Waiting it Out!

I have lost the ability to bargain with my youngest. At close to age 3, when it comes to most things, he is stubborn as all heck. When it comes to eating, he is down right impossible.

I normally battle with dinner time because vegetables and meats are involved more often and we are home and not rushing off. This child will sit at the table for over an hour refusing to eat. He will watch us eat treats and desserts after dinner and still not eat a bite or two of (insert whatever we have asked him to eat).

On the days that we are able to get him to take a bite or two of the foods; he will keep them stuffed in his cheeks for HOURS! Through various time-outs, bath times and time stuck at the dinner table he will keep it shoved in his cheeks. Most nights he is late for bath-time and pushing bedtime and we have to have him spit most of it out to brush his teeth.

He has been known to take 2+ hours of crying, convincing and battling to swallow most of a bite of carrot, red pepper or chicken. The other night at my parents; my mother thought she was sly. She handed him a half an ice cream sandwich to eat once he swallowed his bite of carrot. We'll guess what? He won AGAIN. He ate the freaking ice cream around the carrot and when he finished, he still had it in his cheeks.

This morning it is a bite of eggs. We finished breakfast around 10:00 asking him to eat 3 bites of egg. His brother ate his 3 and got down. We all cleaned up and played, reminding him to eat. He finally at 11:15 put one bite in his mouth. it is now 12:30 and he is still sitting there with that one bite of egg in his cheeks. This kid is nuts! He has been at the table now for more then 2 hours and still will not eat. Talk about stubborn. He has been like this since about 16 months.

You might be thinking, maybe it is a sensory thing.... Well he will eat these same or similar texture foods so long as they are not meat or veggies. Most fruits, snacks, junk foods etc. are gobbled up.. Almost no meats or veggies are even tasted much less consumed.

So I am off to get him down and throw the remainder of the food away, which has now been out too long to be safely eaten anyway!!!!! NUTS!! He is so lucky he's cute. I have been beaten again by a not even 3 year old.