How to deal with a wasteful child?

Ive tried explaining this to mine,but its hard at this age,because they just dont understand the meaning really good.Im sick of seeing dunk-a-roos and stuff go to waste just to lick the frosting out and leave the cookies behind.Shes getting better though,at least i think shes starting to understand.Ive noticed lately that when she sees something i know she will not eat,i remind her of this("remember mommy bought some and you didnt eat it because you didnt like it!")Then thats all,we dont get it.Its hard to go to the grocery store with kids because they want almost everything they see and will end up not liking it or not eating it at all.I had the same thing about the milk.I told her if she keeps doing this,the cow that made this jug is not going to be happy and be sad&cry because you dont drink her milk from that jug.It worked,they believe anything!:)

To deal with a wasteful child, I think that it is better not to give her more than she can consume. Always give her enough that she can eat up. At the same time you need to teach her some stories about morality. This way, I think that it is acceptable to her. Just have a try, beauty queen. Good luck.

I think the best advice you have received is that you are the parent, you are in control. Let her go hungry. I also have liked the responses that have added moral responsibility. Those parents are on the right track. Letting kids feel like they are important, but letting them help take of others has a lot of attraction. Good luck beautyqueen.

You didn't mention the age of your daughter....mine was 4 when she went through this....I allowed her for the first week or so but than no more!I just told her that if she couldn't eat from the already opened package she couldn't have any....she screamed and cried and took fits for the first little while but than when she got hungry enough,she ate with no problems.....good luck

You don't say how old your child is but I'm thinking it is time for the shoe to come down. My girls went thru all this and quickly learned that what they wasted did affect how much i was able to do in line of clothes, etc. Your daughter sounds a bit extreme. There is no way I would open up a new gallon of milk for my daughter when there was one perfectly fine to finish off!I have raised 4 girls on my own and I have always included them in the the budget. While i never wanted them to stress over things like rent, lights,etc. ..I did always make it clear to them that the extras such as cable and phone, internet were all something we wanted and had to work together for. it's all about working together. We are poor. If you want internet...you need to conserve on electricity and maybe use suave shampoo. my girls were always very aware that it was to their benefit to work with me. i've never sheltered them or pretended that things were easy. We have to work for our luxuries. It is now just my 13 yr old and I .she is very aware that this home is just us against the world. she know s that if shewans new jeans etc that it is up to her to help me save or she won't get it. "She knows I am the only one working an she needs to help out.

How old is your daughter? Is she very young? I had a smiliar problem with my son and I too tried to placate him by doing what he wanted but it doesn't work. They just eat away into your money more and more as they demand everything be absolutely fresh. I just refused point blank in the end and gave him the choice of eating or starving. It sounds like i was being very very cruel to him as he was only 4 at the time but i knew what I was doing was for the best. I just bought in what I knew we were going to need for the week and told him he was either going to eat what he was given or what was in the cupboards or he could do without. He was stubborn, I'll give him that, he held out for two days before he got hungry enough to give in but he did in the end. He thought though that if he gave in once, he could get away with his old behaviour again and he was wrong. I did the same next month and the month after. Now he will eat what he's given and be thankful for it. I also showed him pictures of people who didnt have enough food and explained that while he might think it's ok to throw food away or only eat the freshest, they would probably give praises to heaven and beyond just for the leftovers that he didnt think were worth being eaten. It wasnt easy to explain but he got the message eventually and now we send aid packages (his idea) to places like Darfur so that they have something. maybe something like that would work with your daughter?