Have you tried making it fun? Maybe it's not the food he's tired of
or refusing? Perhaps, he's just at a stage where he wants some
entertainment? There are lots of fun things to do.
Quick ideas:
- If he steals something off your plate, make it funny. "Hey, I
wanted that, you muncher!" and giggle at his sneakiness. I bet
he'll want to be sneaky again. Keep your plate available.
- Let him try new foods not at the table. I used to let my kids
snack while I was making dinner...they would run into the kitchen
and I would say, "Look at this! Do you want it?" Then, they got
to eat it while walking around within view. They would eat all
their veggies before dinner started. Then, dinner was shorter and
easier for them.
- Make the food look fun. You can place the food on the plate in
the shape of a face. Kids love eating carrot eyes, spaghetti
hair, cucumber mouths, etc. It often doesn't matter what the food
is.
- Don't ignore dips. I seem to remember having a few weeks or
months when my kids wanted to dip everything in ketchup or ranch
dressing. Dipping is fun.
- Stage whisper! Whisper dramatically to someone else at the
table or during the day about how your son ate this or that or
what a good eater he is. He'll want to prove you right.
- Games with the fork: airplane is an old favorite. Pretend the
fork is different animals (bunny hops, elephant stomps, snake
slithers, etc) - use different noises to go with it and get him
smiling or giggling. Then see if he can eat it like that
animal...eat like him - giant chewing for a lion, little nibbles
for a bunny, etc. It takes the focus off the food.
- My kids often responded well when we would say that Daddy would
eat it if they didn't. Mommy feeding Daddy is funny, but this can
backfire, so be careful.
- I used to say that I would eat their food, but then the fork
wouldn't go into my mouth. I would try and try, but it would
swerve to the side or stop in front of my mouth. I really played
it up. After a couple tries I would comment that this fork must
not work or it didn't want to go in my mouth. Then, I would say
with disbelief, "Will it go in yours?" When in went in, I would
be so amazed and then give the fork a dirty look or shake a
finger at it and say I was hungry.
Okay, that's enough. I could keep going. My point is that keeping
the table fun and interesting is sometimes just as important as
the food on it. It seems like he has a great diet, so maybe some
fun would help. I noticed a lot of phases where my kids weren't
interested in certain things, so I would wait it out and try it
again in a while. Lots and lots of praise is awesome at this
stage too, even for the things he usually eats. It's more work to
do all of this, as I looked the fool at many a meal, but so worth
it.
