My 15 month old is at day care. So I assume they have a pretty set schedule of when they eat. However, when we are home on weekends or snow days, I feel like she doesn't eat at set times. I feel like she snacks ALL the time. And she is purely on an oatmeal (breakfast), cheese sticks, crackers, grape and Yogurt diet. It tried giving her homemade mac'n'cheese with peas, and I pretty much had to HOLD her down to get the snoop in her mouth.
I don't know what to do. I tried to stop giving her snacks between meals, but it doesn't work. Can you please give me some advice on how to deal with this?
Thanks for the responses! I spoke to the day care, and I think some of the stuff they eat there is not really what I would feed her. So I think she's used to those flavors, and I think Amy is right in that for them at day care it's a very social activity, and at home it's just her eating alone. I always have to let her feed herself or there is CHAOS!! I will try to keep her snacking to a minimum and I like the suggestion to introduce a new food with each snack/ meal. Will keep you posted on how we survive meal times this weekend!
I had the same problem with my son .he is now 18 months old.His eating habits keep changing. I got a lot of help from this article
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T030800.asp
Hope this helps
Regards
When our son was born (our first) it was very quickly apparent that he was going to be a snacker. our daughter, completely different.
We talked to the pediatrician, and he recommended letting them define how they prefer to eat vs. us imposing a schedule upon them for this reason: babies don't know how to over eat. We teach it to them.
All medical studies indicate that it's much better to snack on small meals throughout the day than to eat 3 big meals anyhow.
It sounds like what she's eating is relatively healthy. Perhaps when she's snacking on crackers, you can add peanut butter, ham/cheese, etc. to make it more of a minimeal.
Here's the recommended feeding guide for a 15 month old from the American Academy of Pediatrics should it help:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddle...
I found with my boys that if I always have food around, they will graze all day. If I have set times, they eat at those set times.
At 15 months old (my youngest is 16 months old), I gave my kids breakfast, snack, lunch, nap, snack, supper. I also gave my boys their spoons and/or forks so they could pu their food in their own mouths. (I had a utensil in my hand so while they were trying to scoop, I was scooping and putting it in their mouths.)
My husband and I mixed applesauce in their oatmeal, and after a few days they were able to eat applesauce plain. We also gave them mixed dry cereal and raisins/dates/coconut/pineapple. Canned fruit was always a big hit with my youngest, but scrambled eggs were king with my oldest. Just give your daughter what she likes, but be sure to add something new with each meal so she can try new things.
We also have a daycare child who eats like a champ while at daycare, and not so well at home on weekends or snow days.
I can watch him on video at his daycare, and it's clear his meals there are very social. He's at a little table with his friends, and they are all eating together. We have a little table for drawing etc, and now that my son is verbal, he asks to eat all his meals at the little table. I think it gives him a sense of autonomy, and also makes it feel more like his usual routine (daycare).
My son seems to be a big eater during the day and is not so hungry by dinner. So we try to feed him his best meal at lunchtime. He has never eaten much at dinner. I tried to change this by withholding afternoon snack, but it didn't work. He's just tired and crabby by dinner and not interested in eating. I see as he's growing up that he's eating more at dinner. But I think each kid has a daily rhythm of when he/she is hungry and we need to respect that.
One of the responders questioned why you couldn't MAKE her eat... But I feel your pain. With a child in daycare, our time with the little ones is so limited, who wants to spend it fighting over food?
It sounds like she does need some non-dairy protein. What do you mean that you tried to stop giving her snacks but it doesn't work? Who is in control here? If you don't want to give her snacks, then simply don't give them. You may need to listening to whining, crying or a tantrum. However, be sure to consider her overall daily intake. Will stopping snacks make her eat more at meals? Snacks like grapes and a cheese stick are different than snacks like animal cookies and fruit gummies. Fruit and cheese goes toward servings of various food groups that she needs nutritionally. I would serve meals at regular times, with one small healthy snack in between, I would not give her food on an hourly basis. I have much bigger kids (10 and 14) and I work in an elementary school - kids need to learn to stop eating, it seems like they just stuff the food (snacks) in continuously, so I think it's not a good habit if you are letting her snack too often, even on healthy foods, it doesn't teach them self control and that they need to stop eating.
Good luck!
A couple of thoughts--I would call the day care & ask them what the schedule is and what they are feeding (do you provide the food, or do they?)
According to the dentist, it's not a good idea to let kids constantly graze because it can lead to cavities. We follow a similar schedule to Kristy G.'s-breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner.
It might be unpleasant to enforce a schedule at first, at first but it's worth it to do it; it won't hurt her to be hungry (though she may crab/whine/demand snacks) for a few days while she gets used to the new schedule. An added bonus might be that she'll be more willing to try veggies/fruits if she's more hungry, so try feeding the veggies first at meal/snack times....
I've found with my 15m son that he'll eat some veggies if I sprinkle a little cheese on them, and feed them at the start of the meal. Or, like when we have homemade pot pie (we use the Bisquick recipe), he'll eat the veggies with the "gravy" on them (it's really condensed milk soup) Try mixing applesauce or other fruit puree (bananas, blueberries, etc.) with the oatmeal, as Kristy G suggested, or with the yogurt, and then gradually "up" the fruit and decrease the oatmeal/yogurt till it's just the puree. We've had good luck feeding the Musselman's apple sauce fruit medleys - they have applesauce + other fruit mixed in (blueberries, kiwi, acai, pomegranate (sp?), & Totally Fruit (applesauce & peaches, and other varieties) with no sugar or corn syrup, so it's not loaded with extra sugar.
We also just keep trying new fruits/veggies. Our little guy loves frozen fruit; we get it from the freeze section (no sugar added varieties are available, and Kroger has some organic fruit as well, if that is important to you). That is his daily "dessert" after dinner--frozen strawberries, bananas (we just slice up a ripe one & freeze) raspberries or peaches. The berries aren't the neatest food to feed but he sure loves 'em (we use a lot of stain remover on the clothes LOL!).
I used the following website for free tips and recipes for baby food:
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com
Good luck with your little one!
Hi RidgewoodMom:
Snacking, expecially on high carb and fat food (cheese sticks, crackers, mac/cheese), will definitely set balanced meals off-course. Instead of assuming the schedule at the daycare, find out their protocol and see if it's the best for your daughter. She is looking to you to teach her about healthy eating.
If you would like assistance with Nutritional support and other natural wellness care, please feel free to consult with my office.
My best,
N.
Holistic Healthcare Practitioner
www.wholecreations.com/wombfull.html
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