I cant eat my dinner in front of him

[*Jo*]

Levi (15 months old) has always wanted whatever food someone else has, even if its the same as what hes got. Weve got it down now that if hes got a dinner he will eat it at the same time as us, however he eats way too early for me (4pm) and if I eat after he has finished its just a nightmare.

Tonight for example he had his dinner at 4pm and then we ordered pizza at 5pm. I gave him the crusts cos he cant have the cheese. Im trying to eat my pizza and he wants it, hes kicking and screaming, crying etc. Im trying to tell him that this is Mummys dinner and hes got some crusts etc but he cant hear me over his crying. this has been going on for months. sometimes if I want to eat anything I have to hide in the next room, its beyond ridiculous and makes for very stressful mealtimes. I thought about having my dinner later after hes in bed but Ive never had dinner after 7pm before and I certainly cant wait that long.

what do I do? its driving me mad

[j.and.e]

What bout snack for him after nap then dinner together? I always eat with my kids or wait till their in bed for a takeaway! (Must admit if i want some chocolate biscuits i sneak into the kitchen!!!) Xx

[Canwi]

Jo, you probably need to look at the timing of everyones meals.  He is rightfully mad that you won't share with him when you eat after him.  I know I'd be some miffed if someone ate pizza in front of me and didn't share.
My suggestion is that he eats a little later and you have a partial dinner of the same meal, and then have a snack/big person dinner later after he is in bed.

[*Jo*]

he wont eat any later, Ive tried giving him his afternoon tea at 3, even 3.30pm hoping to push dinner out a little bit more but for some reason his clock is set on 4pm for dinner, hes a miserable mess until then and once Ive fed him hes fine. some days I do as suggested, eat with him and eat something more later but sometimes Im simply not hungry at 4pm or our dinner isnt ready till 5.30/6pm etc I dont mind giving him another meal at that later time, i often end up doing so anyway, its not just dinner though, its breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, all feeding times. we sit together most times, or at least the boys do anyway but heaven forbid if Im even standing with the pantry door open he will come running and start crying thinking Im eating something!

[cuckoochick]

Hugs Jo I can see how frustrating it must be although I have to say I'm probably like Levi myself!

For us, whatever we eat C has and we don't eat anything near her that she can't have so if we're having cake/crisps/biscuit then so is she (in moderation). We eat all meals together though on odd occasions if we have a takeaway we wait until after she's in bed.

It's hard if you can't push his dinner back until the time that you guys eat though. It must be a pain fixing two meals.

[creations]

I know I'd be some miffed if someone ate pizza in front of me and didn't share.

Me too!

I've just got used to having my meals at the times that suit my DS.  That meant for a good while having my biggest meal of the day at lunch time and a lighter snack at dinner, he is like most kids that way, smaller appetite at dinner time.  Now his 'lunch' (so called) is getting later and later, so ours too is now around 4pm (ish possibly a bit earlier).  Your body gets used to it if you do it every day.

if we're having cake/crisps/biscuit then so is she

same here. I rarely eat anything DS shouldn't have, if I do it's after he is in bed.  If we have cake I have usually baked a batch of LO friendly muffins so we are all happy.

[*Ali*]

I agree. They all do it. Just one of the joys of being a mum.

[deb]

I'd probably have food my kids shouldn't have while they were at school (preschool/daycare in your case, I guess?) and then eat whatever they were eating at the same time they were, and even save a little bit of anything I needed to snack on (or get out some extra) if I needed more afterward.

I'm not supposed to eat cheese either and I would be SOOOO HUNGRY for pizza if I knew it was out there and I couldn't have it, and I'm 47YO!

[Mom to M&M]

What everyone said. My DS has a dairy intolerance. I have both a dairy intolerance and a gluten allergy. My DH and DD can (and do) eat everything in moderation. I cook family meals we can all enjoy but on nights we are doing something like pizza I make DS his special non-dairy pizza and I eat what I want and DH and DD have "regular" pizza. It works for us. But otherwise I don't let DD and DH eat anything in front of DS that he can't have unless I have a reasonable alternative for him that I know will make him just as happy. HUGS!

[*Kara*]

Same here - meals are always together... even now at almost 2, if I have something different, DD will want it. So if she is having different from me, I always make sure that whatever it is that I am eating, she can have if she asks   Then we share!

As for the timing... I would be pretty ruthless with pushing his meal out to 5/530pm.  Offer him a snack when he wakes, if he gets hungry, he will eat it.

[Jimbob]

My ds is allergic to dairy, eggs and nuts and used to be allergic to wheat, oats, soy, peanuts, stoned fruit and citrus fruit. I have a dd who is 18 months older than my ds and did not feel it was right to restrict her diet from all these foods. In theory now that the list of allergens is much shorter we could all eat the same food all of the time but we have chosen not to do this as James has grown up with people eating different meals to him and understands why he can't have the same food as the rest of the family all of the time. That being said we do have a lot of safe meals that we can all have and I always make sure my ds has got something that he really enjoys when we are having a meal that is not safe for him. My ds is 8 now though so it is much easier for him to understand and when he was younger he had a severe food aversion so we did not have the problem of him wanting to eat our food and him not understanding why he could not.

Kelly

[Lemonthyme]

I used to eat around 6:30 but with my son I now eat after 7.  Your body can learn to adapt to it.  Alternatively as it's only 1 hour apart give him a later snack or drink at 4 then eat together at 5.  I kind of wish I could eat with my son at 5 to be honest most days.