Hot Dogs - Cut up or in a Bun?

Updated on July 17, 2012
S.B. asks from Kansas City, MO
29 answers

I know this is kind of a dumb question, but when should we insist that our 5 year old eat her hot dogs in a bun? I've never really cared how she eats it, but my husband absolutely hates that I keep letting her eat it cut up, insisiting it must be in a bun, then she fights and doesnt want to eat and it becomes a big battle, to the point where I almost don't want to go to cook outs or events were hot dogs will be served.

I, myself, am a picky eater trying not to make her one too, and for the most part she is a really good eater. It's just this one thing that my husband and I fight over, so I wanted some perspective on when other people insist on it. (and really, given the choice, I prefer my hambergers without a bun, so I've never seen the point in inforcing it. Am I being unreasonable?)

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So What Happened?

Thanks, mamas! I know it's totally a dumb arguement, and I'm pretty sure it's because now she's a big girl and he thinks she should eat it like a big girl.

Featured Answers

K.M.

answers from Chicago on

Okay, none of it is terribly nutritious, allow her to go w/out the bun. Honestly kids like this might be the reason ... 10dogs 8 buns ... mystery solved??

9 moms found this helpful

L.B.

answers from Biloxi on

My son is 16, and unless I wrap the hot dogs in crescent rolls and bake them, he eats them without a bun when at home. He will tolerate the bun when we are at a cookout, or a hockey game, but he has no use for buns most of the time.

Hmmm, me either for that matter. I prefer to slice a hot dog in half, sear it in a skillet and eat it with scrambled eggs or red beans for lunch. LOL

Sigh, now I need to go the grocery and get hot dogs.

7 moms found this helpful
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J.D.

answers from Cincinnati on

Funny. My son is almost 13 and still has his hotdogs cut up. He doesn't like the bun.
I think there are much more important things to worry about than how one should eat a hot dog.
I myself am not a big fan of hotdogs unless its in coney form.

5 moms found this helpful

More Answers

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

This sounds like a battle not worth fighting. The child is eating... that is a good thing.

I don't see a reason to enforce some rule like that. I don't always use a bun for hot dogs or hamburgers. I'm not a big fan of bread.

There will be many more important things to battle later on in her life. Let her eat her food the way she wants. It is not like you are preparing special mels just for her.

Hubby needs to lighten up a bit.

9 moms found this helpful
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J.M.

answers from Missoula on

If your DD wants it cut up, then let her eat it cut up. lol. Heck, she's 5... she knows how she wants to eat her hot dog! Besides, it's such a stupid thing to start a power battle over... This is one battle I would NOT pick... I would much rather spend my energy trying to get her to eat vegetables than a hot dog in a bun! lol.

I'm 25, and I still want my grilled cheese sandwiches cut into triangles... sometimes, we just like things the way we like them. :)

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D.S.

answers from Kansas City on

You are not being unreasonable. Let her eat them the way she wants! Frankly, I wish my son DIDN'T like the bun because now that's pretty much all he will eat. A courtesy bite of the hot dog, then he takes it out and just goes for the bread.

mmm, bread! i know where he gets it. :)

We attended a party where the host made hot dogs into adorable octopus shapes and hardly any of the kids would eat them, my guess is because there was no bun. Your daughter would have loved it!

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D..

answers from Charlotte on

I'm sorry to say this, but your husband is either an idiot or wants to rule everyone's life. Why on earth he wants to battle over this issue is beyond me!

Tell him if he doesn't quit about this that you won't buy anymore hotdogs until she's 10!

Good grief!
Dawn

8 moms found this helpful

J.S.

answers from Hartford on

If your daughter is more comfortable eating it cut up, then by all means cut it up. I don't understand why your husband hates that her hot dog has to be cut up. It doesn't affect him in any way. It's not his hot dog and no one is asking him to eat his hot dog that way. If he has to ever cut up her hot dog it only takes 60 seconds out of his life.

EDIT: Please also point out to your husband that cutting up her hotdogs at only five years old also reduces her risk of hotdogs being a choking hazard.

7 moms found this helpful
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L.B.

answers from San Francisco on

If your daughter doesn't want the bun, she doesn't want the bun. Sometimes I eat it with a bun, sometimes without. Why is it so important to your husband that she eat a hot dog bun? Is he obsessive about other things or just hot dog buns for some reason? A bit odd to make a piece of bread so important. So no, you are not being unreasonable, he is.

