4 year old eating habits

before i loose my mind im looking for some advice.. my 4 year old is slightly picky eater and is a pain in the butt to get him to eat.. sometimes he eats great but a lot of the times we need to sit next to him and keep telling him "take another bite" "have 3 more bites" "two more and your done" etc... we were away this weekend and 6 of our friends kids were eating dinner when i realized no one else had to sit and tell there son or daughter to eat to or no desert until they finish.. etc.. that when it hit me "are we getting into a bad habit - i know most preschoolers and toddlers are not interested in eating and just want to play but its every day this is happening we're starting to loose our mind.. any advice or good books that you have read would be great!
plus my 2 year old is starting to see this and we notice she is doing the same thing eating 2 bites and asking to get up.
i know he's hungry so its not that hes has scnacked to much thru the day b/c i make sure there are no snacks after 3:00...
TIA!!

Re: 4 year old eating habits

You've described my life. I have a very picky 4 yr old eater. He has sensory issues too. Much worse when he was younger and he outgrew a lot, but bc he hated some textures trying to get him to eat something new or something I knew he once ate, but it's been a while is torture. If it was up to him he'd eat pizza all day. I have to bribe him to eat. He will leave his veggies and tell me he's still hungry and wants a cookie. I tell him then eat his veggies bc they'll fill his belly and he tells me they don't fill his belly. It's contestant, but some days he surprises me and does better.
My 2 year old is a great eater and would prefer veggies and fruit over cookies. Now he sees his brother putting up a fight so sometimes will mimic him.
We are not the only ones though. I have a friend who's the same and we always tell our stories. It has gotten better so just hoping it keeps getting better. I was a very picky eater. My mom always told me and said my grandparents threatened me they'll have to feed me in a tube. I'm a very healthy eater now so I know DS will be ok. Even the cookies and some desserts I get him aren't really bad.