Unhealthy eating habit? pls advise....

jaybaobei

Active Member
Like to seek precious opinion/advise fm experienced mummies.

Is it unhealthy for my 2yrs 3mths twins to eat lunch/dinner with tv on? my gal know how to eat by herself. but will paused halfway den watch tv. have to remind her when she paused den she will continue to eat again. after awhile she will paused to watch tv again. as for my boy, either my maid or me will feed him although he oso know self feeding. but he prefer to watch tv & feed by us.

pls advise.

thanks. ^_^
 

Enangel

New Member
Its better not to let your child watch tv while eating.

My boy is 3yrs + but he eats at the pace of a snail... We did encourage him to self feed. He does, but he likes to talk with his mouth full, play around or just day dream.

Sometimes we have to feed him instead to get him to finish his food faster.

His teacher complaint that he doesn't want to eat by himself at school and wants the teacher to feed him.

And he can never finish his food while watching tv, he can take more than 1 hour to finish, he will place the food in his mouth, chew for a while and stop. So its better not to make it a habit to let them watch tv while eating.
 

Carlisle

Member
Its better not to let your child watch tv while eating.

My boy is 3yrs + but he eats at the pace of a snail... We did encourage him to self feed. He does, but he likes to talk with his mouth full, play around or just day dream.

Sometimes we have to feed him instead to get him to finish his food faster.



Yeah i agree, dont't let your baby watching TV while eating.

His teacher complaint that he doesn't want to eat by himself at school and wants the teacher to feed him.

And he can never finish his food while watching tv, he can take more than 1 hour to finish, he will place the food in his mouth, chew for a while and stop. So its better not to make it a habit to let them watch tv while eating.

Yeah i agree, Don't let you baby watching TV while he is eating.. That's not good for the child...
 

Mummy to Baby V

Well-Known Member
My boy is 2+ years old and I still don't let him watch TV at home, anytime of the day.
So for meal times, no TV too.

When we eat at relatives' place, the TV is often on and the cousins keep running to and from TV to dining table to eat.
I find it unacceptable.
My boy gets distracted by the TV sound, and it becomes challenging to ask him to focus on his meal. (He feeds himself and can usually eat a lot quite fast.)
Sometimes, my hubby will request relative to switch off the TV.
 

jaybaobei

Active Member
My boy is 2+ years old and I still dont't let him watch TV at home, anytime of the day.
So for meal times, no TV too.

When we eat at relatives' place, the TV is often on and the cousins keep running to and from TV to dining table to eat.
I find it unacceptable.
My boy gets distracted by the TV sound, and it becomes challenging to ask him to focus on his meal. (He feeds himself and can usually eat a lot quite fast.)
Sometimes, my hubby will request relative to switch off the TV.
no tv whole day? what will he be doing during daytime?
 
During the earlier stage ive initially didnt want my boy to watch tv too young. Cos the rays from tv/comp monitors etc r not gd for their eyesight n affects their brain development. Not till very serious kind i suppose cos i grew up watching tv day n night even during exams period. Sits very near to tv most of the time lying down. Still do well in exams n perfect eyesight. But still, not recommanded for kids to watch tv at young age, as said by experts/specialists whatever they r la.
But my mama being the very standard auntie type, feels that kids (boy currently 2yrs old), shd watch tv. As from the way she bring me up, no restrictions. She on tv whenever we r at hm, whether anybody watching not.
Funny thing is, my boy doesnt like to watch tv.. He has his fav lion dance disc, disney characters teach eng disc, chinese kids songs disc, n erm, hokkien mtv disc. He will ownself go turn on the player put in whatever he wanna watch n then play it. Sit ard watch like 5mins very focus. Singing/speaking/dancing along. But 5mins max n then he wld wander off to do other thing.
I think no harm for kids to watch tv. But gotta teach them limits n restrictions. Watching tv during meal time is not advisable. Read somewhere not gd for digestion or something in some ways? Cant rmb.

Jaybaobei mayb u wanna consider start settings limits n restrictions? Start off with no tv during mealtimes. I feel its much more impt than amy other time of the day. Then mayb slowly tune down on the hours. If yr kids r very glued to tv, it wld become a bad habit. When u start setting restrictions or rather limits, like can watch all u want but gotta finish yr meal first, finish yr whatever programme first, wld b easier when they grow up. Lesser chance of problems like getting addicted n having trouble getting them to do sch work etc. N also, mayb u wanna restrict the kind of shows. I dont like it when tv programmes showing figts scene. When they do n my boy happens to c, i will tell him c those pple fighting, fighting is not gd, etc etc. Now whenever he sees fighting scene he will say, 'you c! They fighting. They naughty. Jojo cannot fight. Jojo gd boy' etc in mandarin. Chinese saying yin cai shi jiao. Using whatever u have to teach. =P
 

