Force feeding kids?

I don't force my kids to eat food that they do not like. But I encourage them to try new foods. When they were little we traveled and ate out quite a bit, so I think that helped them get used to eating things that are different from what we cook at home. Where did you grow up? I think home grown vegetables and fruit taste better than store bought. Deer is pretty good too.

Good question! No, I never force my little one (2 years old) to eat certain foods. I do try to encourage him too, and will sometimes try to "disguise" it - such as once a I made a quesadilla and added a jar of baby food squash - he never knew the difference! He is a really picky eater, so I do make sure he takes his vitamin every day! I think forcing a child to eat certain foods will have negative effects.

I think a lot of people when they Grow up share stories of having to eat certain foods to where some of these they can no longer eat as well. I know I will NEVER touch Spinach again for example because it was an item made to eat. I do like Liver occassionally still though if cooked right and with onions. But it would depend a lot on Finances, and how many kids you have, etc. if you serve items that some like, and others do not. But when it comes to Vegetables, anymore there are too many kids not eating enough of them because they are never made too. I think that there should be some Exceptions to this rule from time to time, but when you know there is something that a child really does not like, if you have to have it from time to time, you could consider doing it less often just so you do not have to see them suffer.

My mother always made food an issue when I was growing up. You had to eat so much or she did the "Think about the kids in 'pick a country' without food" or she'd try to make you feel guilty by saying she worked so hard to make it just for you. The fact that it's something you don't like never seemed to enter her mind. And of course you had to clean your plate in order to get desert and if you didn't eat it was put in the fridge for later when you got hungry. So with my niece we don't make it an issue. We try to get her to try things but if she doesn't want to she can have something else. No we don't make full on separate meals for her. She has a sandwich, ramen noodles, hot pocket or something else easily made. When she's ready she tries things and sometimes really likes it.

the only rule with food in this house is that you cannot claim to not like something if you havent tried it to find out. so everything must at least be sampled, after that, if it isnt liked, i dont force them to eat anything. i do randomly continue to have them try the same foods they may not have liked previously, because tastes change, and one day you dont like something, and 6 months later, you do. ( my kid despised brocolli before, and now cant get enough of it! ) i was also forced as a kid to eat what was put in front of me, regardless, AND to clean my plate, which is something else i dont agree with. if theyre full.. theyre full, they dont have to be a member of the "clean plate club" that only leads to eating disorders.

Our rule is you have to try it - at least a small bite - if you don't like it that's fine, but at least try it. Course, this goes for the hubby also - he's 56 and just learned he like guacamole - he never wanted to try it because it didn't look good - LOL. As far as veggies and stuff go, I try to always have at least one veggie on their plate they like so I don't have to battle to get them to eat a balanced meal. Once a week I'll make a meal that is entirely kid friendly, chicken nuggets or chili dogs or something like that - keeps dinner from being a battle, and even the adults like a little "junk food" every now and again!

I make it a point to insist that my son try everything on his plate. He is not allowed to say he doesn't like something if he hasn't tried it. If he tries it and sincerely doesn't like it, I will not force him to eat it, but I will not make him something special either. I think it is good to put as much variety as possible in a child's diet, and I think that we discover things about our tastes by trying new things. I do try to make sure I have at least one healthy thing in the meal that I know he does like. That way I feel like he's getting something good. I also don't force feed my child in forcing him to clean his plate. I don't let him get other things without eating a good bit of what's on his plate, though.

I dont have kids yet but Im observing how my friends raise their kids..I only see them forcing their kids eating vegetables but most of the time fighting with their kids not to eat junk food which they prefer...Its not good to force really but if we think it is something that is good for them, we can talk and motivate them to eat it but never force since it will give another tension or develop some attitude which is not good also!I grew up also in a very poor family but I never remember my mom forcing us but I just need to force myself to eat because that is only what is available on our table and she let us understand that we dont have money to buy more food.

Some days the menu is things that I know are tried and true. Some days the menu might include something that they haven't tried before. I ask that they take one bite and if they don't like it, so be it. There's PB&J in the pantry, as my grandma always says and I follow her example. There's other days when I am pulling the hair out of my head trying to figure out what to make for dinner because I'm trying to please 4 people who can't all agree.

