Dinner Time Bribery

Does anyone else do it? How bad on scale of 'setting myself up for future drama' is it?

I've had AMAZING success over the past week with bribing DS (2yrs) during meal times and its working really well, we had these left over desert biscuit thingies, like a Chocolate Finger but quarter the width and twice as long and I said if DS ate all his green beans he could have a 'chocolate stick' for pudding (he'd seen them at his birthday party so knew what I was talking about) OMG he the bloody lot for the first time ever!!!!

Next night he asked for a chocolate stick and I said if you eat up all your tomato and he ate three cherry tom's halved so 6 mouthfuls of tomato - he didnt enjoy it but blardy hell he ate the lot (and 80% his mash potato and chicken which I was happy with). Normally he'd lick one half, do a spitty performance and refuse to eat any of it.

I know I'm probably doing something hideously wrong but right now I'm thinking the nutritional plus of green beans and home grown tomato's outweighs the sugar / bad habit I'm creating

Meh, I get really annoyed with the PC books that say not to bribe your child. We do it but mix up what is offered. We don't have an issue with Dan having something after his main course, so we might use fruit that he likes, a bikkie, smoothie (which he loves) .... I only do it with dinner as I'm trying to be a bit harder during the day.

I'd suggest you start mixing it up. Use "dessert" or what ever is on offer for the second course as the bribe rather than one specific item.

TBH this is one of the first 'no no's' that I've kinda embraced, honestly I could never ever get him to eat a bean or peas or tomatos and now he's eating them every night and actually getting used to the textures and flavours and not even retching LOL

In this instance I've decided I dont really care if its not the perfect thing to do, we are getting clean plate at dinner time every night!! In another week or so I might start looking at weaning off the Chocolate Sticks (only ever one a night and they really are half as thin as a pencil), I havent given him chocolate yogurts or anything, only ever has organic no added sugar yogurt which is very LOL now he's having these chocolate sticks semi-regularly, wonder if switching to a fancy kids yogurt would acheive the same??

Why is is bribery? Isn't it more choices and consequences which is an important life lesson!?! He is learning that if he choses to eat the vege he gets a good consequence. I don't think there is anything wrong with it as long as you aren't doing it all day for everything! He is learning that sometimes you have to do something you may not quite like to get a reward at the end of it, isn't that what happens when we go to work!?!
I say if it is working for you then go for it