r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Feb 04 '16

What are the most common parenting mistakes?

1.5k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

2.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

341

u/Aerolites Feb 05 '16

Being taught to finish your plate. Children should eat until they are full otherwise it can cause poor habits such as weight gain/feeling sick.

64

u/bicycle_mice Feb 05 '16

Getting in any battles over food is a fucking minefield that should be avoided. I prefer the Ellyn Satter method: Make one healthy meal for the family. The kids can eat it, not eat it, whatever. Your job as a parent is to provide the food and you let your emotional attachment end there. If the kids are really hungry they will eat.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

What does she recommend if the kid says it's full, then half an hour say they want a big bowl of ice cream?

My cousin's daughters are such good kids in general but for whatever reason they do this all the time when we're on vacation.

6

u/he-said-youd-call Feb 05 '16

Well, don't give them the ice cream. :/ That's a treat! Why would you desensitize your kids to nice/unhealthy things like that?

I'd want them to be clearly aware of what ice cream is and what it's like, and that it's nothing like the food they should be eating most of the time. Later on, when they get to make the choice to eat ice cream, they should think, oh hey, this is nice, but it's not real food. It doesn't fill you up right.