My eldest two were fine. The youngest became a fussy eater thanks to input by my husband. She would sit at the dinner table and refuse to eat what was served. I would tell her that it was her choice if she ate it or not but there was nothing else. She would sit at the table with her dinner in front of her and she would look sad. I would ignore her and in the end my husband would throw a fit and get up and make her some eggs. This used to frive me insane. I would speak to him about it and we would argue. He refused to change his behaviour because I was being mean and starving our child. Years later she admitted to him that some nights she would just feel like eggs and so she knew if she pulled her little trick that in the end he would make her eggs.

Do what you think is right and don’t listen to your inlaws. I in fact need to be more strict especially with my son.
We definitely need the kids to try the food.

My parents were always really strict with me come meal time. I had to eat what was in front of me and even at pre school I had to eat whatever was served or I’d go hungry and get no dessert.
I’m a bit more lenient with my toddler and give into whatever she wants as I’d rather her eat than not but hubby doesn’t feel the same. He grew up where if you didn’t eat then you go to bed hungry and you’d learn your lesson.

I was always bought up to eat what was in front of me. However if I tried something and I didn’t like it my mother usually gave in. Do what you feel is right. There is no right or wrong answer.

My boys knew they had to at least try what was put in front of them. They would eat the meat but not the vegetables so they had to take one small mouthful (and swallow) and if they still didn’t like it they would have a piece of fruit. My boys now love vegetables more than I do.

This is not the mother-in-law’s concern and crosses boundaries. I’ve had both my Mum and Mum-in-law involve themselves unnecessarily, in front of my child, which is not on. They’ve had their go at parenting, and funnily enough, would have played that same game above. Ironic!

We insist kids try things, and they know if they don’t like it, they’ll be asked to try it again another day. But we don’t force them to more than a decent taste.

Green eggs and ham. I tell my kids to try everything once. The next time I pop it on their plate, they need to try one piece again once. If they still don’t like it, that’s fine but I make sure I have other food for them to eat too. I know what they would eat and not eat anyway, but they need to try

Nothing wrong with left overs! My girls have them often if they don’t want or don’t like the meal being served they will get something left over from the fridge.

There is nothing wrong with leftovers.

Experts always say that you should present any food a few times with a break in between before accepting a child may not like it.

I think the part that would have been “cruel” was going to bed without food. Personally I ask my kids to taste the food and if they don’t want it, they can have toast or bread instead for dinner.

That works for us. You have to find what does for you.

It’s not cruel at all. My brother’s kids will only eat crap- 2min noodles and chicken nuggets, etc. – that kind of behavior starts somewhere. If I prepare a meal it either gets eaten or they have nothing. If they don’t eat it all I will often give it to them the next day, although this is mostly because my son eats very slow and plays with his food. He knows better than to complain about what he’s given! This being said they can choose what they want for breakfast or lunch.

Not at all cruel !!

I would, and, did do the same thing as this mum. If the child decides they want something for lunch etc, and it’s not what they want, well that’s just too bad, parents can’t make what each child wants, they get what they are given, and yes, they are going to get it for the next meal, if not, they will start thinking they can always have what they want all the time. I use to discuss meals with my family, and made meals that they liked, but, that didn’t stop them from trying to eat something they wanted instead of what had been made. The grandmother should not have said anything.

A child must try the food at least, if one of the parents are prepared to eat it then it is safe to eat unless allergies. I was brought up this and so have my children too. As long as it is safe to re serve it should be ok to eat.

I think it depends on what the food is and why they didn’t eat it.

I agree with the comment about children being given a plethora of choices creating fussy eaters. This Mum is in no way cruel, but the mother-in-law weighing in with her ideas of how the Mum parents her child certainly doesn’t help matters, nor is it any of her business as a grandmother really.

I wouldn’t classify this mum as cruel. I was amazed how my kids often decided they liked something on the second time of having it. Think she is a good mum.

No, I don’t think it’s cruel. Food is too expensive to waste and, providing it doesn’t make the child ill, they should at least try to eat it and not expect it to be thrown away and given something else.

The mum was right to try again, my son won’t eat bananas or stawberries but i still give them to him in case he changes his mind