7 moms found this helpful

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

Sara:

What is the problem here? She's eating!!! Why is your husband making this a battle? No. I don't think you are being unreasonable. I believe your husband is. I'll just say - he's being an A$$. And a BIG one at that.

1. Hot dogs - to the best of my knowledge - don't have a lot of nutritional value. Although I just learned you can get potassium from them!! YEAH!!
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sausages-and-luncheon...

2. Hot dog buns are just pure white carbs which then turn into sugar.

3. At the age of 5, the chances of choking are lower - however - ask him to read this link:

http://www.kidsdr.com/daily-dose/hot-dogs-a-choking-hazard

Then he may think TWICE about making this a freaking battle. If he continues down this path of fighting her on food? he is creating an even BIGGER monster - to the point where she WILL NOT EAT or she will be like you and be a picky eater and avoid EVERYTHING he likes and wants her to try because it HAS to be on HIS terms. This is HIS CHILD!! NOT an employee. Tell him to lighten up and back off.

6 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

We purchase the wheat hotdog buns so at least they have some nutrients.

There is a place here that their hotdogs are sliced with chili and the cut up hot dogs in the buns.

Your husband would probably have a stroke! That used to be the only way they were served there.. Now on the children's menu, they will serve it whole on the bun.. CHILDREN'S menus.

Your husband needs to get over it. He is acting like the child.

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K.P.

answers from Seattle on

Dont make her eat the bun if she doesn't want to. It's just the way she prefers her hot dog. My sister never ate the bun, ever. She didn't like it, and now at 17 she STILL doesn't eat the bun.

I dont see it as a problem, and think your husband should let it go. No one wants to be forced to eat or do something they dont want to.

6 moms found this helpful
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A.R.

answers from San Diego on

I have a picky 3 yr old eater. I always cut up her hotdogs. The main thing is that she eats it. No sweat.
As for your husband he just wants her to eat like a big girl, like you said. Just be patient with him and your daughter. As long as they are eating, it does not matter how they eat it.

5 moms found this helpful

R.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

Wow, your poor daughter. And, no, you're not being unreasonable, your hubby is. Rather than helping your daughter your husband may actually encourage her to start hating to eat hot dogs at all. Even if she was 15 it isn't a big deal how she eats a hot dog, unless she was playing around and throwing parts of it and making a mess.

There's a couple of people in my family who don't want the extra carbs and won't touch the buns, and someone who's not a fan of bread, so we always have more hot dogs than buns to accommodate the situation. It sounds like a preference of hers I would leave alone, maybe she'll always want to eat them with a fork, and it actually seems more sanitary when you think about it ㋡

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S.B.

answers from Redding on

Really....what's the difference?
At least she's eating it.

I always cut my apples into slices instead of just chomping on them whole. I don't know if that makes me picky or not, but it's just the way I prefer them.

I often make "hot dogs" with a strip of sting cheese instead of an actual hot dog and put onions and all the other condiments on.

Also, when I make chili dogs, I always use a knife and fork to cut and eat them. They are too messy otherwise.

It's certainly not worth arguing over. Everybody has their own thing.

Best wishes.

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J.☯.

answers from Springfield on

I just read your SWH. I'm thinking of my 6 year old and how he still has many little kid quirks and things that he just likes to do his way. However, little by little there are more and more things that he wants to do because Joey does that or Sam does this or Bobby has a green folder not a purple folder.

You can let your husband know that it might not be too long before she sees how the other kids eat hotdogs and wants to be just like them. (Or not, and I bet you don't care either way :-)

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

What in the world is wrong with a cut up hotdog???

I know a lot of adults who prefer to eat their hotdogs cut up. Just because your husband likes his in a bun, doesn't mean everyone does.

"Honey. Just because you like your hotdogs in a bun doesn't mean she has to be just like you. She's going to be different from you in some ways. Heck. I REALLY don't want to see her standing to pee!!! I like my burgers sans bun, she likes her hotdog cut up, you like yours in a bun. I'm not going to make her eat hers in a bun, unless you want to give up buns and eat them cut up like a lot of other adults prefer their hotdogs. It doesn't make sense, right?"

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Oh my, this isn't worth the battle.
Your Husband is making a battle over nothing.
But I guess, it is "his" issue. Not your daughter's.
So there you go.

My son is 5. He likes hot dogs. Without a bun.
And I cut it up sometimes, just so he can eat it more neatly.
Boys. They get things all over their fingers. Otherwise.
I rather have him eat a cut up hotdog, than him just grabbing the hotdog with his bare hands, and then getting his dirty smudgy hands, all over the place.

