Snack Battles

We don't fight about it. Snacks are veggies or fruit (rarely some almonds). DS is famished when he gets home after school (about 5:30) and is a monster if not fed. He does sometimes eat less at dinner. But if he ate the green beans we were going to have for dinner raw for snack, I don't care that much. Oddly, on non-school days he doesn't seem to need any snacks. On school days there is breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, after school (3:30 pm) snack, when he gets home snack and dinner. Wow.

make all the snack times come from fruit and veggies. also make her drink water instead of filling her with fruit juice and milk.

My 4.5 year old seems to eat ALL OF THE TIME! I try to make his snacks apart of his daily intake, similar to what Gamma G. said below. Especially closer to dinner time. I've also had great success with having a free for all veggie and fruit platter out in the afternoon for both of my boys to choose from. I try to think of the afternoon snack (around 3:30/4) as part of dinner so I try to incorporate some of the veggies or whole grains into it. Yogurt and cheese are also good and I don't mind if they don't eat a lot of meat during dinner if yogurt or cheese was served for snack. We also talk about what is healthy to help the body grow. I understand the concern about food being an issue with having girls - growing up my mom was CONSTANTLY on a diet and only drank slimfast while serving the rest of us a steady diet of meat, potatoes, and canned veggies. Fruit was for special occasions (grew up without a lot of money and fresh produce is really expensive in my Northern Minnesota hometown). For my boys I want to model good diet with fruit and veggies being a part of every meal - and neither are ever off limits. That "witching" hour before dinner is a pain for us too - and a lot of my friends with kids the same age seem to have the same problem. I've been trying to keep the kiddos busy so they don't focus on wanting to eat just before dinner - a tv show or coloring or play dough for the 30 minutes prior. I'm also thinking of getting a board to write down house rules - I think my oldest is mature enough now to be reminded of rules written down and one will probably be when food is served so they can stop bugging me :) Anyway good luck and you are definitely not alone!

We have scheduled snack times (10:30 am for my 4 year old, and then right when the kids get home from school at 3:30 pm). The morning snack is something healthy - fruits or veggies, sometimes we add peanut butter with a banana or apple, or a slice of cheese. After school they are usually famished so I allow fruit, veggies and something out of the pantry like a sandwich or sometimes a treat. Our mealtimes are scheduled. Most of the time if the kids are complaining they are hungry, and it is not right before a meal, I tell them "Go have an apple" and almost 95% of the time they decline, because they aren't really hungry but are hoping for a treat. So that is my go-to line: "Go have an apple" or "Go have some carrots". We do Bountiful Baskets - I am sure you have heard of it since you are in Utah- so we always have plenty of produce around if the kids truly are hungry for a snack.

I don't allow snacks within 1-1/2 hours of a planned meal time. So, on weekends I remind my LO at about 4:00 that if she is going to have a snack, she'd better get it now otherwise she'll wait for dinner.

Also, I have told her that it doesn't hurt her to be hungry for a few minutes. That just means that she'll enjoy her meal more!

If she has an early breakfast and then an early lunch, she will often eat two snacks before dinner and that's okay as long as she's done by 4:00!

Please forgive me but it is possible that they are hearing "healthful eating" messages and hence are reacting to such out of a fear of getting fat. Because there are sooo many messages projected these days about the good of being too thin and the bad of being fat---sometimes little kids who are not yet able to understand these messages because they are still so young---tend to misconstrue them.

Maybe instead of offering something prepackaged or just fruits and veggies add a spice of variety. Make some homemade lower in fat fruited quick breads, chocolate candies or concoctions that are fun. Rather than make food an issue--make food fun and loving---have the girls come into the kitcvhen and help you make cookies, dinner etc. There are lots of lessons that get shared in the warmth of a kitchen. See: Love More Feed Less Cookbook for recipes of fun and loved filled snacks and meals that are child friendly and devloped for the fussiest of eaters!

Since my DD isn't a big meal person, I serve her several small "snacks" without labeling them as a meal--YET! Then again she's only two!

I try and go as healthy as possible. Fruit, yogurt, peanut butter on whole wheat, etc.

Until you can get it adjusted, make sure the snacks are really quality. Plus, if you give a good healthy snack, it should be more filling. Yogurt, a slice of peanut butter toast, apple or banana slices with peanut butter, a slice of lunch meat rolled in a whole wheat tortilla, etc. Then, it really isn't sabotaging your meals...if they don't eat as much, you can at least be assured that they filled up on something they might have had with a meal anyhow.

I tell DD this is her snack (usually a pick of two choices) and that's all she gets for now. If she fusses, then she chooses no snack.

DD typically has a late morning and mid-afternoon snack and if she says she's hungry I remind her that dinner will be at x time. If DH is running late, I'll let her have milk, but not a huge glass. Sometimes hunger is really thirst.

I do basically the same thing as Cheryl. My boys get a snack around 10am and 3pm. I always try to make it a good protein. It seems to tide them over longer. Stick cheese is my 3yo's favorite. A peanut butter "bender" is my 5yo's favorite (1 piece of bread folded sandwich).

Eveidently she is hungry when she is hungry. If all parents used measuring cups to ladle their kids food onto their plates at meal time like child care professionals do the kids would be eating a lot less at meal times. Portions for children are much less than adults.

In child care a serving of a veggie, like corn or green beans in 1/4-1/2 cup. Depending on the meal it is part of and if it is the only veggie.

If you are having spaghetti with red sauce then 1/4 cup of green beans is the maximum serving to go with the 1 cup pasta and about 1/4 cup sauce.

It amazes me when I see parents giving their kids the same size servings as they are eating themselves, or they are giving the child an adult size serving and the parent has 2nds and 3rds on their plate for their first servings.

A balanced diet with 3-4 snacks per day plus 3 meals is just that, balanced. The whole food pyramid covers the whole day of food. If they have a grain at snack they do not need another at a different meal. If they have meat at 2 meals they do not need another meat for snack, they can have peanut butter or an egg to supply the protein.

Write down your menu for each day, every little thing that goes in his mouth all day, down to the gum he might chew. Then go to the pyramid and plug it all in to the different areas.

This is PER day, not per meal, PER DAY. Some parents try to feed their kids way too much food and battle them when the kids are truly not hungry. If they eat smaller meals and more often they don't have the ups and downs that long times between meals can cause.

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/348/348-150/348-150.html

Grains:

3-5 oz per day
1 oz = 1/2 cup of cooked pasta, 1 slice of bread, 1 6" corn or flour tortilla

Veggies:

1-2 cups per day
Veggies measure just as they are, without juice

Salad measures bigger, 1 cup of salad is considered 1/2 cup of veggie

2-3 cups of milk, yogurt, pudding, cheese, etc...

Meat and beans:
2-5 oz

I have posted again and again. In child care we are required to offer food every 3-4 hours. So if I offer breakfast then I better plan on a snack in 3 hours if lunch is not within that 4 hour time frame. Then in 3 more hours they have to have another meal or substantial snack, if they are still there in a couple more hours I have to offer them more food.

Offer your child lots of food throughout the day, they need to eat. They need proper serving sizes so they will eat all they need too.