And Daddy's had enough. Mommy has given in plenty (doesn't like to see him go hungry), I've ignored it long enough, and now it's time for Dad to be a hard-ass. You're not living on crackers, breakfast cereal and juice boxes, boy.



I've been patient long enough, but he absolutely refuses to eat normal food at a dinner table. All day long he wants cookies, crackers, kid's cereal, chips and while I've been gone at work, Mommy (who is pretty stressed out being around the kids all day) has been placating the little booger. That ended this morning.



I made breakfast - scrambled eggs, bacon (cut into bits) and diced tomato. He picked at it, sat there, and pouted for a good 30 minutes. I ain't gonna shovel food down his throat. It's a binary choice - eat what I put in front of you, or go hungry. Dad doesn't give a shit. He started crying for mommy (who was sleeping in - I took over child rearing and house cleaning today, to give her a day off), to no avail. You're in my world now, boy. After 30 minutes, I let him go, and tossed his food out. No problem. Lunch is at noon. Bring your appetite, and I'm sure it's growing.



Lunch rolls around, and I whip up some tuna, diced tomato, fresh chopped spinach leaf and a little olive oil, served on crackers. My 9 year old daughter scarfs it down and thinks I'm the bomb diggity. The boy just stares at it, and keeps whining about wanting candy. Tough shitski. Daddy is all out of give a fuck. He's going to be really God damn hungry, come dinner time.



To help get his ass hungry, I sent him and the 9 year old outside to play until dinner. They ran their asses off, rode bikes/trikes, played ball, helped the neighbor with yard work - that ought to do it.



Dinner time rolls around, and I empty the fridge into a big ass salad. Bacon, sliced hard boiled egg, spinach leaf, green leaf lettuce, apple slices, pork chop cut into thin slices, tuna, olive...stuff to chow down on, before I hit the store for this week's groceries. Daughter scarfs down 3 big ass bowls of it, and gives me a hug (she LOVES my salads). The boy picks at a few things, and sits there saying "I don't wanna eat it. I want that" (and starts pointing at the junk food cabinet. After 45 minutes of this, he still thinks I'm giving in. Nope. Eat what I give you, or start getting light headed. Feel free to pass out, at any point. When you come to, I'll have a plate of food for you. He quickly goes for mommy, since that's been pretty effective in the past. Not today, junior.



I made him watch while I threw out the junk food in the house. Bye bye. Point at the walls for all I care, because there isn't anything else to cry about not having.



Wife gave him a bath, and put him to bed. Small upside: For the first time in months, he went straight to bed. Out like a light. Being outside all day will do that to a 3 year old.



Hope he brings his appetite tomorrow morning. If not, he's going to REALLY hate me. He'll start eating his hand at some point, but the little bastard is going to eat.



My wife needed some help (she's been super stressed), so Daddy's being the hard-ass she isn't, and giving her a free day to herself, to spend as she pleases. I'm the yin to her yang, I suppose.



Just had to get that out. If you're not a parent, you have a lot to look forward to someday.



Strong willed little goober, he is. The mother's curse WORKS. He's just like me, the little shit.

U R Michelle Obama's wet dream

Sounds like he has carb-oholic tendencies.

Good on you for getting him to eat some protein.

Just don't serve him pumpkin tacos.

I wish I was raised like that.

OP-Dad, you are doing exactly right.

He'll get hungry and he'll eat.  He's not going to starve.  He's not even going to lose weight.

I'll settle for real food, at this point. He won't touch mashed potatoes, for God's sake. If the wife makes him a sandwich (has to cut the crust off, of course...) he eats the white bread, asks for more ketchup, and ignores the lunch meat.



 

Now that's proper parenting!

In famines, the first to die are the children, because they refuse to eat different food than they are used to.

Try simple to prepare food- like just bacon. Toast. Cheese. Varities of whatever to see what he will eat. Then give him more of that.

Good job.

Good job!  My daugher is picky, but she at least prefers fruit over candy.

Hang in there, I'm sure the little guy will come round soon.

Good for you.
We got tired of our daughter that was a picky eater and taught her to make ramen and mac-n cheese and chicken nuggets . Things she wanted to eat.
We got tired of making 2 different things at meal time.

My daughter is a bit picky (what I would consider normal kid stuff - I'm not going to make her eat asparagus), but like yours, she'll gladly enjoy strawberries or an apple for a sweet snack. I've been trying to set a good example, and she's picked right up on it. We'll grab an item at the grocery store, and she goes straight for the label "This has too much sugar, daddy. Let's put it back".



That's my girl.



Now, the boy...



He'll be 4 in August, and I know he's just a little tike, but God damn he likes to try your patience.



 

I guess I'm lucky. My 4yr old lil guy will chow down anything put in front of him.

Onion rings, broccoli, steak, mushrooms, bacon, etc...  He eats stuff that would gag a normal 4yr old.

