Registered health visitor Ruth Watts has shared the simple move she made during dinner that encouraged her seven-year-old to finish her meal, offering advice to other parents struggling with fussy eaters.
Ruth, a registered health visitor in England, revealed that when her seven-year-old refused to touch her food, she did nothing. She didn't encourage, force, or bribe her child to eat, and instead let the situation play out naturally.
A Simple Approach at the Dinner Table
Discussing the scenario in her own household, Ruth said: "We sat down for dinner last night with our seven and eight-year-old and our seven-year-old absolutely point blank refused to eat anything for tea."
She recounted her daughter's response: "She said 'no, I'm not eating that. I don't want that. I want something else. I don't want jacket potato and beans'. How do we deal with this? Because at the end of the meal, she ate the whole thing."
Ruth told her Instagram followers that she simply did nothing. She didn't encourage her to eat or force anything on her plate, and she avoided bribing her seven-year-old with pudding. Instead, she told her: "Okay bubs, that's what's for dinner. Eat what you want from it." She left the situation and pivoted the dinner table conversation to everyone's days.
Why Children Become Fussy Eaters
Explaining why this situation may have happened, Ruth said how youngsters often like to assert a bit of independence. She added: "By stepping right back and saying 'this is what's for dinner, you can eat what you like from it', it gave her that control for her to eat what she wants, rather than becoming a battle of me versus her."
She explained that she made sure the food was on the table in front of them and everyone could help themselves, so her daughter could put on her plate what she wanted. Ruth noted: "There's always food on the table I know she likes and I know she will eat. We always have chopped vegetables, I know she likes cucumber. I also had a chopped apple on the table and I had a yoghurt on the table."
Eventually, her daughter helped herself to some potato, baked beans, and cheese, and ate it all.
Advice for Other Parents
Concluding her advice, Ruth told other parents to try backing off and using the opportunity at the dinner table to chat as a family. She advised: "Don't push them, force them, encourage them, bribe them. Also you can make the portions really really small. Way less intimidating, a smaller portion is way more likely to be touched than a massive mound of food. So give it a go."
Since she shared the advice, many thanked Ruth for the help. One said: "Thank you for this, you are so awesome, your page has helped me so much, you're a wonderful mum." Another added: "Thank you, this is our situation every night at the dinner table. He's 3.5 years now. Will give this a go."
