And by the way, I've gotten his portion down to a size that's pitiful -- and still he won't eat much at all!

My gs is 5 and my daughter just started to make him eat a lil of what she made for dinner. Last nite for example was stuffed shells. He actually ate it but if he eats a lil of what she made he can have what he wants ( chicken nuggets pbj cereal) as long as he makes an attempt to eat some of what was made for everyone else for dinner. He likes pasta dishes (spag mac & chz ) so that wasn't a problem getting him to eat any form of meat or a veggie is thought. He just started eating chicken nuggets last summer b/4 that he didn't eat any meat he would spit it out since he was first learning to eat.

Sorry that's the best I have right now. Good Luck I will keep my eye on this b/c

My 7 year old grandson is the same way - He came to visit recently from FL. But I had to have the same rule for him as I did the Grand kids that live my home. If they do not eat Dinner, they did not get a bed time snack. And I let the kids rotate on what we were going to make. I gave them 3 choices to choose from and they each got a turn to choose. I gave them the right portion and they had to eat everything on their plate. - I hope this helps. My husband has said that if they did not eat dinner - they would have that for breakfast -

If he's eating well for the other 2 meals and his growth is on target, I probably wouldn't be too concerned. If he doesn't eat his dinner, I would limit what he could have for snack if he asked for one before bedtime. You could try completely "skipping" the meal for a week and see how it goes. Maybe he would be fine with just eating some fruit or yogurt or granola or veggies and dip or something lite like that a bit before bedtime? If he's telling you he's starving, though, and he wants you to give him a plate of food, I would talk to him about the importance of not wasting food and also make him sit at the table for a reasonable amount of time. Is he just anxious to get back up from the table to go play??

My GD and son look forward to desert so sometimes dinner for them is a means to an end. Just yesterday I asked my son if he liked his dinner and he said "no, I'm just eating it so I can get desert." I let them pick out their desert first and then tell them they can have it after they eat all their dinner. It usually works.

Thanks for all your advice!

Luna, I was thinking of doing that, but making two separate dinners (one for the kids, one for my husband and me) wouldn't be practical.

I do like the idea of letting the kids rotate and choose what the dinner will be, though. Maybe I'll try that. Most of our recipes are boring and bland anyway. I've had to give up my favorite hobby next to gardening, which was gourmet cooking. That died a quick death within a month of getting the kids.

As I often say when these things happen, "thanks be to Pinky." Another casualty of her Pinkiness.

GMaWill: His growth is right on target, and he isn't losing weight. Maybe I will skip his dinner for a couple of evenings and see what happens. I have given them the wasting food sermon, so they understand that. But he'll just look at me and say nothing, then still not eat his dinner.

I wonder if he's really hungry! I'll put, say, the meat, veg and starch on his plate. He'll eat the starch (noodles only) and maybe one bite of veg, and leave all of his meat. Another night he'll eat the meat and leave the veg and starch -- so there's no way to predict how it will go.

Telling him he won't get a bedtime snack doesn't work, because he's OK with that! I He even accepts no afternoon snack when I explain I'm trying to get him to eat his dinner. Then after all that he still doesn't eat.

Weird kid, huh? LOL

I think what makes my situation a bit different is that we're raising three kids. With three, one doesn't like this and two do, or two don't like it and one does. Same goes for activities, clothing, books, etc. Watching three kids at the beach is a challenge, too. One wants to go in the ocean, two don't. Or the other way around. Two want me to stand with them, one wants to go out too far. And there's just one of me. It's craziness in the extreme!

As far as meals go, there is NO way to please all three unless I serve pizza or nuggets.

I was thinking of serving nothing but pizza and nuggets every single night for two weeks. I still may try that LOL.

The more I think about it, the more I think that is the issue. One child would be SO much easier on everyone. Two might even be OK. But for some reason the third child is a tipping point into total insanity.

Sara, I have a bit of experience with diets. I worked in dietary in a hospital and nursing home and in a day care.

Here's my opinion - you can take it or leave it.

Supper is the least valuable meal of the day. Breakfast is the most important. If he's eating a good breakfast, lunch and snack, I wouldn't worry about supper at all. But I would be sure he gets all of his required nutrients in the first three. For example, I would not give him three bowls of cereal for breakfast. I'd give him a bowl of cereal, some fruit juice and some peanut butter on toast or an egg. The protein is important at breakfast.

Then for snack and lunch make sure he gets plenty of veggies and fruit, and another protein.

Remember, depending upon his age, his servings are going to be smaller than ours. Here's a good site with the dietary requirements of children. It's a good place to start.

Some "snack" foods that I like to use that are really healthy are peanut butter, cheese, nuts, dried fruit, applesauce, canned fruit, sliced fresh fruit (my gs LOVES apples - he HAS to get his apple every day!!), carrot sticks. Remember those ants on a log we all ate as kids? They're nutritional winners! :)

Anyway, I wouldn't let him have cookies or dessert at night, but a light healthy snack would be OK even if he didn't eat supper.

Remember, the BEST way for any of us to eat is 6 very light meals in a day with none of them very near bedtime! :)

So, here's that site if you are interested. http://www.ilunchbox.com/nutrition/your-child-s-daily-dietary-needs.php

This site is really great, because you can print an individualized plan for each person in your family. I love it! :) Just click on the "My Pyramid" picture and it takes you to a USDA site that allows you to get the information for any age and activity level! :)

Thanks so much, Granny! I suspected that dinner wasn't the most important meal of the day. It's the one I'll often skip if I've had a big breakfast or lunch.

I'll definitely check out that website.

I asked my grandson if he would be OK with skipping dinner, and he could sit there with his sisters. If he decided to eat after all I would make him a platter. It was soooo cute - he thought about it and said "OK, I'll try it."

We'll see what happens - thanks again!

When my grown kids were little we had this problem with the oldest one. The pediatrician said "she'll eat when she's hungry" most kids will listen to their body where as we adults do not.

The rules of our house were snacks had to be healthy, except on special occasions (we choose 1 day a week and made it a special occasion) Healthy includes dry cereals as well as fruits, veggies, pnutbutter crackers etc. but not twinkies (darn it).

She is 30 now and still my pickiest eater but is very healthy and my gd that we have custody of is just like her (you would think she was the mom not the aunt). There are times she will go without eating lunch but she makes up for it in snacks (especially during school) and then does dinner, but she will skip dinner 3 -4 nites a week or just eat the green beans and nothing else.

Like someone else said if the weight and height ratio are right and the doctor is not worried about health then just go with the flow until it drives you up the wall

btw our gd eats no meat, we are not vegetarians but she just won't eat it so we have to make sure she gets enough protein so we are picky about her snacks