Snacks...when and why

[Canadian_Mom]

Hey all, just wondering when and why everyone started to do snacks with their LOs.  We will probably be transitioning to 3 bottles per day soon here, and are doing one nap a few times a week.  DS eats small amounts so I was wondering if he might benefit from having snacks added in, because he might only like small portions throughout the day?  Any signs to look for that they need snacks?

Thanks for your thoughts!!

[Grants]

Hi there, my ds is 11 months old, is on 2 bottles a day and also has 1 nap depending on the day. His routine is a bit all over the place at the moment, which i find is quite normal at this age. I have no set times to give him his snacks. But i normally give 1 b4 his morning nap and 2 snacks in the afternoon. The afternoon ones vary quite a lot in time as it all depends if we r out or not etc. I give my lo food more or less every 2 hours.it goes more or less like this: 6 am bottle, 8am breakfast, 10is snack( this one may vary dependent on his nap). 12is lunch,14:00 snack, 16:00 dinner or snack and 18:00 bottle.some days he is hungrier and some days i give him more snacks than stated. It varies a lot. I just follow his cues. Babies have very small tummies and they need to eat often, so as long as u offer u lo healthy snacks its all fine! ;-) Hope this helps. 

[Spandanna]

Hi

DS will be 14 months old this weekend and only has a bottle at bedtime now  and a cup of milk with his ceral in the morning. We have done snacks since about 9 months old when he was only on 3 bottles a day. We started with a snack around 10am at first just because I'd be out and about and often have a drink and snack myself and DS would point and 'ask' for the food. (I also thought I can't last the day on just 3 square meals and all the advice for adults is it's better for you to eat little and often rather than 3 big meals). I always call it a snack and by 11 months I would ask if he wanted a snack and he would shake or nod his head which was useful!!

My other thoughts are that I don't like to give dessert with every meal so sometimes I give him his fruit/yoghurts midmorning (and now also whn he wakes from his nap (between 2 and 3pm) as I feel it's a long time to go from 11.30 - 5pm with nothing in between.

[Mashi]

We started snacks at about 9 months or so.  DS was on three bottles so day sort of was
7am wake and bottle
8am bkfst
930-1030 nap
snack when woke
1200 lunch
100 bottle
130 -300 nap
330 snack
500 dinner
630 bottle and bed

Snacks were little things like a couple of chunks of banana, mini baby rice cakes, other fruit he could hold or fruit in a mesh feeder. None of his snacks were substantial calorie-wise, but more as an "activity" and a finger food practice than anything.  I found the time between meals was a wee bit too long for him to go and it was the best way to fit in some extra bits for him, with still keeping a routine for bottles and meals.

[Canadian_Mom]

Thanks everyone!!  That is exactly what I needed!
DS will be going to a dayhome soon and she was talking about snacks/snacktimes and that made me think that maybe I should be doing them at home.  I have given DS a little snack here and there if we are a little late with meals, but I might try doing them with a little more consistency at home.
Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions!