How big a snack do you offer?

[Mashi]

Yes, we do sit down at the table for a meal every night as a family, and he and I eat breakfast together and prob 3-4 days a week lunch together.  I just don't expect him to eat "large" three times a day and very tiny two times a day, but for me it is okay to eat a handful of corn and a slice of turkey and chunk of cheese for a snack but then at lunch only want toast and a bit of apple, rather than limit him to a bit of apple for snack and then have him eat corn, turkey, toast, cheese, etc all at once at lunch.  So I split his meals up so his snacks are part of what his meal would be anyway, rather than it being anything I have to limit.  (We are having dinner in an hour, he is hungry right now so he is eating a bowl of corn and slices of raw red pepper - rather than thinking of it as ruining his dinner, I just don't expect him to eat any veggies with his meal tonight, kwim?) 

[Tweakster]

And what do you do when you offer them a snack but they keep crying for something else?  Do you say 'well if you are hungry you will eat what's in that bowl' and let them hang off your leg screaming at you...because that was my night tonight.  We are having issues these days with cheese, and other carb items that he seems to want all the time.  I typically offer veg for snack before dinner (same premise as Mashi) but honestly, this kid won't eat the same thing twice it seems.  He loved carrots, now he won't eat them for love or money.  I got him on the pepper bandwagon a long time ago, and that was terribly short-lived.  He won't eat much in the way of veg at all, not even with dip. Cucumber used to be a fave now he can't be bothered.  He always says he's not hungry when asked...yet then wants 'cheese mommy cheese'

He's eating like a bird these days too.  He's taking notice of textures, and spitting foods he's eaten into the foods he hasn't eaten.  Example is that he had some orange the other day, got some of the white bits gone in and then spit the hunk of orange into the other oranges.  Same with apples, he won't eat the skin now.  Keeps spitting and pulling it out of his mouth with every bite.  Is this all just a phase? 

[~inbalance~]

We get all that too Wendy.     T in particular is very demanding these days and is throwing tantrums when I don't offer what he wants.

I offer what I offer and that is it.  I am not made of snacks!

I meant to say too that I do like your ideas Mashi.  I think my issue with wanting them to be hungry for their meals is that that is where all the healthy stuff is.  Veggies are tricky, they are very limited with what they like and prefer cooked veggies over raw ones.  So I don't generally offer veg as a snack, therefore want them to be hungry to eat them at lunch and dinner, kwim?  Neither of them would sit and munch on raw peppers! 

Ugh, veg is just a struggle altogether these days whereas previously they would both happily eat it. 

[Tweakster]

I offer what I offer and that is it.  I am not made of snacks!

Can I quote that lol?

I know that when I cook veggies he doesn't eat them really.  Occasionally some peas or whatever but that's about all.  So I aim for snacks of raw when he's most hungry hoping something, anything, will go in. 

I am limiting my fruit offerings but then we aren't left with much!  He was enjoying prunes and apricots but that seems to have been a passing fancy too.  It's tiring lol 

School gives them Cheerios every evening and I can't ask them not to because then he would be the only kid not eating at 5 p.m.  Not fair on him really.  But then it means our dinner has to be later...and later...because he's not hungry.

I don't really have many ideas for snacks of things he will eat...

[Mom to M&M]

Did you see the breakfast cookies I've listed before? Can be made with either tofu or ricotta for lots of protein and calcium and my kiddos both like them. And the roasted chickpeas work well too, as do pistachio nuts, Matty's new favorite!

[Lissybits]

I meant to say too that I do like your ideas Mashi.  I think my issue with wanting them to be hungry for their meals is that that is where all the healthy stuff is.

Yes, I mean, in practice it doesn't really matter when they eat, as long as they DO eat 

But with my two, they have to be hungry to sit at the table for any length of time - especially Leo at his age
And I like the 'routine' of knowing when to give what iyswim. This way I know exactly when they're hungry (and I avoid meltdowns - N is terrible when he's hungry ) and I know that generally speaking they will eat everything that's put in front of them
But that's just me
 

[*Liz*]

My 2 are being really tricky as well Martina. I wonder if there is something in the age to a degree? Or the small age gap anyway?

