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Offline ~inbalance~

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How big a snack do you offer?
« on: May 14, 2011, 21:38:35 pm »
I am trying to find a good balance between meals and snacks.  My kids would happily snack all day and then not eat their meals, and while I don't mind them having healthy snacks, I really want them to eat at least some of their meals!  It seems like even the smallest snack will ruin dinner and they won't touch a thing.  I practically need them to be starving to eat lunch or dinner! 

So I'm just wondering what other moms offer.  I'm also always worried that what I give will be too small to sustain them.  This might be what a day here looks like:

8am breakfast - cereal or toast, and some fruit; sometimes eggs
10am snack - a healthy cookie or granola bar, maybe some more fruit, milk
12pm lunch - soups, sandwiches, cheese, crackers, fruit, veggies, etc etc
3pm snack - some raisins or other dried fruit, cheerios or other dry cereal, a cookie (though I have decided no more cookies and will not buy them anymore!), milk
5:30/6pm dinner - protein, vegetables

Today we were out all morning and they really didn't get much in the way of a morning snack, mostly just a bit of milk.  But then they both ate at lunch, the most they've eaten in awhile!  So I wonder if the snacks are getting in the way of their appetites.  It doesn't seem right though to not give snacks, but I would like to limit them to something very small.

Like, is only a handful of raisins and some milk a sufficient snack do you think? 
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Offline anna*

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2011, 21:50:48 pm »
Yeh to me that is a sufficient snack. A snack here is:
A few cucumber and carrot sticks
Half an apple or a tangerine
(rarely) half a slice of toast with PB
(rarely) a cookie
7 grapes
A small handful of nuts and raisins

Usually I try to stick to fruit/veg for snacks. I do milk with breakfast and before bed, not at snack times.
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Offline ~inbalance~

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2011, 21:53:20 pm »
T usually gets his milk with lunch and dinner, I'm still working out F's because he is still BFding.  So F gets a BF around 3pm which is part of his snack.
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Em
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Offline We Three

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #3 on: May 14, 2011, 22:09:32 pm »
My dd eats so much that I have often wondered if she might have a tapeworm!!!   ;)

  We almost never did a morning snack since dd is such a big breakfast kid....but we always had a mid-afternoon snack about 2 hours after lunch and 2-2.5 hrs before dinner.  Yogurt (she loves the tubes now and likes to squirt them into her mouth!), carrots and celery with dip,  apple, fruit salad, babana, granola mixed with raisins, crackers w/peanut butter, graham crackers with some grapes or berries,  a homemade muffin, and my favorite snacks, Kashi cereal bars and Kashi oatmeal cookies...loaded with fiber and good stuff!  :)

  The other day I was tempted to post a picture of her plates of food for the day and asking if you guys thought I was giving her enough,  because she is always just so ready to eat!  

  I think the best way to determine if they are getting the *right* amount of snack is that they stay in a good mood with no breakdowns due to hunger, and that they are eating at mealtimes.  I think for us, we rarely get to the 3 hour mark without food!  So if lunch is at 1, I can expect that at about 3:30 she will want to eat....which is fine by me if dinner will be around 6pm.

 HTH!
« Last Edit: May 15, 2011, 01:11:52 am by Amelia1227 »
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Offline Mom to M&M

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2011, 00:55:19 am »
I try to keep snacks small BUT if DS is too tired for lunch before his nap (not unusual for him) I'll offer it right after instead and then try for no snack.

Or if he's really hungry close to dinner and we are out I'll let him fill up on something healthy like a homemade granola bar or a whole banana - that way if he doesn't eat dinner at least it was nutritious.

We made these today and DD and DS both really loved them. Great for a healthy snack! http://weelicious.com/2011/05/10/roasted-honey-cinnamon-chickpeas/

I made them as is except added some salt along with the cinnamon/oil.
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Offline We Three

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2011, 01:08:51 am »
Oh my goodness Millie LOVES chickpeas...I can't wait to make these!!!!    ;D
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Offline ~inbalance~

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #6 on: May 15, 2011, 01:10:18 am »
I saw that recipe on the picky toddlers thread and am going to try it!  ;)

So I have been pondering then what I should be doing with their milk?  T is 32mos, he drinks about a cup of milk a day but it is usually in parts rather than in one shot (some at lunch, some after nap sometimes, some at dinner, some at bed).  Should I offer it just at one time of day, say bedtime?

Like I said we are still working out F's milk.  Right now he gets BF between 4-5am (before anyone comments on this, we have struggled with this feed but for now it is staying!), then again at 3pm and before bed, about 7:15.  He does eat some cheese but doesn't eat yogurt so I have been offering a little bit of goat's milk in a sippy mid morning (where he used to BF).  Does he need this extra milk do you think?  He really does love it!

