No Toddler Ever Starved from Stubbornness

NOTE: Originally published at Crassparenting.com

It took a fair amount of biochemistry to have my first child, so I wanted to be sure I did everything the right way. After she was born, I was one of those extremely neurotic parents who had to everything 'just so.' I breastfed for twelve months and my daughter never had a bottle of formula. I introduced solid foods at six months. I made my own baby food from organic veggies and fruits. I was sold a bill of goods that good eating habits started at birth. If you took care to make sure your child developed a taste for healthy food from the start, you wouldn't have to worry about them being picky eaters or junk food junkies.

Wrong.

The Spinal Tap Theory of Parenting

When Katie was a toddler, the usual time outs didn’t work. In fact, they often caused her to laugh right in my face. Nice. Measured, natural consequences rarely worked either. When she would hit her baby sister Megan with a toy, I would remove the toy for a short period of time and give it back later. This would not stop the behavior whatsoever. The only thing that worked to stop that hitting was to give the toy a time out for the entire day up on a shelf where she could not reach but still see it. What a stubborn 2 year old!