Sloooooooow Eaters...

[SunshineMama]

23 Month new old p/t dcg:

The slowest eater ever. She is going on an hour, and has only eaten 1/2 of her plate, and still slowly eating. It is not interrupting our day to let her sit and eat, as after lunch is free-play until story time before nap and I can still watch her eat while watching everyone else play, but I feel bad that she is still sitting down while everyone else is up and playing. She's happy and content though- should I just let her take her time?

[cheerfuldom]

23 Month new old p/t dcg:

The slowest eater ever. She is going on an hour, and has only eaten 1/2 of her plate, and still slowly eating. It is not interrupting our day to let her sit and eat, as after lunch is free-play until story time before nap and I can still watch her eat while watching everyone else play, but I feel bad that she is still sitting down while everyone else is up and playing. She's happy and content though- should I just let her take her time?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. She is old enough to tell you or at least show you that she is done.

[daycare]

I had one like this who is 3.5. I give him an additional 20 minutes on the timer to eat, if he is not done when the timer goes off, plate goes away.

when he first started, it was really bad, like an hour. I suspected that he was fed in front of the tv to eat at home, which I was right.

After learning that, I decided to do the timer. We don't need it anymore, but it took about 2 straight months for the kid to eat at meal time with the rest of the group.

Now he is usually one of the first ones done.

[DaycareMomma]

I used to have a little girl that would take an hour to eat if I let her. It got to the point where she was getting ready to go to school and her parents and I came up with the plan to set the timer for 20 minutes, if she didn't finish eating in that time, too bad. She would only be allowed 20 minutes at school. It took about 2 weeks and after that, she ate within the time limit and was good to go.

[itlw8]

I set a limit on the time. some of these kids are full so they get slower and slower but have been made to sit and finish the food on the plate.

[blandino]

I have started timing lunch, and once lunch is over it's over. I am not super strict about it, and it all children are actively eating - then I don't make them stop just because it has been 20 minutes. But when they are playing/talking/ or engrossed in TV (our only TV time is while I am preparing & they are eating lunch) - then I will use the "lunch time is over soon" and that usually gets them eating.

It may seem strict - but all of our children have to wait for everyone to be done to get up - so if there are a few pokey eaters then everyone is left sitting there and they start to get whiney. So having a lunch timer has really helped everyone stay focused on their eating.

[rhymia1]

I'm wondering how much is on her plate? I would try putting less on it - providing that you have the serving sizes for a child of that age avalible.
A long time ago I had a pokey eating situation and realized I was putting too much on plates
If she's just pokey (and my younger child is, so I know!) then I agree with a timer for lunch. I might give her a few extra minutes - if you normally set twenty minutes, then give her thirty, but that would be the max. By that point I find that most have eaten all they are going to, and it's just picking at that point. I would make sure to limit any distractions. We don't do tvor music during meals, so they are eating and making conversation with friends not watching.
Good luck!

[laundrymom]

I would sit her first, and when the last of the other kids leave the table, so does she. An hour for a child to eat 3/4 cup of food? That's ridiculus. Lunch is more than food, it's social time. If she's not actively eating, not being social, she needs to leave the table.