Oh yeah, they both get a smoothie at breakfast which is why I don't offer milk at that time, but there is some yogurt in the smoothie.  It is hit or miss whether or not they drink it though.  ::)

Have I got too much going on?  I keep thinking I need to keep snacks small and simple to avoid interfering with their main meals.
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Offline Jenn+Ethan+Emily

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #7 on: May 15, 2011, 01:30:23 am »
Ok wow, I feed my kid a lot! He eats breakfast which consists of an 8oz smoothie, a muffin, and half a pear, apple, whichever fruit is in the house. Then he had a mid- morning snack of 2 crackers, 4 slices of cheese, cut up chicken or whatever meat we had the night before (probably about 4 tablespoons worth) and half of whichever fruit is around. Then we have lunch which is usually half a sandwich, veggie sticks and a bowl of soup. Then an afternoon snack of yogurt, more veggie sticks, another half a fruit and usually a rice cracker. Then he eats a full supper ::) It is like having a teenager in the house, I swear. I know I feed him a ton and he is a big, very active boy but somedays  (especially after grocery shopping) I wonder how normal it is!
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Offline ~inbalance~

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #8 on: May 15, 2011, 01:32:25 am »
Jenn, I think that's fine and it's great that he eats all that! 

I am not so fortunate with my boys and so have to wonder about what to feed them that will be the most nutritious since they are just not all that interested in eating.  ::)
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Offline Jenn+Ethan+Emily

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #9 on: May 15, 2011, 01:37:51 am »
I cannot imagine how frustrating that is Martina! My kiddo must just share my enjoyment of food! I live for eating!
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Offline anna*

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #10 on: May 15, 2011, 07:22:55 am »
Stan eats good big meals but is much more likely to 'I don't like it'/'I'm finished' after 3 bites if he's had a bigger snack.
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Offline Mashi

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #11 on: May 15, 2011, 11:43:29 am »
Just to offer a different perspective ( :) ) eating 6 smaller meals really can be better for them than having to limit snacks to favour a bigger 'meal.' So I try to make sure that DS's snacks are really just parts of his meal spread out and only a couple of days a week does he get something "snacky" mid-morn or mid-aft, the rest of the time it is something that would be included in his meal anyway iyswim.  So he might eat a whole grain bread roll and slice of turkey at 10:30/11am as a snack but then just have a few spoonfuls of corn and some jogurt for lunch at 1230 (and that would be a decent lunch if consumed all at once).  Nothing wrong with that at all, in fact spreading the meals out is easier on the body to digest when it is done that way!

We do milk throughout the day, like you do Martina.  It is quite caloric and would be a meal on its own if I gave him it all in one shot. I don't think he has the tummy space for that much at once! A cup is only about half of their daily calcium needs (500mg at this age, and there is 300mg of calcium in a 250ml cup)
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Offline Lissybits

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #12 on: May 15, 2011, 12:24:56 pm »
Yeh, we only do fruit or veg for snacks in this house. Anything else always takes the edge off their appetite.
That said, Leo (21 months) has a small sippy of milk when we wakes up from his nap at 3ish and then his fruit about 30 mins later. We did drop this for a while but now he's refusing his breakfast milk ::) so we started giving it after his nap again.

If I gave milk to either of them with their main meal, it would definitely take the edge off their appetite.  I've never done it - I always thought how I wouldn't fancy a cup of milk with a roast dinner ;D
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Offline ~inbalance~

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #13 on: May 15, 2011, 12:57:35 pm »
Mashi, I know about eating smaller snacks being healthy.  But overall I find that with snacks it's too easy to gravitate towards unhealthy stuff, and I really want them to eat their meals.  They are both likely to refuse a meal altogether if they've had a snack!  And so, hence why I need to find a balance!

I'm not trying to get rid of snacks, just need to figure out what to offer that won't take away from their other times.

Good to know you do milk spaced out too though.  :)
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Em
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Offline Lissybits

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Re: How big a snack do you offer?
« Reply #14 on: May 15, 2011, 13:38:28 pm »
Quote from: ~Martina~ on May 15, 2011, 12:57:35 pm
Mashi, I know about eating smaller snacks being healthy.  But overall I find that with snacks it's too easy to gravitate towards unhealthy stuff, and I really want them to eat their meals.  They are both likely to refuse a meal altogether if they've had a snack!  And so, hence why I need to find a balance!

I also think it's important to sit down at the table to eat at least one meal a day. Snacks tend to be on the go iyswim.
Even better if the whole family can eat together for one meal - we only manage this at the weekends :-\
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