jaybaobei

Active Member
During the earlier stage ive initially didnt want my boy to watch tv too young. Cos the rays from tv/comp monitors etc r not good for their eyesight n affects their brain development. Not till very serious kind i suppose cos i grew up watching tv day n night even during exams period. Sits very near to tv most of the time lying down. Still do well in exams n perfect eyesight. But still, not recommanded for kids to watch tv at young age, as said by experts/specialists whatever they r .
But my mama being the very standard auntie type, feels that kids (boy currently 2yrs old), should watch tv. As from the way she bring me up, no restrictions. She on tv whenever we r at hm, whether anybody watching not.
Funny thing is, my boy doesnt like to watch tv.. He has his fav lion dance disc, disney characters teach eng disc, chinese kids songs disc, n erm, hokkien mtv disc. He will ownself go turn on the player put in whatever he wanna watch n then play it. Sit around watch like 5mins very focus. Singing/speaking/dancing along. But 5mins max n then he wld wander off to do other thing.
I think no harm for kids to watch tv. But gotta teach them limits n restrictions. Watching tv during meal time is not advisable. Read somewhere not good for digestion or something in some ways? Cant rmb.

Jaybaobei mayb you wanna consider start settings limits n restrictions? Start off with no tv during mealtimes. I feel its much more impt than amy other time of the day. Then mayb slowly tune down on the hours. If yr kids r very glued to tv, it wld become a bad habit. When you start setting restrictions or rather limits, like can watch all you want but gotta finish yr meal first, finish yr whatever programme first, wld b easier when they grow up. Lesser chance of problems like getting addicted n having trouble getting them to do sch work etc. N also, mayb you wanna restrict the kind of shows. I dont like it when tv programmes showing figts scene. When they do n my boy happens to c, i will tell him c those pple fighting, fighting is not good, etc etc. Now whenever he sees fighting scene he will say, 'you c! They fighting. They naughty. Jojo cannot fight. Jojo good boy' etc in mandarin. Chinese saying yin cai shi jiao. Using whatever you have to teach. =P

Sad to say every morning when they wake up, the very first thing they do is on the tv. i did tried to restrict them from tv but they seem like so boring. when my boy watch tv, his eyes & soul will be glued to the tv. i have to call him numerous times then he will respond or come to me. usually i will on cablevision disney playhouse or nick junior for them. me dislike them to watch those fighting & violent shows like ben 10, pokemon, etc.... i will only let them watch educational one like dibo the gift dragon, mickey mouse clubhouse, dora the explorer, angelina ballerina etc... but sometimes, they will not always watch the tv shows. like yr boy, they will watch for few mins then run around.

thanks for yr enlightenment, the ray from tv might be harmful to their eyes. i think now i should restrict their tv time.

really appreciated for yr kind enlightenment & advise.

thanks! ^_^
 
Just sharing my thoughts nia~
actually there r many many more things u can do with them! U mentioned twins right? Its much tougher cos u will have to focus on two instead of one. If they have a fav character, u can get story books or coloring books n engage them reading or coloring.
For me, cos of the financial part, i will always think of things that r at low or no cost to do with my boy. There r actually alot alot to do! But again, its easier to handle one kid than two... U r a stay at hm mum?
Anyway, if they r like watch a few mins then run off do other things, after awhile watch few mins again kind still alright. Cos u mentioned 2yrs plus nia? Kids this age attention span prolly ard 5-10mins.
Gd that u restrict the contents! At least the gd out of bad is its educational! More or less they wld b able to catch n learn something out of it. Mayb instead of them watching by themself, u can get yrself involved also. Watch with them talk abt what the characters r doing etc etc. Once they r use to u being part of them, everything u do with them is fun! Like my boy, also cos im a working mum so my time with him is very limited, n being a single mummy i do everything myself. So i try to spend whatever time i have i can with him. N now whatever i say i wanna do he wld wanna do with me.
Jiayou mummy!!!
 

Mummy to Baby V

Well-Known Member
no tv whole day? what will he be doing during daytime?
I'm SAHM and started homeschooling my boy. I set up his room like a small preschool -- bookshelf with many books, and toy storage boxes filled with different simple yet educational toys and puzzles. Since he was a baby, I've been reading to him. So now, every morning when I'm washing up, he'd go and pull out a pile of books and flip by himself.

After breakfast and before lunch, we've home lesson including games, activities, flashcards, math, writing, art & craft, music, etc. With more time, we may even play with Play Doh, he loves it!

Before nap, we read books and sing songs.

After nap and tea break, he gets free play. If he's ok, i'd do my own things or prepare next day's activities. Otherwise, play with him. Usually blocks (Lego or Mega Blocks), jigsaw puzzles, ball games, pretend play (with toy house, figurines, cars, etc). Can also do singing, coloring, drawing. Depending on his interest for the day.

