Eating habits/rules
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
Forum Description: For mums, dads, parents-to-be, grandparents, friends -- you name it! And you name the topic you want to chat about!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=31209
Printed Date: 13 October 2025 at 6:29pm Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Eating habits/rules
Posted By: Bizzy
Subject: Eating habits/rules
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 10:23am
I was curious after reading the TV thread about what rules or habits you have around eating. I know some of you seem to have set times etc and i wondered what else others do.
In our house the dinner rule is everyone at the table till we have all finished. I also dont let them eat in other rooms of the house, but its a real struggle to get them to stop trying to sneak toast into the lounge.
------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">
|
Replies:
Posted By: X
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 10:40am
In our house, everyone sits at the table when we eat. This applies to all snacks etc. There is definitely NO running while eating & no eating in other rooms. We have dinner together maybe half the week, & the rest of the week DS eats at the table & I will sit with him. The TV is off when we eat-except when DS is already in bed, then DH & I will sometimes eat in front ot the telly
-------------
http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
|
Posted By: lilfatty
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 10:50am
Issy has had dinner before I get home .. so we never eat as a family, even on weekends one of us is dealing with Elias' bedtime routine, so she will have dinner with the other parent.
During the week ..
For all her meals, except dinner she sits at her little table. Dinner she sits in a highchair because that is when Elias has his bath (so she eats alone).
Snacks as long as she is sitting down she can eat anywhere she likes so she will often sit on her sofa.
------------- Mummy to Issy (3) and Elias (18 months)
I did it .. 41 kgs gone! From flab to fab in under a year http://www.femininefitness.co.nz/category/blog - LFs weight blog
|
Posted By: lilfatty
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 10:59am
*waits with bated breathe for someone to come along and say that Isabelle is now going to be developmentally or socially challenged because of her eating regime*
------------- Mummy to Issy (3) and Elias (18 months)
I did it .. 41 kgs gone! From flab to fab in under a year http://www.femininefitness.co.nz/category/blog - LFs weight blog
|
Posted By: ooEvaoo
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 11:07am
Main meals are usually at the table....sometimes DP sits on the couch and eats his...not that often though...and only if DS and I have eaten dinner bebore he gets home. Snacks are either at the table or on the mat.....but I tend to have my snack while I'm doing something..like on the comp lolz.
-------------
|
Posted By: freckle
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 11:13am
dinner we all eat together, but other meals Holly eats at her table... snacks she can eat wherever and typically has sitting on her sofa.... I try to make her sit whenever she's eating but doesn't always work out that way....
------------- mum to 3 lovely girls :D
|
Posted By: clover
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 11:19am
lilfatty wrote:
*waits with bated breathe for someone to come along and say that Isabelle is now going to be developmentally or socially challenged because of her eating regime*  |
Clearly she will have huge issues when older
|
Posted By: BeLoved
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 11:26am
Heidi (13 months) eats her main meals in her highchair either with us in the kitchen or outside at the table at the moment since the weather has been so good.
We always eat breakfast together, and lunch too (Heidi and I that is, DH is hardly ever here) dinner is at 5ish for Heidi so I don't normally eat at the same time, but if DH is home we have been having BBQ's together and eating at the table outside.
We don't do any meals in front of the TV (with Heidi that is, but DH and I always eat in the lounge) but Heidi does have her morning bottle in front of the TV watching Playhouse Disney or similar.
Once H is older then I expect we will all eat at the table together just like we did when I was young. The only time we ever ate in front of the TV in the lounge was when we got fish & chips and had a "picnic" on the floor.
|
Posted By: xLUCKYx
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 12:00pm
The kids and I eat at the table - Tane in the high-chair and Gabrielle sits up on her own chair. They are allowed down when they are finished. DF gets home and will eat his dinner in the lounge with a lil table and the kids always have some more of his dinner too no matter how much they ate.
With snacks as a rule they are mostly had sitting down or in the highchair but I am not 100% strict on this hence why our carpet is so stained. But it's stained either way from all the food that gets dropped from the high chair and table as well.
|
Posted By: xLUCKYx
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 12:00pm
HeidisMum wrote:
Once H is older then I expect we will all eat at the table together just like we did when I was young. The only time we ever ate in front of the TV in the lounge was when we got fish & chips and had a "picnic" on the floor.
|
we used to do this with fish'n'chips too - one of my fave memories :)
|
Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 12:21pm
Meals we eat together, I used to wait until DH came home to eat with him but I found I needed to eat with the girls to make sure I refueled before that last hour before bedtime
Generally snacks are at their little table and chairs. Depends on what they're eating. If it's messy like a smoothie / yoghurt then they have to stay sitting. But then I'll happily let them eat a piece of apple on the run.
