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How to Prevent End-of-Day Whining

It’s the end of the day, everyone’s tired–and the whining begins. Here's how to cope.

by: Sharon Silver

y the end of the day you're usually exhausted and all you want to do is decompress, yet your child wants 100 percent of your attention–and the whining begins. Here are two strategies to help you cope:

1. Fight end-of-day whining with food     

Most children are whiny at the end of a long day and often it's because they're tired and hungry. Although you may be trying to stall them so you can sit down to eat as a family, making them wait too long often just makes matters worse–and your family dinner is less likely to be a success.

Instead, prevent end-of-day whining by having a "dinner box" prepped and ready to go in the refrigerator. Here's how (and why) it works:

• Stock a Tupperware container ahead of time with healthy, satisfying and nutrient-rich foods, such as cheese, yogurt, lunch meat, tuna, veggies and dip, fruit, cheese and crackers, cheese tortillas, or leftovers.  

• Don't worry about spoiling your child's dinner–this simply becomes the bulk of her dinner. You're basically feeding her the way you used to when she was a baby, before you eat. Now that she's older, she can handle eating on her own while you continue to make the family meal.

• Remember that your child's stomach is the size of her fist. Toddlers and preschoolers don't eat as much as adults–they're natural grazers and prefer small portions many times a day.

• If eating together is really important to you, then have her join you for a portion of the adult meal, or for dessert. It's important to recognize that a family dinner may not be feasible every night–and you can use the "dinner box" as your back-up plan for nights when you know your child just isn't going to make it.