Food Wars

Since birth Seth has been a pretty easy child. Not perfect but pretty much a sweet smiley little guy. The only exception has been when he has been teething , which even that has been easier than some stories I've heard.

But the kid won't eat for me. I am trying to get him to eat sitting at the table with the family for dinner, but it usually turns into a screaming fit. I try to just ignore him and go on, but this is definitely getting old. My sister in all her wisdom says that feeding a toddler is all a mind game. I would be okay with this if he was just a little better at speaking and communicating to us, telling us what he wants. I am not beyond bribing him at least short term until he realizes that sitting in a chair (or on a booster) will not lead to some type of slow painful death. You should hear his screams. It is just pathetic, especially for a child that is normally easy going.

In the past few days I have realized that rewarding him works, but he has to believe you will actually do what you promised and be able to actually see the reward. For example, he wouldn't eat his chicken nuggets at Burger King with the reward of playing until he was actually sitting in the room with the playground watching other kids play. Tonight he wouldn't eat until we went outside so he could sit st the picnic table with the promised bubbles in hand. Traditionally him seeing the reward has backfired and made his fit get louder and more dramatic, but no it with this.

Seriously that child is 23 months going on 4. He just thinks he is so big. His language has just exploded lately and he is so fun! If we can just figure out the food wars we would be good. I feel like I've tried everything, but would love to hear any advice you experienced moms have. He is my baby, but these are new waters for me. This is one of the many things that make me thankful that we got our older kids when they were past this stage. It also makes me seriously consider if we want a 5th child or not.