Did I create snack monsters, or is this normal?
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Anonymous
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I feel like my toddlers are snack monsters. And I think I created it. After daycare, they immediately expect a snack on the way home - usually raisins, goldfish, pretzles...something carb-ish out of a bag. They sometimes want a lot of it. On the weekends when we're out and about, I feel like I'm always handing them snacks.
So, my question is, how many snacks are your kids eating? Do you have a "snack time" like they would at daycare or can they get a snack whenever they want? And what are you giving them that is not Goldfish? |
Anonymous
| 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. |
Anonymous
I'm in the middle of this, too. It's so frustrating!! My nearly 3-year-old DD demands 'SNACKS!' all the way home, and it drives me bananas. I try very hard to stay calm and before we drive home from daycare I open her lunch bag and say 'oh, I see you have grapes (cut in half), oranges and blueberries leftover from lunch. Would you like one of those before we start driving?' She'll usually say 'Yes please! ORANGES!' If she demands goldfish, crackers, pretzels, etc. I tell her that she can have some when we get home, but we don't have those in the car. I find myself repeating (over, and over, and over again): "I hear you and I know you want goldfish, but we just don't have them in the car. You can have them when we get home." It sounds like I'm so calm and collected when typing this out, but trust and believe it's probably the most stressful part of my day. |
Anonymous
| I'm where you are OP. My DS is 5, sometimes I he doesn't care about breakfast on weekends because he knows snacks will come later. Like he won't eat breakfast, and we'll go to the playground and first thing he does is ask for a snack. The snacks are healthy (apples, cheese, seaweed) and not far from what I'd give him for breakfast but it's annoying. |
Anonymous
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We have one mid-morning snack and one mid-afternoon snack. We are not feeding them snacks on demand. Snacks are things like cheese, pretzels, fresh fruit or veggies, nuts, yogurt, raisins or other dried fruit, peanut butter and crackers, or fig bars.
Carbs are fine; lots of highly processed carbs without a lot of fiber or protein aren't great. |
Anonymous
| Ours are similar (4 & 3). Always want a snack in the car (for the ten minute ride) and immediately when they get home. We've been trying to cut back but really I'm just hoping they will grow out of it. |
Anonymous
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My kids are ravenous after daycare and I try to offer them something high nutrition but avoid carb items (b/c I know they will eat those plenty of other times).
Last night we had "green snacks" - broccoli, pears. The night before we had a rainbow snack - strawberries, carrots, peas, blueberries I have a little tray I keep in the fridge that I use every night and as soon as they get home I put it out with shit that is good for them that I don't care if they binge on before dinner. Its basically a mini dinner so if they don't eat whatever I'm serving I feel like they had a full nutrition option. |
Anonymous
I occasionally give my kids a snack on the weekends in the afternoon after my youngest wakes up from his nap, but it's almost always fruit. We occasionally bake (less than once a month), so if we baked something I'll let them have some of that for an afternoon snack. My kids are in daycare and I think they usually get an afternoon snack there. My husband picks up my kids from daycare 95+% of the time (daycare is at his work), and he was giving the kids a snack in the car on the way home from daycare. He went out of town for a few days, and I was doing pickup, and I didn't offer them a snack. They didn't ask for it (or maybe they did, but they didn't protest too much when I said no), and surprise, surprise, they actually ate all of their dinner. I was able to convince my husband after that to stop doing the after daycare snack. We generally don't bring snacks with us when we're out on the weekend. If you don't have them, they can't eat them. |
Anonymous
| 14:31 back - I also put out a protein often but not always - like pieces of rotisserie chicken, hard boiled eggs. Its called snack but its really dinner before dinner. |
Anonymous
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omg. the snack struggle is REAL
Yesterday after daycare: Gets goldfish on way home Asks for a parfait when she gets home (5:30) Asks for a clementine Asks for gummy bears (wtf?) Asks for cheez its that was all between 5-6 |
Anonymous
We do this too, with similarly healthy options. |
Anonymous
| Creating snack monsters is an American thing, so yes, it's normal here. Snacks everywhere, all the time. |
Anonymous
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Keep in mind, people will get hungry if they are used to eating at a certain time. Your kids might truly be hungry if they have a snack after daycare every day, for example. Breaking that habit will take patience and consistency, because at first they will complain a lot. Decide what time snack will be, and stick to it.
We also generally let kids eat fruit and veggies any time. On the other hand, if you say you're hungry but you only want Goldfish, you're not really hungry. |
Anonymous
| Okay good. I feel like I'm a zookeeper and snacks are what keeps me from being eaten by the lions. |
Anonymous
| This is why the 45 minute soccer game HAS to have a snack schedule for parents to haul to the field. It's ridiculous! |