Hellobee Boards Topic: Do you present your child's whole meal at once?

Hellobee Boards Topic: Do you present your child's whole meal at once? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 06 Apr 2026 06:36:24 +0000 mediagirl on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1592836 Fri, 25 Apr 2014 11:44:03 +0000 mediagirl 1592836@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I put out everything at once but I only put out a small amount of everything so she is still hungry after eating say, the bread or cheese or fruit. We normally reserve bread to just meals that don't have any carbs. Her plate usually looks like veggie, protein, fruit and carb. JerricaBenton on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1592745 Fri, 25 Apr 2014 11:21:31 +0000 JerricaBenton 1592745@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We give bits at a time but mix it up, so piece of meat, veg, bread fruit etc. She'll refuse one thing in favor of another sometimes but then she'll want the first thing later. If I put it all down in front of her she'd stuff her face. And it keeps it neater to give her only a few things at a time! Alivoo01 on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1592603 Fri, 25 Apr 2014 10:41:25 +0000 Alivoo01 1592603@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @locavore_mama: Ditto NovBaby1112 on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591977 Fri, 25 Apr 2014 08:29:39 +0000 NovBaby1112 1591977@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We give LO everything at once in one of those divider plates. Sometimes she does just eat her favorite thing, but I try not to worry too much. I typically reserve fruit for snacks, so we do not have that with meals. And she doesnt eat a ton of cheese bc she drinks a lot of milk. So it's usually the pasta/rice/grain dish that gets eaten first. She loves veggies too, so usually just the meat is left over on her plate. yin on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591599 Fri, 25 Apr 2014 05:39:56 +0000 yin 1591599@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Food is presented all at once on a regular plate or partitioned one. I like to break down the meals and separate the foods to offer him variety. He can choose what he likes to eat but has to try a bite of everything before he dismisses it. I also keep introducing the foods that he dislikes. Eventually he will enjoy it, but sometimes it takes a year for that to happen. I'm lucky that he isn't very picky. I also only offer fruit at breakfast and snack time. If I give it to him during a meal, he will just gobble up fruit and not eat the rest of his food. blackbird on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591597 Fri, 25 Apr 2014 05:33:39 +0000 blackbird 1591597@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have to partition the food out a few bites at a time. She eats more that way, otherwise she starts to throw it. SugarplumsMom on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591569 Fri, 25 Apr 2014 03:16:35 +0000 SugarplumsMom 1591569@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We started off by putting a little on her plate at a time, otherwise, she doesn't eat or plays with it. We've gradually increased her portions, but she often eats what she likes and asks for more instead of finishing everything on her plate. Pumuckl on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591565 Fri, 25 Apr 2014 03:10:57 +0000 Pumuckl 1591565@https://boards.hellobee.com/ All at once but he isn't a picky eater. immabeetoo on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591526 Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:30:34 +0000 immabeetoo 1591526@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I just serve it all at once. That sounds like too much work! He does eat a ton of cheese and fruit some days, but I figure it balances out. sunny on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591519 Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:19:24 +0000 sunny 1591519@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I serve the entree first and then fruit after she is done with her entree. Otherwise I find that she ignores the entree and only eats the fruit! Elderberrygin on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591503 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 23:41:26 +0000 Elderberrygin 1591503@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We do all at once. I've found it really helpful to look at LO's eating habits over the course of a week rather than each meal or over one day. For example, tonight she just picked out the beef and mushrooms to eat and barely touched anything else. Yesterday she picked out all the pasta first and then nibbled at everything else. The day before she ate all the broccoli first and then had a taste of the rest of the meal. On a meal by meal basis, its terrible, but when you look at the overall intake its pretty well balanced! pinkcupcake on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591499 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 23:36:06 +0000 pinkcupcake 1591499@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I put everything into a partitioned bento box with 5 compartments. I serve her everything but fruit, which we eat later in the evening. Usually it's rice, a protein, and a couple veggies. She doesn't like it when the compartments are empty so I'll fill up one with dried seaweed. Weagle on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591315 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:47:04 +0000 Weagle 1591315@https://boards.hellobee.com/ All at once. Getting up to get the rest of her meals from the kitchen would annoy me. I can't put it on the table to the side because she totally scopes out every dish on the table before digging in just in case there's something more appealing set out. Mrs. Bee on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591313 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:46:42 +0000 Mrs. Bee 1591313@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Lunches are packed so everything is bento style. They always eat all the fruit, but usually eat the other stuff too. They generally eat way better at school. At dinner they don't get any fruit until after dinner (if we give them fruit) so all the food is presented on one plate that has 3 sections. Freckles on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591305 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:42:04 +0000 Freckles 1591305@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We plate her meal the same way we would our plates. I don't give her fruit a dinner. She usually gets enough as snacks during the day, and sometimes I'll give her fruit after dinner. bunnylovesbear on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591221 