Me, I cut up my hamburger too. Its just less messy that way. OR I eat it without a bun.

Show your Husband all these responses.
I don't know why he is making such a big deal, over how a person eats their hotdog. Or that is HAS to be in a bun.

Food, does NOT have to be in a bun.

Your Hubby is really making "eating" an "issue" for his daughter. Hope she doesn't get food issues.
Again, as I said: this is HIS issue.
And goodness sake, it is even creating STRESS for EVERYONE, to the point where cookouts or events with hot dogs, are not something to look forward to.
This is really HIS "issue" to get over.
You need to step in.

I would hope, this is the only thing your Husband tries to control, with having a daughter.

This is your Husband's issue... and you need to talk to him.

5 moms found this helpful

T.K.

answers from Dallas on

The bun is just processed white flour. It is not exactly healthy. So, If it's not about nutrition, it must be because in his mind, she's a big girl now and this is making her look like a baby. He might think you are spoiling her and will be cutting up her food when she's in jr high.

BTW - totally possible. I still prepare my 20 yr olds plate the way she likes it, no onions or tomatos. :) I completely spoiled my girl.

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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

Let the child eat it the way she likes to eat it. Battling over stupid issues like whether she eats her hot dog cut up or in a bun is a good way to get an eating disorder started.

5 moms found this helpful
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T.H.

answers from Kansas City on

Yeah, I agree with the other moms! If she wants it cut up then sure, keep cutting it up, but you could try a compromise and just see if she'll eat it whole without the bun. She can dip it in ketchup and just hold it. Her hands will get a little greasy, but eh, there are worse things!

I'm not really sure anyone should be on the bandwagon of forcing a kid to eat anything, much less this! LOL! Figure out what your husband's real issue behind this is b/c honestly it seems like it has to be about something else!

4 moms found this helpful
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M.S.

answers from Portland on

My MOM won't eat a bun on her hotdog or hamburger. Not because she can't have it, but because she doesn't want it. My brother uses the cafeteria style plates where each thing goes in a separate space so that his food doesn't touch. I got this for him because my sil was tired of washing one plate for each item she made for dinner. So, just because he wants the bun doesn't mean that she does.

Also, the American Pediatric association says that kids under 4 shouldn't even have hotdogs because they are such a choking hazard. I personally, want my kids to have them cut up until I KNOW that they won't choke on them. They are the perfect size to seal the round esphogus and they are very hard to get out because they seal so effectively. Ask him if his daughter's life is worth a bun. I'm sure you think its not. Try that approach and see what he says.GL!

4 moms found this helpful
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☆.A.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Show your husband some FACTS about kids &. choking deaths due to hot dogs, and maybe he'll forget about making her do something she doesn't want to do anyway?

3 moms found this helpful
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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

None of my grand kids like that much bread. They all take the meat out of the bun and use their hands to eat it. The bread usually gets part eaten but never the whole thing.

3 moms found this helpful
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M.B.

answers from Austin on

It sounds to me like hubby is being unreasonable...

Some people don't like mixed textures in foods... they don't like casseroles for that reason.

As someone else pointed out, many people don't want the bun because of the extra carbs...

Maybe eating the hotdog by itself IS healthier?

3 moms found this helpful

S.G.

answers from Grand Forks on

My boys are picky eaters. It bugs me that they won't eat anything in a sauce, gravy, with dip, dressing or condiments. When you think about it, they are actually eating healthier. It's also healthier to eat less bread.

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D.K.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Since there is little of nutritional value in a hot dog, I certainly wouldn't encourage, let alone force, anyone to eat one. Bun or no bun.

2 moms found this helpful
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L.O.

answers from Detroit on

If she was an adult.. and was ordering her own food in a restaurant.. she could order her hot dog plain no bun.. why should she be forced to eat the bun if she doesnt want to.

not that hot dogs are super healthy but hte bun is just empty calories.. my duaghter at 6 still eats hot dogs cut up.. my son at 5 could go with or without a bun.. depends on the weather.s

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C.B.

answers from St. Louis on

I say let her eat it however she wants. My 14 year old daughter isn't a big fan of bread. She rarely eats anything on a bun. Brauts, burgers, hot dogs. She cuts them all up and eats them without the bun. Remember to pick your battles. At least she'll eating. Not worth a fight. If she's interested she'll eventually move by herself to a bun. If not no big deal.

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