How do you deal with constant snack requests (they’re driving me nuts!)

[Anonymous]

Just wondering how other parents deal with snacks during the day. In our house, it honestly feels like someone’s asking for food every 10 minutes—especially the second I get on a work call or try to do anything for myself. It’s driving me nuts!

I want the kids to have some independence and eat mostly healthy, but I seriously haven’t found anything that works for more than a day or two. Is this just our family or is everyone else dealing with the same snack chaos?

Would love to hear what actually works (or doesn’t) in your house.

[Anonymous]

There are snacks they can get on their own.

If they dont want those foods they wait for meal times.

[Anonymous]

Tell them to grab there own food you're not the maid

[Anonymous]

I don’t allow snacks, I find they eat more at meals if no snacks.

[Anonymous]

How old are the kids?

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks my kids are 3 and 5. They are too young g to be trusted to get their own food. I want to know what they are eating and foster controlled independence.

[Anonymous]

Yeah it's a problem for us. Constant snack requests. If they have free rein they'll just eat tons of crap right before mealtimes. Haven't found a good way to deal with the problem tbh. Good to hear it's not just us!

[Anonymous]

It really depends on their age. If the kids are age 4 or below, then you really do need to spend a lot of time arranging food and entertainment for them.
If they're elementary aged, then they should have access to healthy snacks they can get themselves. They should also have access to activities that will keep them busy while you are working so they aren't eating out of boredom. Buy some craft and modeling kits. Give them more access to screens and computers if you're too busy for them. (Not judging at all, but screens are better than non-stop snacking.)
And lastly, what are they eating? If the kids are having growth spurts and you're limiting them to cut vegetables and rice cakes, they are going to be very hungry. Make sure they still have access to carbs like granola bars and breakfast cereal, proteins like nuts, cooked chicken, hard boiled eggs, and cold cuts. And always allow unlimited fruits and vegetables. It's normal for kids to be starving in the late afternoon. I used to go ahead and give them dinner at that time, and then allow them to snack at dinner time if they're still hungry.
If they are middle school or older, teach them how to cook an egg on the stove and boil pasta. Once they hit puberty, expect them to eat four good meals a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks my kids are 3 and 5. They are too young g to be trusted to get their own food. I want to know what they are eating and foster controlled independence.

They are too young to be able to entertain themselves for hours while you are working. Either grant them more access to easy entertainment (i.e. screens) or enroll them in a preschool program that will keep them busy while you're on work calls. A mother's helper is another option if you can find someone.

[Anonymous]

Some of this is age dependent. A teenager may require vastly larger amounts of food than a preschooler, but they are also vastly more self-sufficient. How old are your kids?

Generally speaking have snacks available that the kids can manage themselves and you may need to consider more filling snacks.

Even a very young child can manage getting themselves snacks as long as you’ve planned ahead to make them ready. You can have a sippy cup of juice or water bottle ready for them. They can manage raisin boxes, dry cereal, crackers, presliced cheese, etc., fairly easily, although you may need to provide some supervision to precent choking and minimize mess.

School-age children can probably handle anything that’s not hot, and they may even be able to handle toaster and limited use of the microwave.

As for the frequency of the requests, you may need to provide bigger and/or more significant snacks. If snacks like fruit, crackers, cereal, popcorn, aren’t enough, add cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, etc. If that’s not filling enough, try hard-boiled eggs, sandwiches, leftovers, etc. You may need to think more in terms of a meal than a snack.

[Anonymous]

At 3 and 5 they can have 2 snacks a day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Discuss ahead of time what snacks are ok, what you consider snacks.
Be consistent with what’s allowed and the fact they’re allowed 2 per day.
If they gave a snack 30 mins after breakfast so be it. That’s it til lunch. Make that clear.
Make sure they’re busy. A lot of kids ask for snacks out of boredom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t allow snacks, I find they eat more at meals if no



Poor parenting starving kids

Nothing wrong with snacking at all

[Anonymous]

They don’t need constant snacking. Tell them they can wait until their next meal. I’m not saying no snacks but one or two really hearty in between meal snacks should be fine. You need to train them out of constantly snacking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks my kids are 3 and 5. They are too young g to be trusted to get their own food. I want to know what they are eating and foster controlled independence.

No they are not you are lazy

Teach them

Put some snacks in a drawer they can reach show them some healthy snacks then explain the rules one snack after breakfast one after lunch

[Anonymous]

They are bored and are using food as an excuse to get your attention. I hope that this is just a short period before they start some kind of summer program. Otherwise, you are not going to make it through the summer.