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:20:29 +0000 bunnylovesbear 1591221@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We give our son everything at once...with the exception if fruit. We have to save that for last, otherwise he won't eat anything else on his plate bc he loves it so much! We don't use partitioned plates, though....everything goes on one plate, just like the rest of the fam! Silva on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591208 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:16:21 +0000 Silva 1591208@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I give it all at once, but usually it's an "all in one" meal (like tonight was pasta with pea pesto, peas, and chicken sausage). I guess even when it's individual things I give it to her all at once. Occasionally, if she's begging for food and I am still finishing dinner I will give her something first, but only veggies (I've been known to dump frozen peas on her tray...). That said, she isn't picky yet....so my thoughts may change! winniebee on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591193 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:08:36 +0000 winniebee 1591193@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I usually do all at the same time but can't give too much of a portion of each or he gets overwhelmed. sandy on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591183 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:04:43 +0000 sandy 1591183@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We serve all at once on a divided plate. She gets fruit, veggie, protein and carb. She almost always goes for fruit first but not always. Baby Boy Mom on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591168 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:00:25 +0000 Baby Boy Mom 1591168@https://boards.hellobee.com/ For the longest time I used a partitioned plate and I would serve pretty much the same things we were having. Unless we were having pasta, in which case I would wait until he had eaten some of the other stuff before offering it. :P JoyfulKiwi on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591155 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:57:57 +0000 JoyfulKiwi 1591155@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @hilsy85: if he's fussy we eat fast! :grin: Mostly we let him "play", like pretending to feed us his food, to keep him entertained. We also have his chair by a large window so he can see into the backyard. I think our eating time right now is about 15 min max. If it's really dire, one of us holds him in our lap until the other finishes and then he gets to be "excused". No need to be impressed, though. Tonight he ate 4 peas, 2 tator tots, and several fingerfuls of ketchup. Not exactly well rounded over here. :silly: hilsy85 on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591137 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:53:22 +0000 hilsy85 1591137@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @locavore_mama: ha ok I guess I am talking less about bentos and more about partitioned plates--I am definitely not using cookie cutters to cut up the cheese/bread/etc or anything like that! I am not creative enough, nor do I have the motivation! That is an interesting point about the bentos though. regberadaisy on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591127 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:50:09 +0000 regberadaisy 1591127@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @hilsy85: I actually do think it's a little different? Bento style with compartments divide the food more. And I feel like promotes pickiness a bit more? I feel like it visually separates the food more and makes it easier for my child to only the food she likes first. Although she always eat what she likes first now! Lol I guess I just meant I'm not taking time to visually present the food every night like I would expect in a typical bento box. hilsy85 on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591122 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:49:23 +0000 hilsy85 1591122@https://boards.hellobee.com/ wow! I am so impressed by all your LOs! maybe I need to try again... @JoyfulKiwi: does he stay at the table til you're all done? What do you do if he's fussy? JoyfulKiwi on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591116 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:47:54 +0000 JoyfulKiwi 1591116@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Now that we eat together we do it all at once, like our plates. When he ate before us, he'd get things bit by bit about half the time. He definitely eats his favorites first and asks for more, but after the second helping there's no more on the table left to give and he has to hang around until we're done eating. He usually eats or tries the other food if he's hungry. Smurfette on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591095 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:42:39 +0000 Smurfette 1591095@https://boards.hellobee.com/ All at once Amelieisme on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591094 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:42:38 +0000 Amelieisme 1591094@https://boards.hellobee.com/ All at once, except fruit. Fruit is his dessert or he'd never eat anything else! hilsy85 on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591092 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:42:31 +0000 hilsy85 1591092@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @locavore_mama: I guess it's the same concept though, right? Various options, including ones that are liked more than others...maybe I just can't serve cheese or bread at dinner! :) regberadaisy on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591083 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:40:24 +0000 regberadaisy 1591083@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I save fruits for the ends but everything else comes at once. But I don't do dinners bento style. It's all on her plate, just like on my plate. hilsy85 on "Do you present your child's whole meal at once?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-present-your-childs-whole-meal-at-once#post-1591054 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:33:07 +0000 hilsy85 1591054@https://boards.hellobee.com/ When you give your LO meals, do you give it all at once, bento-style, or do you give things one at a time? I really like the idea of bentos, and I bought some partitioned plates, but if I give my LO certain things at the beginning of the meal (like fruit, cheese, bread) then he will only eat those things. How do I make this work with a bento? Right now I feel like I have to make everything equally appealing (or unappealing!) to him.