Did I create snack monsters, or is this normal?

[Anonymous]

I feel part of this occurs because many parents keep a snack on hand and give it to the kid when they’re misbehaving which is happening because they’re bored. Car ride and bored? Snack. Bored in church? Snack. Bored at sister’s soccer game? Snack. So yes I feel this is created, if you’ve done these things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are in daycare. We have never and will never have snacks in the car. Our pediatrician very clearly told us that is a choking hazard--car is in motion/hits a bump, even a careful eater can choke. And you can't immediately get to them. Stop it.

Also, how obnoxious is that? Your kids demand something and whine and you cave? Every day? You are teaching them that it's OK to act that way. You are teaching them they don't need to have patience, or ask for things nicely.

Tell them N-O on car snacks.

Oh shut up.

LOL, OK. Carry on with your snack monsters and their whining and demands. I'll carry on with my well-behaved kids who already know how to handle a little bit of hunger right before meals, and a little bit of boredom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly? I’m super type A about a lot of things. My kids eat healthy homemade meals everyday, but I am not going to fight snack battles.

I don’t have it in me.

However, I ONLY offer goldfish, there’s no other snack available. If they get sick of it they can wait until we get home. They know that’s all I have so a lot of the time they don’t bother asking. Consistency is key.

Yes, consistency is key--when it's not an appropriate time for a snack, you say no. You do "have it in you," you just choose the easiest way in the moment. After a few days of saying no, they don't bother asking. Consistency is key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel part of this occurs because many parents keep a snack on hand and give it to the kid when they’re misbehaving which is happening because they’re bored. Car ride and bored? Snack. Bored in church? Snack. Bored at sister’s soccer game? Snack. So yes I feel this is created, if you’ve done these things.

Bingo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stay at home mom. We do ONE SNACK after nap at 4pm. That seems ok because they are usually legitimately hungry from their nap and it is an hour or more until dinner.

No snacks at the playground/museum, etc. I don’t like carrying food around. And then all they do is whine for a snack. If I don’t have it, they can’t whine for it.

My kids are older now but same here, although our snack time is around 3 not 4 (our meals are all fairly early). Never did the mid morning snack although if we were at an outing like to the zoo or playground, we tended to have an earlier lunch (11/11:30 rather than noon).

Snacks are usually things like cheese/nuts, goldfish/pretzels (sometimes with Nutella), graham crackers all with a fruit or raw vegetable like carrot or pepper.

[Anonymous]

All the daycare centers and preschools my kids attended did a morning and afternoon snack so I do not think it is an unusual routine. I kept them healthy and my kids still ate their meals. Snacking died away as they got older though it became meal sized again with teen athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are on the other end of the spectrum. No snacks ever. My 4 year old son just never asks so I never offer. He gets snacks at daycare and if the adults are snacking during the day, he is offered some and will eat it, but rarely does he ask for anything.

There are at least two posts in this thread where someone self righteously pronounces that their kid doesn’t have a snack ever and then in the same post talks about snacks their kid gets. Your kid has snack every day at daycare, and at other times too if the adult is having a snack. How is that no snacks ever?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read bringing up bebe, snacks are an american thing.

I give a snack after nap. It's usually cheese or yogurt and/or fruit. Sometimes it's refused and I start dinner earlier than usual. No snacks other than that, and he devours each meal without a struggle.

Snacking *all the time* might be an American thing, but other countries definitely have snacks. I recall my French teacher fondly recalling her after-school goûter--which was usually a baguette stuffed with a chocolate bar. The Brits have afternoon tea. The Spanish have merrienda. Eating something in the afternoon, especially kids having an afterschool snack, or adults having coffee/tea with a small treat, seems pretty common.

[Anonymous]

I have kids in elementary and I still pick them up with a snack in the car. They're hungry! I don't see the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read bringing up bebe, snacks are an american thing.

I give a snack after nap. It's usually cheese or yogurt and/or fruit. Sometimes it's refused and I start dinner earlier than usual. No snacks other than that, and he devours each meal without a struggle.

Snacking *all the time* might be an American thing, but other countries definitely have snacks. I recall my French teacher fondly recalling her after-school goûter--which was usually a baguette stuffed with a chocolate bar. The Brits have afternoon tea. The Spanish have merrienda. Eating something in the afternoon, especially kids having an afterschool snack, or adults having coffee/tea with a small treat, seems pretty common.

Yes, but it's not snacking all. the. time. Like one pp mentioned it's the constant snacking in the morning, at the playground, on the car ride back, before lunch, after nap, at church, before bed, the soccer practice. That's where it's an American thing and she's right that is stems from boredom.

[Anonymous]

So many snacks! As soon as he's buckled in the car "can I have a snack?".... ugh. I created this, and I'm trying to uncreate it, but as another poster stated, this also isn't a battle I really want to fight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are on the other end of the spectrum. No snacks ever. My 4 year old son just never asks so I never offer. He gets snacks at daycare and if the adults are snacking during the day, he is offered some and will eat it, but rarely does he ask for anything.

There are at least two posts in this thread where someone self righteously pronounces that their kid doesn’t have a snack ever and then in the same post talks about snacks their kid gets. Your kid has snack every day at daycare, and at other times too if the adult is having a snack. How is that no snacks ever?

I thought the same thing! Her son gets snacks all the time! She just doesn't offer them.

[Anonymous]

I don't think you created the snacking issue. I have a 4 year old who never snacks and a 3 year old who would snack all day if I allowed it. I have no idea what the difference is between the two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're on the "no snack ever" team. We got to that because DD wasn't eating at meal times. Now she's hungry and eats all the meal that's offered. If she's dying of hunger she can get nuts or fruit (apple, banana or orange). We always allow nuts and fruit.

This. We stopped snacks because kids were getting picky at mealtimes. They might have one apple or orange or yogurt, but they don’t always have it.

I will say that I had to stop snacking myself before I could enforce it in the kids.

[Anonymous]

There really should be some no-snack times/places, and in a car is so obviously one of them. At least wait a few minutes to get home, wash hands, sit at the table, and have a calm snack while talking about your day. You can even get dinner started or unpack the lunch boxes, etc., while this is happening, so there is no time lost.