After dinner, he usually plays with cousins and Daddy.

Before bedtime, we read and sing again.

On weekends, we go outdoor -- eating, swimming, play-gym / playground, park, exhibition, etc.

There goes the days without TV. It can be done. In fact, I watched a lot of TV in the past, then upon reading up, decided it's better to raise my boy with no TV, until he's older. :)
 

Edwinie

Member
My son is 7 months now. Whenever it's feeding time, he can't keep still. And so we put him on the high chair and turn on some educational music or cartoon for him so that he can concentrate watching and be still, which makes it easier to feed.. Now after reading this thread, it makes me wonder whether i am making him to have the bad habit of associating waiting with tv.. But I can't think of any other ways for him to sit still! If I pass him a toy, his toy will compete with the spoon for his mouth!
 

megtan

Member
I started my son with semi-solids when he was 6 months old, sat him in a bumbo seat. After a while, upgraded him to an Ikea high chair (plastic, cheap and easy to wash). I made it a point not to switch on TV and no toys. So he knows it's meal time must sit in high chair. Easier for us to manage when we dine out.

I usually give him spoon and bowl to "self-feed", more like "playing" but as time passes, it helps to train in self-feeding. Sometimes, I'll give him some finger food to eat/play as well, like small pieces of soft veg e.g. broccoli, green peas... slowly progress to sweet corn. This also helps to train pincer skills. He could self-feed quite well from 15 months onwards. Even then, he doesn't have patience to last through a meal, only half a meal and I end up feed him the rest. But this method is an extremely messy affair, I had to clean the floor and high chair after every meal. Now I place a plastic mat so just need to clean the mat.

There was a period of time (a few months in fact) when he was extremely fussy during meal times and I really blew up many times! What I did was to give him spatula and containers tell him to play cooking, so while he was distracted, I quickly feed him. Also tried singing to him, which worked for a while. A few times, he threw tantrums and I let him cry for an hour before he finally ate. I also kept on changing different types of bowls, plates, spoons to sustain his interest. Not necessary new ones or kids one, can be a tupperware, a plastic spoon from takeaways etc. There was also a phase where he kept throwing things on the floor.

Now he's 17 months, he's into drinking soup. Problem now is he finds drinking soup from spoon to slow, after a few mouths, he simply lifts up the bowl and drinks directly. Despite my repeated attempts in telling him to use the spoon, he ignores me. And I have to hide the soup from him, if he sees the soup prior to rice, he would just drink soup and refuse to eat his rice. Hope that this is just a passing phase.

When we dine out, generally he's ok but he doesn't have the patience to sit through so I'm now trying to find ways to distract him. Usually we'll order food first. If we bring homecook food for him, will feed him while waiting for food to arrive. Once our food arrive, he's almost done. Will then feed him a little bit of the table food. Nowadays, I use iphone to distract him (strictly only for dining out and after he finished eating) but I know it's not healthy way. As he grows older, maybe will bring colouring or other stuff. One golden rule for our family, no one leaves the dining table before meal ends. So it's either using iphone or one of us take turns to distract/entertain him at the table. Hope that as he grows older, he'll understand this concept of eating together at the dining table.
 

Edwinie

Member
I started my son with semi-solids when he was 6 months old, sat him in a bumbo seat. After a while, upgraded him to an Ikea high chair (plastic, cheap and easy to wash). I made it a point not to switch on TV and no toys. So he knows it's meal time must sit in high chair. Easier for us to manage when we dine out.

I usually give him spoon and bowl to "self-feed", more like "playing" but as time passes, it helps to train in self-feeding. Sometimes, I'll give him some finger food to eat/play as well, like small pieces of soft veg e.g. broccoli, green peas... slowly progress to sweet corn. This also helps to train pincer skills. He could self-feed quite well from 15 months onwards. Even then, he doesn't have patience to last through a meal, only half a meal and I end up feed him the rest. But this method is an extremely messy affair, I had to clean the floor and high chair after every meal. Now I place a plastic mat so just need to clean the mat.

There was a period of time (a few months in fact) when he was extremely fussy during meal times and I really blew up many times! What I did was to give him spatula and containers tell him to play cooking, so while he was distracted, I quickly feed him. Also tried singing to him, which worked for a while. A few times, he threw tantrums and I let him cry for an hour before he finally ate. I also kept on changing different types of bowls, plates, spoons to sustain his interest. Not necessary new ones or kids one, can be a tupperware, a plastic spoon from takeaways etc. There was also a phase where he kept throwing things on the floor.