I honestly can't recall a single item he doesn't eat.

I've got a 3 year old with the same issues.  I'm treating it the same way you are.  Give him 3 healthy things/options per meal, and if he doesn't like it?  "Chow hall is closed."  

I've taken to rewarding him with something for dessert that's sweet, like fruit.  Grapes, melon, etc.  That helps some.

The problem is that you're backed up against the "I'm hungry and in a pissy mood" wall.  It's not just that he skips a meal; he'll make your life miserable until the next one.  (As I'm sure you know.)

Tell me your secret. I done fucked up, somewhere (though like I said, the girl is somehow normal).





 

Bingo.



 

Currently having the same struggle.

Some nights are better than others.

Good luck!

My grandson is the same way with his parents. I won't put up with his crap and he often goes hungry when I'm his sitter.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

"Back in the day" as I grew up you ate what Mom made that evening, like it or not. In fact, in our house you didn't even have the option to go to bed without supper; you fucking ate it. Good thing, 'cause my brother would've starved himself to death! Me? Not so much!

Lunches? Hahahaha! I never had the option of refrigeration so you had the cheapest-ass lunch meat my mom could find, usually with mayo on it, sitting in your locker half the damn day. Some sorry-ass side item and that was it. My parents weren't paying for lunch at school!

I don't have kids, and at 45yo likely never will (which is cool with me). However, I can assure you that IF I did the "You will eat what's on the table" rule would apply.

When I was running cub / boy scouts , I saw some parents do some silly things cause their kids were so frickin picky.  Drive 20 miles from a camp out to a sonic cause their kids wouldn't eat camp food .......

Parents needed to do just what you are doing !

Don't treat the kitchen like it's a restaurant with a menu. When I was a kid... if I didn't eat what was put on my plate.... I starved.

My kids are handled pretty much the same way. (My girls are a little more picky, but they don't give me too much trouble.)

Good on you...too many picky eaters out there.

My parents were the same way, eat whats provided or go hungry. Except they wouldnt throw it away like you did, it was wrapped and put in the fridge for the next meal. I wasnt allowed to "skip" a meal....ie: if I wouldnt eat lunch, it was foil wrapped and when it was dinner time I was served the lunch I wouldnt eat, and it wasnt until I ate that that I could have the dinner.

There were no PBJ sandwiches, or anything else as an "alternate choice"

The other rule was (when I was older) If you complained about a meal, you had to cook the next one.

Regardless of whether he's eating or not, you're giving him good stuff.

I had a revelation the other day at Wal-Mart.  The cashier asked my son, "What you like to eat?  McDonalds?  Burger Kings?"  He just looked at me, since he's never had any of that.

Lots of folks would call CPS on me, I'm sure.  Starving my son!  Because he won't eat!

I forgot to mention - he'll eat chicken nuggets and french fries.



He's not going to live on chicken nuggets and french fries. I don't mind it every now and then (kids love 'em), but that's not going to be breakfast lunch and dinner. For now - he gets to quit cold turkey, and eat properly. I forgot to buy some, and I only have juuuuust enough money for everything else, except frozen, breaded stuff. This economy has been hard on the old man, son. Sorry.



Yeah, I suck. He'll get over it, or get a therapist someday.



 

Please, let it go.
I wish I had it to do over again.  If I did, I would not argue with my kids about food.  Nothing to be accomplished by it.  If he wants to eat nothing but ice cream, fine.  He won't die, he won't get sick.  Kids can thrive on just about anything.
You're letting a three-year-old push your buttons?  Who's the grownup?  Get your ego out of the picture, and stop taking it like it's a personal insult.
Get a parenting book.  Put a small serving of "good" stuff on the plate at every meal.  99% of the time, it'll get thrown out.  Eventually, he'll take a taste.  The situation will resolve itself in time.
It's like potty-training.  Be patient; he's not going to be a 30-year-old who wets his pants.  He's not going to be a 30-year-old who only eats ice cream. He'll learn how to act like a big person in his own time.

But mostly, get your ego out of the picture.  You won't be as upset as you are now.

Hell Sub, that breakfast and salad sounds pretty damn good!

Good luck with the youngster, they'll test a man's patience.

Had to do it with my four year old, Sub. He was being too picky, and all he wanted was macaroni and cheese and pancakes. That obviously couldn't fly, long term, because he'd end up a carboloaded fat ass. I had to drop the hammer. After a few days of starving one day, eating the next, he got the point and just started eating properly. No problems now.

Had issues like this with my sister... check under his bed for the good stuff... He may have a stockpile...

Shit works. Sometimes you have to come in, destroy their world, and PROFIT.



Half the time they cry they are faking it any damn way.

At two, I potty trained him by making him run around the house butt nekkid. Trained in 3 days. Occasional accident, for about a month. Done. Did the same for my daughter, and I got the idea from my mom, who did all three of us kids the same way.