We are really struggling with meals - especially dinner - someone suggested to me that I might need to switch the meals round so the better was at lunch as they naturally will pick more at dinner time due to tiredness.

J has pretty much dropped his milk as well now. Megan gets 2-3 bottle - largely depending on her nap schedule.

I think dropping carbs from the snacks is a good idea though  .

[huntersmummyinoz]

i've got dramas with ds2. ds1 would eat anything and everything (tho definitely got a bit fussy and started refusing some favs after 2yo, but still a good eater for the most part) and would eat all day if i let him.

DS2 gets breaky (porridge, weetbix or shredded wheat) plus fruit (puree, that's another issue ). 2hr15 later is snack - i ended up having to cut this down to just a rice cracker or half a mini fruit muffin (about 2 bites worth) in order to get him to eat his lunch 2 hrs later, so very very small. also cut down his water intake here, he used to drink a whole cup and then wouldnt drink his milk at lunch (he has cup milk at breaky, lunch and bedtime bottle), so cut water to half cup/3oz and hey presto he drinks all his milk again. that will get him eating a decent lunch of one slice of toast, or some pasta and sauce, and some veggies (small amt of veggies, i'm talk 2tbs max).

afternoon snack is small too but a bit bigger as they have 2hr45 til dinner so doesnt spoil appetite so much. generally yoghurt, fruit (used to be half banana or few slices of pawpaw but wont touch it since teeth so now purees ) and then either a cracker, some pasta pieces, or slice of smoked salmon, ham or half a fried egg, etc. he still eats a good dinner after that. any amount of water is fine here too without affecting later intakes of milk.

took a bit of trial and error to work out what suits him but think we've finally got it sussed (at least for a week or two til it all changes again, lol).

[~*Nicole*~]

I used to "plan" DD's day and make sure she had three "meals" and two "snacks". Now, I follow her lead. She generally asks for food if she's hungry. I am trying to think about what she ate yesterday. I think it was something like:

B: scrambled eggs and french toast w/ milk (I decided this b/c that is what *I* wanted hehe)
S: she asked for an apple at some point and juice at some point and a slice of cheese at some point. (only had about 1/2 the apple)
L: Pasts w/ broccoli and chicken in tomato sauce. She ate only the pasta.
S: she shared a few pretzels with me and had an english muffin over at my mom's house.
D: pizza, but she didn't eat that much (the english muffin was late and we only got pizza b/c the mother's group I joined is sending me dinners every other day after having DS and the lady sent over a pizza and a grilled chick. salad which I ate...DD stole some of my salad )

She has actually figured out how to climb onto the counter and open our "snack" cabinet and pull things out of it and can open the fridge and pull things out of there as well. It isn't uncommon to see her coming toward you w/ a gallon of milk asking to have some. LOL

I do find if she snacks too close to a meal she won't eat as much of the meal, but in general I let her listen to her body and if she feels hungry I let her eat. Sometimes if I am in the process of making dinner or whatever meal, I will tell her no and have her wait, but that's only b/c the meal is literally ALMOST ready

[Tweakster]

I let her listen to her body and if she feels hungry I let her eat. Sometimes if I am in the process of making dinner or whatever meal, I will tell her no and have her wait, but that's only b/c the meal is literally ALMOST ready

And this is totally what I struggle with. 

1) I hate cooking but I do it out of what I feel is responsibility to do so.  I try to plan meals that contain most of what he needs over the course of the week and also stuff that DH and I can stomach.  We just can't afford for everyone to be doing something different, it's expensive! So I want him to eat what we have as a sit-down meal as a family and if he snacks, he's very less inclined to do so.  And he's a really good eater but he just has a small tummy!