Now he's 17 months, he's into drinking soup. Problem now is he finds drinking soup from spoon to slow, after a few mouths, he simply lifts up the bowl and drinks directly. Despite my repeated attempts in telling him to use the spoon, he ignores me. And I have to hide the soup from him, if he sees the soup prior to rice, he would just drink soup and refuse to eat his rice. Hope that this is just a passing phase.

When we dine out, generally he's ok but he doesn't have the patience to sit through so I'm now trying to find ways to distract him. Usually we'll order food first. If we bring homecook food for him, will feed him while waiting for food to arrive. Once our food arrive, he's almost done. Will then feed him a little bit of the table food. Nowadays, I use iphone to distract him (strictly only for dining out and after he finished eating) but I know it's not healthy way. As he grows older, maybe will bring colouring or other stuff. One golden rule for our family, no one leaves the dining table before meal ends. So it's either using iphone or one of us take turns to distract/entertain him at the table. Hope that as he grows older, he'll understand this concept of eating together at the dining table.
thanks for sharing! i'll try what u did and see whether it works for my son.
 

jaybaobei

Active Member
I'm stay at home mum and started homeschooling my boy. I set up his room like a small preschool -- bookshelf with many books, and toy storage boxes filled with different simple yet educational toys and puzzles. Since he was a baby, I've been reading to him. So now, every morning when I'm washing up, he'd go and pull out a pile of books and flip by himself.

After breakfast and before lunch, we've home lesson including games, activities, flashcards, math, writing, art & craft, music, etc. With more time, we may even play with Play Doh, he loves it!

Before nap, we read books and sing songs.

After nap and tea break, he gets free play. If he's ok, i'd do my own things or prepare next day's activities. Otherwise, play with him. Usually blocks (Lego or Mega Blocks), jigsaw puzzles, ball games, pretend play (with toy house, figurines, cars, etc). Can also do singing, coloring, drawing. Depending on his interest for the day.

After dinner, he usually plays with cousins and Daddy.

Before bedtime, we read and sing again.

On weekends, we go outdoor -- eating, swimming, play-gym / playground, park, exhibition, etc.

There goes the days without TV. It can be done. In fact, I watched a lot of TV in the past, then upon reading up, decided it's better to raise my boy with no TV, until he's older. :)
maybe yr son is the obedient kind. for my tiwns, even spank will nt even work on them (thick skinned). sometimes i try to talk nicely to them when they misbehave but doesnt work. in the end, i hv to spank their ass then they will as less sit down for max 10mins. after 10mins, they forgot & start again....headache... esp mine is twins, can manage to tame one but if the other naughty, then the other will follow....i did tried to read to them but unable to sit still & listen for even 15mins....esp my boy is abit hyperactive type...

but anyway really appreciated for the advice...i didnt on the tv now...will try to follow yr method...
 

Mummy to Baby V

Well-Known Member
maybe yr son is the obedient kind. for my tiwns, even spank will nt even work on them (thick skinned). sometimes i try to talk nicely to them when they misbehave but doesnt work. in the end, i hv to spank their ass then they will as less sit down for max 10mins. after 10mins, they forgot & start again....headache... esp mine is twins, can manage to tame one but if the other naughty, then the other will follow....i did tried to read to them but unable to sit still & listen for even 15mins....esp my boy is abit hyperactive type...

but anyway really appreciated for the advice...i didnt on the tv now...will try to follow yr method...
My boy is like any other toddler, mischievous and cheeky when he wants to. I realize that he tends to misbehave to get attention, when I'm busy or engrossed with own things. So really have to dedicate as much time as possible to him. Cannot let him be bored. Must always think of refreshing ways to engage him in activities and let him sweat it out. Anyway, my purpose of being SAHM is to care for him personally, so I need to put in the effort too.

It's tough to expect young children to sit still, unless they're interested in the activity and want to sit still to do it. Moreover, you've twins so they'd find it fun to chase each other around, tease each other, etc. Find some activities such as ball games, singing / dancing, to let them exert energy together.

Reading: if they're not used to sitting down and listening to a story, you can read the book and dramatize the story. Talk like cartoon characters, etc. Be as fun as possible and engage their interest. Add in relevant songs. This will get them interested in storytime.

Or you can also make up own simple storybooks with their pictures and names as characters. They'd be very interested.

It's normal to have short attention span when young. So keep each activity 5-10 minutes, then change game, or rest a while.

Have fun! :)
 
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megtan

Member
Reading: if they're not used to sitting down and listening to a story, you can read the book and dramatize the story. Talk like cartoon characters, etc. Be as fun as possible and engage their interest. Add in relevant songs. This will get them interested in storytime.
I totally agree with this one! There are some books where I acted as different characters, used different voices and added songs, those books became his favourites. My son loves flap books and those with sounds/songs when press the button. The idea is to make the books as interactive and engaging as possible.
 
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