Dinner with our 6 year old takes over an hour. Is a timer a bad idea?

gentle_pebble_445731 Jul 2026

He isn't fussy, he eats whatever we put in front of him. He just eats it one grain at a time with stories in between, and stops completely whenever someone answers him. Dinner starts at 7.30 and he's often still at the table at 8.45, by which time bath and bed are squashed and I'm the one getting cross. My partner thinks a sand timer on the table would turn it into a game. I'm worried it turns food into a race. Has anyone tried this?

2 comments

breezy_quilt_706331 Jul 2026
What does he eat between school and 7.30? Ours is still small, but the slowest meals in our house are always the ones after a late snack.
mango_bottle_405631 Jul 2026
Our son was exactly like this till 8 or 9. We didn't use a timer. We just said dinner ends when the rest of us finish and the plates go to the kitchen. The first week he went to bed a little hungry twice. After that he sped up on his own. Felt harsh to me at the time, but it worked ❤️
- gentle_pebble_445731 Jul 2026
  That's the version my partner worries about, but 'plates go when we finish' is calmer than me nagging every five minutes. And on the snack question above, yes, banana and biscuits at 5.30. We'll move that earlier too.