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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I've taught pre-k and now teach kindergarten. Your kids need to develop independence because at school, there is only one teacher and 20+ students. Have them pick out one snack and put it in an easy to reach container. Get some baby fingernail scissors and show them how to cut open a package. My 3 yr old can use a kitchen stool to climb up on a counter, open a cabinet, get out a small bag of popcorn, and cut off the corner to open it.

There's a lot to unpack here. It may be asking a lot to expect a 3-year-old to have the independence of an older child. Every child reaches milestones on a different schedule. Just because your 3-year-old can use scissors and quietly get their own snacks, doesn't mean that every 3-year-old is ready for that. There's no way my kids were allowed free access to scissors at that age (self haircuts and shredded library books are common pitfalls of giving them scissors and walking away). You remind me of the elderly pre-school teacher who complained because my 2-year-old couldn't put on his own socks and shoes. Some can, and some can't and it's not his fault or my fault that he couldn't do it at 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're French. Snack time is after school. Otherwise it's breakfast, lunch and dinner.

As an American, I was shocked at what the French kids ate for a snack after school when my family was living in Paris. My kids would come home and have carrots and hoummus and their counterparts would be eating tons of processed chocolate spread on grocery store croissant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

“No” is a complete sentence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're French. Snack time is after school. Otherwise it's breakfast, lunch and dinner.

As an American, I was shocked at what the French kids ate for a snack after school when my family was living in Paris. My kids would come home and have carrots and hoummus and their counterparts would be eating tons of processed chocolate spread on grocery store croissant.

Um. All chocolate is the result of a process. You sound like a complete and total dumbass.

[Anonymous]

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

Why is it important to you that they eat more meals? What a peculiar thought process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're French. Snack time is after school. Otherwise it's breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Good for you, madamoiselle.

[Anonymous]

As a nanny for many years I have found that most parents don’t allow snacks . I gave food only at scheduled times and it worked just fine . Kids never even asked for food.

[Anonymous]

I just never found this to be a big deal. If a kid was hungry s/he can eat. Offer stuff like cheese, fruit, veggies, hummus. If they’re eating healthy foods, meals aren’t inherently better than “snacks.” Put the approved snacks where the kids can reach, and if they aren’t hungry enough for carrot sticks or an apple or whatever, they don’t have to eat.

We definitely never had a snack schedule or limited healthy snacks. I’m an adult & snack when I’m hungry. My kids are now teen/tween age and seem to eat just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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

I agree with this

[Anonymous]

Op a 3 and 5 year old shoukd get at least 2 may e 3 snacks a day. Even a preschool offers that.

You are applying adult earing tonkids. They are energetic and burn off most of what they eat especially if you aren't giving them enough carbs.

Offer a screen so you can work. Pay for daycare. Also set up their snack before you enter your meeting. It should be something whole grain, fruit or dairy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Why is it important to you that they eat more meals? What a peculiar thought process.

Are you joking? Snacks are often processed. I plan their meals so they have 5 veg a day, adequate fiber, protein. If they don’t eat at mealtime their diet isn’t balanced. Anyway I don’t like to waste food.

[Anonymous]

Establish standard meal and snacks times, e.g.

7:30am breakfast
10am snack
12:30pm lunch
3:30pm snack
6pm dinner

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just never found this to be a big deal. If a kid was hungry s/he can eat. Offer stuff like cheese, fruit, veggies, hummus. If they’re eating healthy foods, meals aren’t inherently better than “snacks.” Put the approved snacks where the kids can reach, and if they aren’t hungry enough for carrot sticks or an apple or whatever, they don’t have to eat.

We definitely never had a snack schedule or limited healthy snacks. I’m an adult & snack when I’m hungry. My kids are now teen/tween age and seem to eat just fine.

Same- I don't limit snacks (but I do control what's available since I do the grocery shopping). My kids have never asked for more than 1 or 2 snacks a day and I am finr with that.

OTH, they pester me for dessert almost nonstop so maybe I am not doing so great after all!

[Anonymous]

My kids are allowed to snack whenever they want to on whatever food they can scrounge up. And I buys lots of processed crap for them to snack on: pop tarts, chips, cookies, ice cream, etc.

Meals are healthy and they always eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They’re growing kids - they know when they’re hungry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Why is it important to you that they eat more meals? What a peculiar thought process.

Are you joking? Snacks are often processed. I plan their meals so they have 5 veg a day, adequate fiber, protein. If they don’t eat at mealtime their diet isn’t balanced. Anyway I don’t like to waste food.

Different poster, but this response seems peculiar to me.

While snacks are, indeed, often processed, it is not intrinsic to the definition of a snack. Moreover, meals are not necessarily nutritious. If the meal offered is McDonald’s and the kid only eats the fries and ignores the burger, vs. a snack of carrot sticks, a hard-boiled egg, and apple slices, maybe the child should be snacking more frequently. I admit that this hypothetical is atypical, but it illustrates that feeding a child between meals is only unhealthy because of the food being offered, not the timing.