Diapers suck, and I was tired of buying them and being patient.





 

What he said.
 

GOOD JOB  DAD!!!!

when I was a kid if you didn't like what was being served for dinner you just didn't eat...

Had the same problem with my boy as soon as he hit solid food ...he is short and underweight according to most charts..Does your boy sniff new food before he tries it?  Certain smells make my kid gag

My 3 yo is the same but it is not with junk food per say. He'll eat a few things and that's it.

I admire you for stepping it up, and I intend to do so when time comes, but I think 3 is a little young. I don't think he really "gets it" as far as food goes, and he can't articulate if what he is eating may be giving him a stomach ache or if something else is wrong.

I'm giving him till he is 4, than I'm putting my foot down.

-3D

That's what I'm hoping for. This is day 1.



Dad - 1. Son - 0.



I've got a full tummy, and he doesn't. I ain't the one who's hungry. He'll figure it out.



 

Let him get involved in the process of preparing the food. Remember eating the first hot dog you cooked on a stick over a camp fire or the first fish you caught, even though it's just a hot dog or plain old fish fillet you probably thought it was the best thing ever because you were involved and excited about it. Let him get in on making the food according to his age and ability and he will naturally want to try it. Stick to your guns.

Consistency is really all it takes with kids. Most battles can be won in less than 24 hours. I am actually shocked at your sons resolve at such a young age. But I suspect he will be coming around in another 24 hours.

My mother said "Someday, I hope you have a son just like you".





She's since told me "Your son is just like you".





Damnit, Mom.





 

You know something, that's a pretty good idea.



EDIT: On further reflection, that's an EXCELLENT idea. I know what the son and I are doing tomorrow morning.





 

It sounds like our 3yo are very similar.

I had to do the same thing. He just refused to use the potty. This after his older brother potty trained himself at 2. Just said one day states.. "I'm done with diapers I'm using the potty now." Not this one..

Still, like the guy above asked, but with less pity... they are only 3. take it easy on them...

They do respond with a little less than thumb screws sometimes.

-3D

The kid missed three meals. Hardly equivalent to a famine. Starving people don't refuse to eat different things. In fact I think you are missing the core cause of a famine. There is no food. I can list a number of physiological reasons why children die first in famines. Their finickiness has nothing to do with it.



 

I am in a similar boat...Got a 5 year girl old that will eat fruit, veggies, "steak" (which is any meat served for supper), and pretty much eats like what a doctor would recommend for a healthy child.

My 3 year old throws fits about almost every meal.

We've done the starve or eat thing. She caved in. She now eats oatmeal, granola, fruit, some veggies and some bites of meat. She still craves crap food that we don't really have anymore. She is just stubborn like her mom and dad.

The "eat what is on the table or go hungry" routine works, you just have to stick with it.

Good on you Subnet.

Keep in mind (and I'm not second guessing you) that kids that age may or may not be able to pinpoint the feeling of hunger.  He may just get pissy, but not know that he's "hungry".

On a similar note, my wife just told me that our son is crying because he has a hammer and screwdriver in his bed and wants to sleep with them.  She tried to take them and he refused.  Sorry, but that doesn't happen.  Mean daddy came and took the hammer and screwdriver and tucked him in.  Deal with it.

with the chicken thing.  make a skinless chicken breast look like a giant mcnugget and go psyops on his little ass





 

Keep it up and teach him what real food is. It would be good for you and everyone else if he is taught to dislike junk food. It'll be cheaper and healthier for everyone in the long run.
 

I am super fortunate that my kids will eat damn near anything that isn't actively running away from them screaming.

My five year old's favorite foods are kale chips that my hippy ass wife makes and bear meat breakfast sausage I make myself.  

My almost three year old loves asparagus and bacon, I mean insane about the bacon like she would fuck me up and take my bacon if it came down to it.

They both love it when my wife roasts Brussels sprouts from the garden eat them by the bowl full.

Also they are not some hippy shut in kids, we give them sweets at least 3 times a week for dessert and we have a sweets bowl that they get to snack from when the 5 year old gets home form school.



Sub, biggest thing is to have everyone at the table eating the same stuff. My rule is they have to try everything, trying means 3 full bites chewed and swallowed. I can't count how many times my 3 y/o would be like "Too yucky" and after two mouthfuls she forget that it was supposed to be yucky and gets seconds

<––––  Very picky eater growing up.  Meat and potatoes and mac and cheese were my lifeblood.





I'm 40, and finally tried broccolli for the first time this year.  I can't eat steak without it now.  I started eating green beans last year and now I have them with every meal I cook.  My parents tried to force me to eat greens but after years of fighting me, they gave up.





Now I like to give my mother a hard time about it, asking her why she didn't ever encourage me to eat green beans.  She just rolls her eyes at me.



ETA:  MRE's in the army really sucked for a picky eater.