Kid is a “snack” fiend
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Anonymous
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My 4 year old is obsessed with “snacks”…he eats meals well but in between meals he is constantly asking for snacks. I try to give him healthy things like fruit and cheese and apple sauce but he asks for more and more! When we run out of healthy things I’ll move on to giving him some goldfish and chips to hold him off until dinner but I don’t like that they’re not healthy.I can’t tell if he’s going through a growth spurt or if he’s just obsessed with snacks lol. I don’t want to deprive him of food if he’s actually hungry. But I wish he would stop with the constant asking!
Any tips? |
Anonymous
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Have set times for snacks, once mid morning and once in the afternoon. If he is hungry in between, just say sorry, he will have to wait. He won't starve.
I assume he is or will soon be at school where he can't snack all day, so he may as well get used to eating at set times now. |
Anonymous
| My kids can have u limited snacks as long as they're healthy. If they want a snack they can have fruit, a peanut butter sandwich, Greek yogurt, nuts, carrots, an avocado etc etc. If they don't want any of the healthy options then they're not really hungry. |
Anonymous
| Buy more healthy foods. I offer up cut up raw veggies with some sort of dip, or apples, occasionally half a baked sweet potato, etc. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
| Serve some snacks at meal times so he is trained to eat at set times and the allure of snack time goes away |
Anonymous
| Learn to say no |
Anonymous
+1. If he's already eating healthy things and still hungry, he's probably in a growth spurt. Offer a peanut butter sandwich or Greek yogurt. Something with carbs, fat, and protein. |
Anonymous
| He needs more protein. |
Anonymous
| Most of the kid nutritionists on instagram (I know, but I actually used to work with one of the more followed ones and she is legit) recommend the morning snack afternoon snack cadence and not grazing in between. So three meals and then planned snacks in between (how many depends on your kid, for yours I would do both morning and afternoon). Ideally these snacks include a protein, carb, and fat. Kids eat in color has some great examples. I can't always pull off getting all those things in a snack but it helps them to stay full longer. A piece of fruit for example isn't going to keep you full long, fruit, cheese + some crackers might give you a little more lenght. Ugh I find it exhausting too honestly but I would recommend telling him hey I know you've been pretty hungry lately, we're going to try something new where everyday at 10a and 3p we sit down and have a snack. We won't have snacks in between those times, but you can eat as much of snack as you want at those times and I'll make sure to give you things that will keep your belly full for long periods. |
Anonymous
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Make sure his meals aren't too carby/sugary and have enough protein.
Make sure he's drinking water Don't be afraid to say no. Seriously--kids don't need to eat 8-10 times a day. They are sometimes hungry but often they're just bored. I would keep sliced veggies as an anytime snack, but save the actual food for meal time and DESIGNATED snack teams (2 times a day) Trust me that when he hits K he will not be able to snack all day, so "train" him now. |
Anonymous
I should add, if your kid is used to grazing it may take a little time for their body to adjust to this schedule but usually the body will adjust to expect food at these times and not get as hungry in between |
Anonymous
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I'm an adult and am more a grazer versus big meal person. It works for me and my body. One of my kids couldn't care less about snacks and the other is obsessed with them. Since i'm the same way (and believe my body is naturally that way versus somehow my parents made me that way and not my siblings) I don't fight it for him. What I do is...
Make him BIG snacks in a snack box that others would consider more like a meal. They often include 2 hard boiled eggs or half a sandwich or a hearty breakfast cookie or pasta salad etc plus a fruit, a more typical snack food like chips or a little popcorn, and often a second fruit or a veg This size snack is offered 2x a day. He can have it as early as he wants in the morning and in the afternoon. He will sometimes eat it all right away and sometimes spread it out Accept his meals are going to be smaller (and sometimes he eats basically no dinner) because he's eating mini meals (versus snacks) in between the other meals. Once I got on board with this it went so much better. Because the food was more like a meal (versus him filling up on "snack" food) it didn't bother me that it was so big or might make a meal later smaller. Because he had variety and plenty, he stopped asking for more or different snacks. The overall goal of getting "snacks" off his mind / out of our debates and getting nutritious food into him was met |
Anonymous
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Are you home with him full time, or this just on weekends? Is he getting enough food in his actual meals? Sounds like bigger snacks at somewhat regular intervals would work better - so don’t just give him carrots and then 10 mins later he wants more. Start off with a fuller, healthy snack. Some fruit/veg, protein and carbs. It will be less annoying to you to put it all out together than have to do it over and over again!
I really wouldn’t sweat a handful of goldfish or chips. I have one child who wants to eat ONLY snack food. If I let her, she would eat nothing but gold fish and granola bars and apple slices. So with her I really have to make sure to time snacks so she will actually eat her dinner. My other kids pretty much just have a few bites of something and then still eat real food. |
Anonymous
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1. Make sure his meals have enough protein. Let him eat as much as he wants to at meals.
2. Set snack times and include a protein 3. Have him drink something first he may actually be thirsty. 4.is he getting enough activity indoor and outdoor? Some kids ask for snacks when bored. |