table timmer? - do you limit....

boyohboyohboy wrote: Do you limit the amount of time your child has at the table to complete a meal? I have a 4yr old that has a huge imagination, and tends to let his mind wander thousands of galaxies away almost each meal..He can sit at the table for 2 hours before he finishs a meal if I let him. My Dh has suggested we start timing him at meals, and give him say, half hour to eat, and if he doesnt then take his plate, done or not, and no snacks, until he starts to eat at a decent pace....
what do you think?
and is this just typical of kids at this age?

Ashlynn's Mommy replied: I try to make a time limit, but it never works. I always wind up giving in.

mckayleesmom replied: Well....Im not sure about that. I don't think I would limit his food if he doesn't eat on time.....Let him take the time that he needs, but let it be known that if he dilly dally's...then he won't get snacks and will lose priveleges......No tv...etc.

CantWait replied: Is he just not interested in what he's eating / being picky? Or is it just his imagination?

If he's being a picky or fussy eater I'd limit, but half an hour isn't enough I'd say. Maybe an hour. You also have to think about what you're eating. Realistically food starts growing bacteria on it as soon as it goes below the cooking temperature, so do you really want him eating chicken after it's been out for 2 hours??

Robbie has always been very picky and he could sit at the table for 4 hours for one meal depending on what it was. That's just to much. Now at 11 he's still very picky, and usually his limit is an hour to an hour and a half depending on what we're eating.

Anthony at 2, I usually take his food away after an hour.

mckayleesmom replied: Also...is there any kind of distractions going on while at the table? Is the tv on? I have to turn everything off in order to get Mckaylee to concentrate on just eating.....Usually she eats really fast so I will turn it back on...

ediep replied: my MIL used to do that for DH and his bro. I, personally, don't think its a good idea, but Jason is a slow eater too. I usually sit with him until he finishes or he tells me he's had enough.

3_call_me_mama replied: No I wouldnt' limit his meal time in the manner you mentioned. I would make sure everyoen was sitting down eating as a family and htere were no outside distractions first adn foremost. Secondly I would make sure that there was at least one thing you know he will eat on his plate. We have the rule that everyone over 2 years old stays at the tabel until everyoen is finished. We just talk t each otehr and share our day while we eat. Our mela usuallly takes about an hour anyway.
Taking his plate away and denying him food later just bedcause he didn't hurry up and eat is not teh route to solve the problem, and could quite likely lead to worse problems IMO>
Childhood obesity is a ugh problem and if you research it you will find that not only WHAT they eat is an issue but how and where they are eating it is. Rushign to eat doesn't allow for proper digestion and can be big trouble down the line.
IF you want to limit his time at the table i definately would not deny a meal later if he asks. Wrappoing up leftovers in teh fridge (not his original plate as teh bacteria is already there ) and reheating them later ~ offering teh same things that you originally did may at least get soem good food into him and as he gets older you can teach him about limiting his imagination at dinner. HTH

NikkiM replied: I don't limit time. We never had an issue. My kids LOVE to eat lol.

luvmykids replied: I think it's a pretty normal phase, does he lollagag in other areas too? If it's just his personality I think I'd handle it differently but I used to take for-ever to eat and my parents would tell me by stalling I was cutting into time for other stuff, if I didn't finish by a certain time I'd get one less book to read at bedtime or something like that.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I don't really limit the time they sit at the table... I mean - if they take 2 hours to eat because they're imagining things, then it's all that much less time I have to entertain all of them, right? I just sit at the table with a book, and after I'm done eating and tending to te littlest one... I tell them that they have to eat - but I'm finished eating, so it's my book time.

Also - they HAVE to eat everything on their plate, whether they like it or not. I only put teeny tiny portions on their plate to begin with... usually a meat, a veggie, and either potatoes rice or pasta as a side dish. There is about the equivalent of 3 bites of each for them. If they want more after, sure, no problem... but usually they're good, and they'll have a snack before bedtime. If they don't finish their dinner, and it's been like 1 hour and a half, I take away the snack priviledge - in that his snack will be the rest of his meal.

Our house rule - is that dinner on your plate is dinner you eat, i'm not making anything else, and if you don't like it - too bad so sad, you eat it anyways. But if I know that my kids don't like for instance, peas - then I will try and avoid it - but I like peas - so I only use them sometimes, and i'm the only one enjoying them... oh well!

gr33n3y3z replied: I never had to deal with that so I have no clue


A boy in 1st grade at our school is like that the kids get 20 min. to eat and into the second lunch he is still chomping away at his food
But lets understand something thats 3 hot dogs a bag of chips ect.

Now maybe if it were 1 hotdog and the rest of what she packed it maybe alot less time.

JP&KJMOM replied: I don't limit my kids. JP has always been a super slow eater because he is easliy distracted by everything. Karlee is not a big eater but gets it over with so she can do something else. JP had to learn to eat faster in Kinder cause they only had 25 minutes for lunch so he adjusted then and seems to eat faster at home now too. I guess it is just your personal preferance.

ashtonsmama replied: Well, given the fact that I'm a human milk bar, I don't really limit boob time yet. But if he starts goofing off and biting or arching his back, it's over!