When my kids were small, I did make them at least try everything on their plate....at least one bite. If they didn't like it that was fine. If they didn't like the entire meal...that too was fine. I would give them something else. By the time they were teens, they had learned to like many of the foods that they did not like when they were younger. Over time they broadened their taste buds and became very healthy eaters.

Having been forced to eat a half of a very sour grapefruit when i was a kid no I never forced my son to eat anything. He ate pretty well and did not have any picky food eating habits at all. I swore I would never treat my children like that. My dad would not let me leave the table until I had ate that sour grapefruit which to this day I detest. 'But my mom was clever when he was out of the house she took the half and threw it away and put a empty half on my plate so dad never knew I did not eat the vile thing. From then on my mom did not give me grapefruit but something else instead if they were having grapefruit for dessert no more problems as my dad was much too stern. I was also made to eat wild pheasant and the thought of it now grosses me out also wild duck yuck and double yuck.

Just like you, I came from a poor family and we too (my siblings and I) are "forced" to eat anything on the table, otherwise we go hungry. When we grew up and have means of our own, it is then, that we can have the foods that we really want. I became picky and tend to eat the foods I was deprived of during my younger years. My child is very lucky because she will not suffer eating foods that we ate before. I want my child to be healthy that I prepare a variety of foods for her including some of the ones she dislikes. I don't force her much to eat if she doesn't like to because I want her eating experience to be enjoyable. I just have to be a bit creative so that she'll gonna learn how to eat it too.

I don't force my baby to eat. If she doesn't want i just put it away. On the other day i will try to give it again and if she still don't want it, i'll give another food that she like. I just try and try until she like it. `Because they say saying no on the first attempt doesn't mean that she will not like it all the time. Note. But i try or force her to give a little bite or taste to know her reaction because more often she like it.She has an attitude of not eating the food that is new on her eyes. If she doesn't really like it, she maybe feel she's full or doesn't really like the taste of the food.

Im a very picky peron when it comes to food i hardly eat anything my son is 1 yr old and he eats what ever you give him wich is good i try to give him different things so he can get used to eating alot more things than me sometimes i feel bad for my husband when it comes to dinner since i dont eat much things i ty to make him things he likes even if i have to make 2 different foods.

well we weren't forced to eat anything, but we had everything we wanted to eat as a child - my mom wanted us to eat anything we like so we will not be like other kids who would look pitiful wanting something we cant have... so when there is something we dont like we are not forced too. i guess that's what i will be too with my kids someday. i will not force them but will ask the to try so they will know what it tastes like and its up to them to decide.

We have our kids try new foods at least once so they no how they taste. If it is a new food we only give them a little to try but tell them they must try it.

i hate that and would never do that to my kids. i was never made to eat it but i am a picky eater anyway so i know i wouldn't eat what i don't like so why should my kids have to. the rule in our house is you have to try it. then if you don't like it spit it in the garbage and don't eat it again. but they have to try it.

I agree with the first commenter, I would have a you have to try it rule. When I was young my mom never forced me to eat what I didnt want but she had a three bite rule and most of the time once I passed the second bite I ate the rest of it. Kids are too picky these days and their diets aren't varied enough!

as for me my kids are spoiled rotten especially when it comes to food ,i'm a chef by trade and my kids take advantage of that even at home ,at dinner time its like i'm at work everyone wants something different to eat ,but i dont mind it cuz i love to cook ,so i make them whatever they want

If my daughter dont like it I wont make her eat it. I feel sometimes she should at least try different things. For the most part she does without even having to ask her. I would never make her eat wild life esp, or seafood. Both are something you have to be into. When I was a child we never really had food cause we were poor also and parents didnt hunt. I think at the time I would have liked to have at least deer but we didnt have nothing! We lived off cakemix, eggs, peanut butter. My daughters father is a big hunter and fisher. I does get fish and deer meat a lot. My daughter likes it somewhat but not really. I dont make her though. I dont think I could. So for the most part I make things I know she will eat, even if its a side dish for the rest of us.