Eating Time Limit?

[mema]

10-15 minutes for snack and 30 minutes for lunch. I have a 21 month old that would down his food in 2 minutes. I've been working with him to slow down and now he takes about 15 minutes for lunch. Most of them are done in 15 minutes or so depending what we are having. As long as they are continually eating and not messing around they can stay at the table. One warning for messing around and then the plate is gone.

[MrsB]

I give them about 30 minutes for lunch. I only have 1 "pokey little puppy". I started a timer when they have 5 minutes left before time is up and I take the plates. She is getting better about the lunch thing, but pokey on EVERYTHING else.

[Hunni Bee]

I seem to remember a while back someone had posted the same issues.

She DID set a timer. If the children weren't finished when the timer went off, the plates were picked up. Finished or not!! She said it only took her kids a few days to figure it out. Get your food and eat it!!

5 years old is definately old enough to know better. It also sounds like he knows he's aggravating you and getting a rise out of the situation.

I did something like this years ago, and a parent complained to the director that I was only giving the kids a certain amount of time to eat. What I was actually doing was, they got the normal amount of time to eat and whomever was still eating went on the timer for 10 more minutes. Still got my butt chewed

Now I just give a five minute and one minute warning then I toss. Anyone fooling around and not eating gets it tossed after a warning.

[sassysue]

Half hour for lunch. 15 minutes for breakfast and snack.
If they are actually eating and not playing around I don't have a problem with letting them take a little longer.
If they are playing that means they're not that hungry and I just say lunch is over and excuse them from the table.
This is another area I refuse to battle with kids.
I serve them,they eat. If they don't I could care less. I excuse them from the table and throw it away.

[permanentvacation]

Yes. You need to set time limits for all meals. The child is chewing so slowly in part because he has simply been always allowed to take FOREVER to eat. By him/her taking so long to eat, they are missing out on the other activities. I have had PLENTY of slow eaters throughout the 20 years I've done daycare. Trust me. After a week or so of taking their plate away when the meal time is up, they learn to chew faster! When I get a slow eater, I constantly tell them things like come on and eat, you've chewed it enough, now you need to swallow your food, come on, take another bite, and lunch (whatever meal) is almost over, it's almost time to throw away the plates, etc. After a few days of throwing the child's food away when meal time is over, the child learns to eat at a regular pace.

Typically, we feed the children so often, that throwing away a bit of their food when meal time is over won't hurt them. So I don't have a problem with removing their plate to let them learn that I am serious about them having a time limit to eat.