow? There are plenty of questions to be answered, and things to worry about. There is no reason that you should over-worry yourself about things. One thing you do not have to worry about though is whether or not your kid likes the food you have made.

Of course, the reason that you don’t have to worry about it is because your child is going to let you know if they don’t like the food that you’ve prepared. It seems that it’s natural - from when you first start feeding them solids, your child will gladly let you know that they don’t like the food by spitting it out and making funny faces. At this stage, it’s still cute and easy to laugh at the faces that they’re making.

It’s not always fun when your child doesn’t like the food that you’ve made them for mealtime. As they get older, they’ll become louder and more firm when they don’t want something. You’ll definitely know when they don’t want to eat something as they’ll happily voice their displeasure with what you’ve made (or with what they actually want). Depending on your child, you may hear this more often than not.

It can be frustrating and get on your nerves when your child constantly tells you they don’t want to eat whatever food you’ve made. You may have worked hard on the meal, or you may simply be worn out from hearing the same words over and over out of their mouth. Whatever the case, it’s likely to try your patience when your child tells you every single night that they don’t want whatever you’re having.

You should absolutely not give into them and provide them an alternative. If you do give them something else, then you can basically guarantee that their behavior will continue each day when they don’t want whatever you’ve made. Once they know that getting an alternative meal out of you simply requires getting on your nerves, then you should be ready for the same song and dance each day.

Kids are simply funny about their foods. All too often they will simply look at a food and tell you they don’t want it, even if they’ve never tried it. For whatever reason, kids often have this thought in their mind that a food is gross even before they’ve tried it. They are simply scared of the unknown more than not actually liking the food. If they don’t want to eat, don’t force them to, but also do not give them an alternative meal.

Over time, your child will come to learn that if they want to eat a meal, they must eat what is being served. If they aren’t hungry at the time, then they won’t eat. If they want to eat later, then they can have whatever meal they just skipped. A little bit of healthy food is not going to kill them, even if they act like it will. Don’t give into any whining or crying that they may make - stick to your guns.

Kids will often tell you they don’t like what is being served. Don’t give in, and let them know they can either eat what is served or not eat all. If they choose not to eat, it simply means that they are not really hungry.