Oh and no TV with meals.
|
Posted By: Henna79
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 12:41pm
We all eat our meals together at the table/highchair. Snacks Alex just eats wherever most of the time at the mo thats outside or we sit on the couch together with our 'coffee'. Alex is asleep at lunchtime so thats the only meal he eats on his own when he gets up which is really just more of a big snack.
|
Posted By: Daizy
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 12:43pm
Breakfast the girls eat together at the dining room table. The TV is often on in the lounge (but usually only DH watching it) I have my shower while the girls are having breakfast and then eat mine when the girls are being showered.
Lunch the girls usually sit at their small table outside (during summer) and sometimes I will go sit with them. It all depends weather or not Keira has lunch at Kindy though.
Dinner we all sit at the table together, no TV, just family time and the we all wait until everyone is finished (usually waiting for the girls)
I like all food to be eaten in the dining room or outside, although occasionally they will have a snack in front of the TV sitting on the step to the lounge.
-------------

|
Posted By: Snappy
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 1:22pm
We all eat together in the lounge. We don't have a dining room at our house or room for a table so the kids have dinner on their own little table in the lounge, while we sit on the couch.
TV is usually on
|
Posted By: kiwisj
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 1:23pm
It's really interesting seeing what everyone else does! (And cool to see we weren't the only family having fish n chip picnics as kids - must a kiwi institution lol)
We eat at the table WAY more often now we've had Callum, even whe he's in bed DH and I will eat at the table 8/10 meals and catch up on the day.
Breakfast the three of us eat together although sometimes DH races off to finish getting ready so it ends up being just me and Callum.
Callum eats his other meals in his highchair at the table or outside on the veranda. If it's been a really really long day I sometimes feed him tea in the lounge in his highchair with his back to the telly so I can keep an eye on the cooking channel
Snacks I'm quite relaxed about at the moment, I try to get C to sit on the floor if he's not in his highchair but he's still learning.
------------- SJ
Callum - Dec 2008
Daniel - Oct 2010
|
Posted By: LittleBug
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 1:27pm
We have breakfast, lunch and dinner together at the dinner table in the kitchen, so no TV because we don't have one in there. Plus my parents used to watch the news during dinner when I was growing up and I hated it because we would always be told to stop talking! So I like not watching TV because we get to chat
When DH goes back to regular work hours, he doesn't finish until 7pm though, so it's just Chloe, Ollie and I for dinner. Often I will just eat a little something with them at the table and then DH and I will watch something on TV when we have our proper dinner, after the kids are in bed.
Occasionally, if DH and I are going out for dinner or something (so rarely, lol) then Chloe will be having dinner by herself, and then we do something easy and she's allowed to sit on the mat in the lounge and watch TV while she eats. But that's a special treat.
Snacks are either at the table (especially if messy like yoghurt or something), or in the lounge on the plastic food mat on the floor. I don't like them running around the house with food because we have dark carpet and all the crumbs and food would get everywhere! Ollie sits in his bumbo on the mat, when we have snacks in the lounge - because obviously he's a little young to understand that he can't move off the mat, yet.
We used to do the fish'n'chip picnics on the lounge floor too, when I was little
------------- Chloe (4 years) and Oliver (3 years).
|
Posted By: SMoody
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 2:03pm
We dont have set rules. She has eaten in front of tv, We use to have a small table in the rented house she ate breakfast in front of tv on her small table.
When she was little she would walk around with snacks and eat ect (not lollipops ect).
Seriously we are not too fussed. As for other stuff. We are lenient on sweets as such although we dont keep it in our house. Free raid of fridge allowed for fruit and yogurt ect.
Only rule as such is if you ask for it you have to eat it. And try everything on your plate. So if she say ask for weetbix in the morning and insist on 2 blocks she can put it back in the fridge but she will have to finish it before taking anything else.
------------- http://lilypie.com">
http://lilypie.com">
|
Posted By: monikah
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 2:14pm
we have a high chair that is attached to the table so mack eats in there. i sit with him if he is eating when im not but i normally feed him then he sits with me while i eat my lunch. DH is home for bfast and dinner so we all eat those together at the table. he can have bottles in the lounge and isnt eating morning and afternoon tea yet but he'll most likely be at the table for those too (or outside)
-------------
|
Posted By: arohanui
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 7:25pm
Breakfast - if weetbix, Harry eats in his highchair (sometimes in front of playhouse disney), or toast he often eats sitting on his little couch.
