little_muffin Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 What do you say when your child is whinging that they don't want to eat what you have given them or they don't like that or can i have[insert off plan item] I have "This will help to make you stronger/faster/smarter" and "No sweetheart, because that is not real food" I'm stocking up my arsenal for next week when we start our family W30. I know I'm going to face a lot of resistance from my 3yo anyway so I just want to have ideas on what to say to her 350x a day without getting annoyed or stressed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Strathdee Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 The standard lines in my house are: "We don't have any ______. Would you like to have ______ or _______?" and "We're not going to have that right now. But, I don't want your belly to be hungry, so you can choose ____________ instead if you're hungry." We avoid placing value judgments on food (junk food, etc.) because I don't want my kids to be "those" kids, who judge each other's lunches and the food adults have on their plates. We go with positives. This makes us healthier, etc. I'm also careful to explain the negative of the foods we avoid. "Soph, we're not going to have any ice cream right now, because I don't want your bumps to come back." "Evie, let's not eat that. It's got a lot of sugar and we know that makes your tummy hurt." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjena Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 I have to admit that my son's allergies actually make it easier in a way. "That has dairy (or eggs or soy or corn or whatever) in it" is all I need to say. It's allowed us to get rid of a lot of the junk. We still have a ways to go on sugar in general, though. It's encouraging to read about those of you who have/are transitioning your kids to a better diet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giselle Crouch Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Hello. I was attempting to start this week but I think I will be waiting a week. I have soon to be 10, 6, and 4 yo children. How do I make them understand the best way possible? The last will be the hardest because they are sugar fiends!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabel Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 The standard lines in my house are: "We don't have any ______. Would you like to have ______ or _______?" When I used to teach EFL I used that method for choosing activities with my older students and felt like it gave them more ownership over their learning. I'd hope it would work the same way for food. My husband's parents always told him: Tigers drink water and look how fast/strong they are. He still (at 40) quotes the line every month or two. And he rarely drinks anything besides water (and beer). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little_muffin Posted April 9, 2013 Author Share Posted April 9, 2013 I had the "Lions drink water and they are strong" version. Also, if I didn't want what was on offer, "oh dear, then you can't be hungry" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bon Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 I think practical and honest answers like what Robin had to say are great. Give it time. That's the best advice I was given and it really has worked for us. I spent the first week of my first Whole30 trying to take the whole family with me hardcore style. After a week and taking some good advice to heart I decided to continue solo - the only changes to my boys diet was to eliminate gluten and 100% of grains at dinner time. In the following months I just worked at eliminating the foods I felt were the worst offenders (crackers mostly) but I still allowed tortilla chips and popcorn on occasion - just tried to not make it a daily thing. I also tried to make some type of paleo-fied bread or muffin on occasion. Some may disagree with this, but it worked great for us. I still do this once or twice per week and they love it. When I think back to where we started and where we are now I can hardly believe it.. My two younger boys are no longer "picky" eaters!!! They have new favorites and get this - recently started going to school and of their own accord choose not to have the doughnuts and cupcakes that are offered nearly daily because someone in class had a birthday. This blows my mind and is so very cool. My mom gifted them the Eat Like a Dinosaur book. We read that and the boys have picked out recipes to try. I try to ask them weekly when I menu plan if they have any special requests - I will make anything of their choosing as long it is gluten and grain free. None of my boys have health issues, but I notice better sleep (no bad dreams) and my youngest who was the most picky and challenging personality to parent is SO much better. He doesn't seem to melt down as often. He's still 3 for sure - but wow, what a nice and unexpected change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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