For the most part my kids are decent eaters, but they take FOREVER. I am talking 45 minutes to 90 minutes after my husband and I have finished eating. I would not consider us fast eaters, we do have conversations during meals.
But the girls, 2 (almost 3) & 4 1/2, are driving us crazy. Nothing we have tried seems to be working. We have set time limits then sent them to bed, we have taken away things they like, we have attempted to get them to focus on eating instead of whatever they are stalling with, we have sat at the table with them because they entertain each other and take even longer if we don't sit there being a very mean Mommy/Daddy. I don't enjoy being a drill seargant, but we are out of ideas.
Any tips, tricks, or suggestions?
Thanks for all the great advice! We will have to try your suggestions.
maybe they have tiny throats, l always remember the mom on here that posted that.
If you seriously cut back portion size would they finish and want more?
I don't do this but maybe it would work for you to have a small dinner and then a bedtime snack?
What I noticed is that if you put to much food on a plate it makes it daunting for them to eat also if you give any type of snack an hour or less before meal. both result in not eating.
Hmm. I'm not sure I see the problem.
You sit down together, eat as a family, chat for a bit, then when you and your husband are done just excuse yourselves from the table.
Why can't they continue to sit and eat, do they need to be somewhere?
LOL they will do GREAT in school if they are happy to sit for this long!!!
Just tell them to clear their plates when they are done and go about your business :)
They may just not be very hungry... are they snacking much between meals? Do you give them juice and milk between meals? Those fill up their bellies, and they aren't ready to eat when you are ready.
Limit drinks to water only... that is all they need between meals.
Just take the food away after 30 minutes.... they'll get the idea! It won't hurt them to be a bit hungry between meals......
Give them several warnings that they need to eat because it is time to clear off the dishes.
Don't give them any snacks between meals, or juice or milk.. they will fill up on that.
My kids do this. If I let them they would take hours to eat a meal. It is not unreasonable to set a time limit on meals. Granted your kids will take longer than you. I give my kids an extra 20 minutes after I finish to eat. I have also tried separating them. One child eats in the kitchen, the other in the dining room. Once the time is up that's it. No more food.
How odd..
The children i know, want to eat and be done so they can play outside a little longer, before bath and then bed..
I wonder why it takes them so long? Are they talking, playing? taking tiny bites?
Of course no TV while they are eating..
Tell them is you will finish eating in 20 minutes, you will have 20 minutes more to play outside.. would that entice them?
Or feed them earlier,, then join them for the last 20 minutes.
No tips here, just sympathy and what I am in the process of trying. I have two kids ages 4 and 7. My 7 year old can sit and talk and chat and still eat her meal in a timely fashion. My son who is 4 on the other hand will just sit there. He will eat if fed, but otherwise takes only occasional bites. Takes forever to chew one bite. I have tried having everyone who is finished get desert, and he just gets angry. I have tried taking his food away and he doesn't seem to want snack or be exceptionally hungry. He wants desert but doesn't get that he has to eat, or thinks one or two bites should be enough. And he just gets angry when he doesn't get it. It doesn't change the behavior. So what i have decided, is let him have a little extra time and just take his plate away. so far it has ended the drill sergeant routine, but it is still frustrating for me. Let us know i you find anything that works great!
I have the SAME problem. I am ready to take the plate away after 20 minutes of eating, then hopefully having a hungry child next meal. My son (4.5) will also sit there for 90 minutes dawdling, chewing so incredibly slowly. We've had to restrict him from talking if he slows down too much. We talk about taking "big boy bites" instead of "baby bites." Another thing I've noticed is that my son will lean back in his chair and put his knees up, like in a relaxed laid-back position. He takes WAY too long like that. So I push his chair up closer to the table so he can't lay-back. That helps, because there's not much else to do but eat when the plate/bowl is just inches from his face.
In your situation, could you have a race? Could you give stars on a calendar for each who finishes in a "timely manner" as we phrase it? Yesterday I had a bowl of strawberries for dessert. I finished my meal and started eating them. My son knew better than to tell me to not eat them all. I saw him out of the corner of my eye (I didn't say anything to him) -- but he started eating faster knowing that he didn't want me to eat all the strawberries! Towards the end of his meal, he said he was full and I asked "You are too full for strawberries?" and of course he said no. He finished fairly quickly and got his strawberries. So, bribery? .... I mean, "rewards"?? like a sweet treat at the end of a timely meal?
If my kids would sit down and eat, I'd be thrilled! I have the opposite problem! They sit for 5 minutes and are done. They never get very full.
If my kids were just sitting there eating, I'd enjoy the break and clean or something.
My 4 1/2 year old does this too and drives me crazy! Though, not so much for his favorite foods, but ones he likes but not as much. He's often just staring into space or drinking his drink after every bite (we only give him about 4 oz total) I don't have any tips or wisdom, since I have the same trouble, but you're not alone!
My kids (twins almost 4) take a long time too. Usually, I think it's because they get distracted and sometimes because they aren't hungry.
One likes to get up and wander around a bit, so I've started telling him that if he gets up from the table, it means he is done and I will take his plate away.
Both, but one more than the other, sits there like he is waiting for us to feed them. And sometimes we get frustrated and start feeding him, just to get done with dinner. We decided that we are going to start just letting him sit there staring at his plate. If he doesn't eat, he will be hungry at his next meal (which may just be the leftovers of the meal he didn't eat). If they don't eat dinner and ask for a snack before bedtime, then their snack may likely be some of their dinner.
If your kids will just sit there when you leave the table, I'd let them do it until their normal bedtime. But I'd give warnings if they were really taking that long...like "In 10 minutes it is bedtime and the plates will go away. There will be no playtime."
Another suggestion would be to go into another room and do something fun that they might be interested in. If they leave table without finishing, then remind them that if they leave the table, then they are done eating and put their food away. If you do that enough times, they might start eating faster...especially if during dinner you discuss the fun thing that you will do after dinner is over. Or even let them pick the fun thing to do and then tell them that they can only do it when they are done eating and if it's before bedtime.
But I'm sort of in the same boat as I'm just starting in on pushing the consequences of not eating for my kids. My kids won't sit at the table so I have to do more of taking the plate away to entice them to finish their meal in a reasonable time.
Do they like to do or watch something after dinner time? You can set dinner time an hour before their favorite activity.
Honestly, I don't think it would bother me at all to have them sit and eat and chat. That's what I do with my family or friends. You don't want them scarfing down there food, either. It's good that they are engaging with each other, I would just make sure that they are eating enough. You can always do other things while they are eating. I would clean the kitchen, dining room while my son would eat.