2) I want him to be able to distinguish when he is hungry and ask for food, so I feel badly telling him 'no you must wait' when he's always got to wait at daycare anyway, they have a very regimented snack and lunch program.  So he can't just ask for whatever he would like there.  At home I try to be more flexible, but our schedule just does not allow for a snack that close to dinner.  And even the quickest of meals still takes time to organize.  So there is a short delay from when we get home and for him to eat.  He also hates that I am cooking when I get home and not paying attention to him, and I hate that too!

3)  I am a firm believer that often our bodies will have cravings if we are lacking something.  So for example, I worry that his cheese obsession means that he's not getting enough of something, calcium or something?  He doesn't drink a lot of milk, he has a sippy before bed and I am guessing that's about 250 ml if that.  He rarely finishes it, unless he's using it to stall bedtime (which has been taking place lately to the point where we might drop the milk).  He has one small fromage frais or yogurt in the morning, would that cover off enough calcium?  I'm sure he's getting some milk at school too.

My concerns are calcium and iron the most, of course vitamin C but he does have supplements.  I want to try to cover this in snacks and meals combined.

Another issue I have is waste...typically go to a lot of trouble preparing a snack or meal and more than half gets wasted on a regular basis.  Have really cut the portion sizes back too.  He is literally eating like a bird.

Karen I LOVE your ideas but I just don't cook.  I'm not remotely inclined to make our own snacks - ok well that's not true, I'm inclined if I don't have any other responsibilities.  It's just too time consuming with our schedule. I do try some more complex stuff on weekends but even weekends in the summer are becoming social and busy. Perhaps down the road when there is more time I will be that cookie-making mom but I just ain't at the moment :-( 

Sorry Martina not hijacking here, but was going to make a similar post too - you had it covered!

[Mom to M&M]

I totally get it Wendy but just FYI - those cookies seriously take me at most 10 minutes to prep and then are in the oven for about 18 minutes. And the full recipe makes 18-20 cookies so it doesn't have to be done often. The chickpeas take maybe 5 minutes to prep and if you doubled it would make enough to easily last 1-2 weeks stored in an airtight container.

[Mama2boys]

my kids eat like birds and our snack isa glass of whole milk, followed by nuts/fruits etc as needed.

7 am we do a glass of milk on waking followed by a toast or  some cereal and maybe fruit dependin on how hungry he is
10am they get a small snack and milk/juice at school
noon lunch is normally a warm meal at home - home ciooked with atleast 1 steamed veggie
milk at abt 2:30 followed by fruit/nuts if needed
5:30/45 dinner with veggies
7 fruit before sleep

[my3girlsjde]

Must check that picky toddler thread. None of my girls are picky but honey roasted chickpeas sound amazing! That's just reason #776 why I love this forum, so many great ideas

Anyhow, what I've started doing with the girls and it's quite cheap (we were getting in the same boat with snacking) was carrot sticks. I buy organic carrots, peel and slice and keep a couple of days' supply in the fridge. When they say they're hungry (about twice an hour because they like food more than they're hungry) they get a bowl full. They're also horribly constipated and they're getting a lot of relief from it. I restrict their milk to yogurt and the odd cup as they really get irritable with normal milk. Yogurt is fine. Apples are another one. They get them whenever, but heavy carbs or bread or cheese I restrict to mealtimes only. Half a granola bar would be fine or half a cookie (not like I'd get away with breaking one of their cookies in half   ) but more than that seems to fill them too much.

[Tweakster]

I wish Finn would eat nuts :-(  He won't.  I've tried all sorts.  Texture I think.  I want to make a trail mix for when we are out and about but he's not game. 

Ok I'll make the cookies, sounds like they are not that complicated.  I much prefer baking to cooking! 

[Mama2boys]

I wish Finn would eat nuts :-(  He won't.  I've tried all sorts.

have you tried soaked almonds? soak them, overnight in slightly warmed up water..next am they are softer and bloated up, peel off the brown peel and the almonds are sweeter and yummier! less hard and chewy too.