What can replace our three-bites rule without turning dinner into a second cooking shift?
Parenting"Can I eat the rice now, or haven't I earned it?" my four-year-old asked, pointing at her plate. My husband had said she needed three bites of peas before starting the rice. I had put both on the table together.
He thinks a few required tastes are a reasonable way to introduce food. He also sees vegetables going in the bin and worries we're wasting our grocery money. I dislike the counting, but my alternative has become cooking buttered pasta after she refuses dinner. That adds fifteen minutes, another saucepan and an argument between us.
She eats several familiar foods, including rice, eggs, yogurt and apples. I can't assess from a list whether her overall diet meets her needs, and I don't want to decide that from a comment thread. The immediate problem is that dinner now starts with a negotiation about which food unlocks which other food.
The [American Academy of Pediatrics' guidance](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/tips-tools/ask-the-pediatrician/Pages/How-Do-I-Help-My-Picky-Eater-Try-More-Foods.aspx) recommends including a food the child likes, letting the child choose what and how much to eat from what's offered, and serving small portions of foods likely to be rejected. That sounds more manageable than our current standoff, but we need a shared plan.
How would you introduce that change so we can offer a family meal, keep the cost sensible and stop making familiar food something she has to earn?