Lunch - Harry and I will eat together, either at the dining room table with him either sitting on a chair at the table or in his highchair (depending on how messy the food is)... or if I'm feeling really tired I'll eat at the couch and him in his highchair.
Dinner - sometimes at the table all together, sometimes with DH and I sitting in the lounge watching TV and Harry in his highchair
Snacks - sitting on his little couch or sitting outside
------------- Mama to DS1 (5 years), DS2 (3 years) and... http://alterna-tickers.com" rel="nofollow">
|
Posted By: LeahandJoel
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 7:54pm
Breakfast and dinner they eat at the table with me sitting with them. DH and I eat dinner when they are in bed and DH eats breakfast and goes to work while I am organising the kids in the mornings.
Lunch and snacks are more relaxed, as long as they are sitting down thats fine. Joel quite often will point to the snack cupboard or try to get in the freezer for frozen peas, once I get him something he will either sit straight down on the floor or race off and climb into his highchair waiting.
TV is on at lunch sometimes but not at dinner.
-------------


|
Posted By: .Mel
Date Posted: 28 January 2010 at 9:49pm
DH and I have turns cooking dinner, we eat depending on whenever dinner is ready.
DS2 sits in his blue chair with a knee rest thingee on his lap in the lounge... DD, DH and I sit on the couch. DS1 normally eats in his room.
We occasionally eat at the table, but very rarely. Our dining table is normally used for folding and storing the washing..
------------- Mr Mellow (16)
Miss Attitude (8)
Destructa Kid (3)
|
Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 29 January 2010 at 11:18am
We all eat at the table. Breakfast as soon as they get up so often they eat individually but I sit with whichever one is eating, or Dh sits with them if he gets them up (I generally don't eat breakfast). Lunch we sit together and I do eat with them as well and dinner we all sit and eat together (DH does shifts though so he isn't always there for dinner). No TV. They have lunch between 11.30-12 and dinner is normally 4.30pm as both boys are hungry by then, DH and me eat dinner at that time but means we are normally hungry again by 8pm so we eat again and in front of the TV.
Snacks depends what they are eating, some food they are required to sit in their highchairs to eat and others I let them eat sitting on their little sofa. Crackers though that they can't make a mess with they can eat anywhere.
-------------

|
Posted By: Jay_R
Date Posted: 29 January 2010 at 12:04pm
We don't have space for a table, so Josh sits at his little table and I sit on the sofa.
We usually eat breakfast together, and I will actually squish myself onto one of his little chairs and sit with him. Lunch, if we are at home, is usually Josh at about 11.30 and me about 1pm. We don't eat together for dinner unless its a bbq and we sit outside, he'll eat a 5pm, and me not til after he's gone to bed at 6.30-7pm. I like to just relax, and enjoy cooking dinner with a glass of wine. And 5pm is way too early for me to eat.
As for tv - yep, its on for breakfast, and quite often on at dinner time too. I don't feel bad about it, and am happy to admit to it LOL.
|
Posted By: jaz
Date Posted: 29 January 2010 at 12:42pm
We eat at the table and nobody leaves until the last person is finished. Caleb is usually ready for dinner about 4.30 to 5.00pm so he eats alone in the highchair in front of TV or watching me cook dinner or if I am organised I sit with him with the TV off. Then he has a light snack or nibbles off our plates and sits with us while we have our dinner.
Sometimes in the weekends we have dinner on our laps in front of TV, although Caleb is still in his highchair. I do let him walk around with dry snacks, like a biscut or box of raisens. We have a no food in the bedroom rule, although DD can make an exception if having friends over for DVD's and eating snacks like chips and popcorn.
------------- http://lilypie.com">
|
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 30 January 2010 at 5:53pm
The only meal we have on the week nights together is dinner as the boys have breakfast at daycare and school house. We have dinner in the lounge as the table holds everything.
The only rule we have is Josh isn't allowed a drink till he is finished as we worked out he was filling up on it before eating.
------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived!
|
Posted By: mamanee
Date Posted: 30 January 2010 at 6:50pm
Sam and I sit in the lounge, him at his table and me on the couch when we eat lunch and breakfast. Dinner, we eat in the lounge too, Sam at his table, us on the couch. TV is on most of these times. I love TV, although Sam isn't really that interested in it. He loves Mucken Jackson though.
We gave up the highchair when he was about 14 months old as no matter how tight it was, he would get out of it and stand on the tray bouncing on it and laughing.
Oh and we don't have a dining table.
|
|