OT: how do you keep kids from snacking?

[jpeka65844]

I think my DS4 constantly wants snacks out of boredom. We can eat dinner, then 10 minutes later he's asking for a snack. I've never been one to deny snacks (healthy snacks, at least) but this is getting ridiculous.

We're trying making new rules about how much of his meal he has to eat before he can leave the table. I want to make sure he's getting full from his meats and veggies before he resorts to snacks.

What are some of your snacking rules? And we're in a snack rut, too. Any good, healthy suggestions?

 

[eolian]

I put a reasonable amount of food on their plate and let them eat what they want, but any leftovers go in the fridge and if they are hungry within 2 hours of the meal then I let them eat their leftovers before any other snacks are an option, I also cut off snacks at leaast 30 min before the meal.

 

[BellyBaby]

My DD4 does the exact same thing, she seems to think we're running a restaurant, so when she's not terribly pleased with the night's meal, she's "ow, ow, my tummy hurts, I'm full".

10 minutes later she's asking for a snack, hoping for something more to her liking, no doubt. We've caught on finally.

Now I guage how much she's eaten, then tell her, 2 more bites of meat, 2 more veggie, then she can go. She might go "ahhh, ok!" But she still does it, which tells me she's NOT busting at the seams when I can plainly see she's barely eaten. I also make her "wash it down" with liquid to help fill her up. I sometimes pour myself a tall glass of water because I know she'll ask for some (raising kids seems to be 80% psychology, isn't it?)

We only have healthy snacks in the house, for my sake, too. I'd eat junk all day if it was in the house. DD4 loves cukes sliced up, cheese, all fruit, yogurt, even a small bowl of cereal for her snacks.

Sometimes she's still doing it, but if her meal was within 20 min or so, we tell her too bad, because we all ate OUR dinners, she should have eaten hers. 4 is not too young for her to grasp this, she's improving.

Good luck!

 

[Manda]

If I suspect that he's just trying to snack because he's bored, I offer him something that is healthy and edible and that he will eat, but not something he's normally enthusiastic to eat. Usually plain celery or plain bread in my house - but, obviously, kids vary, LOL. And I say, "If you're hungry, you can have some celery." If he says no, then he isn't that hungry. If he takes the celery, then I assume he probably really was hungry and maybe I'll give him a little peanut butter to dip it in.

 

[puffkin]

DS gets a very reasonable amount to eat at meals. If he eats it and then asks for a snack a bit later, I will let him have a small snack. If he doesn't eat his meal, it stays on the table and he is free to go back and pick at it anytime. I know there are just some things he doesn't like, but I still offer it to him anyways. I only make him taste those items, and then I will take that away (because continued exposure will hopefully get him to eat it eventually). If it is something he normally will eat then it stays on his plate to pick at and I won't give him something else to eat until that is gone.

We honestly don't let him do a lot of snacking. Even if it something healthy, it is still a lot of calories (or sugar in the case of fruits) that he really doesn't need. We try to feed him really balanced meals with a small treat instead. He does get snacks at daycare, but they are on a much more rigid schedule there so it makes more sense.

When he is with Grandmom, all the above goes out the window

 

[micheleq]

Now that the holidays are over (and there is less junk food around!), I am ready to get my DD4 back to better eating habits. She's fussy to begin with (and she was the toddler that ate ANYTHING), so one of my NY resolutions is to steer her back to a larger variety of foods.

I offer her baby carrots and apples as her snacks. There is a large glass bowl on my kitchen table, and a few months ago I figured out if I keep it full of small apples, both girls will help themselves to it. DD4 also attends preschool in the afternoons, so once she gets home, she can have one small snack before dinner.

I agree with PP that said if the junk food isn't in the house, it's easier to break the snack habit if they are snacking out of boredom/wanting a sweet treat. I know when DD is really hungry and wants a snack, she's happy with a slice of wheat bread.

Good luck! Many preschoolers are better at eating four or five small meals a day than three large meals, so don't worry too much about the snacking per se, but what your child is snacking on.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

We have always had good snacks around, and I don't really care when they eat them. They are always welcome to have veggies (cut and cold) fruit, cheese, and shell on nuts and even cookies a few times a week (whole wheat chocolate chip or oatmeal, usually). It hasn't ever been a problem. All are in a healthy weight range, eat their dinners, etc.

Food was an issue in my house, and we make an effort to not make it an issue in ours.

 

[-Hope-]

I have no rules about food. Period. The closest we come to a food rule is avoiding red dye because my ds10 has a sensitivity to red dye. However, he knows this and knows how it makes him feel so he self monitors- I don't have to tell him to avoid this food.

I'm recovering from an eating disorder and have had to re-learn what I instinctively knew as a child because my parents well-meaning rules taught me to mistrust my own hunger and craving cues. It has taken me years to overcome this and I still have physical ramifications I'm trying to set right. I was TERRIFIED of passing this issue on to my kids- especially when I would see my kids snacking a lot from what I feared was boredom. I found a book called Avoiding Childhood Eating Problems and it applied many of the same principles I've learned in my recovery to kids. If you make sugary things special and something that can only be eaten as a prize for eating other things then it becomes magical. At first I was afraid to let my kids have what they want but after doing it for a while they surprised me. At first they were only putting things like ice cream and cookies on the list and I would buy them with trepedation. I held my tounge though and gave the method time to take hold. Now they ask for things like oranges and when they want a snack they are just as likely to choose a green salad as fudge pop. Some days it does seem as if they aren't getting a balanced diet but most nutritionist will tell you to watch them over the course of a week, not a day and by the end of the week it will all balance out.

ETA: I forgot to mention that I always have fresh fruits and veggies in the house as an option and the kids see me reaching for these things because I truly like them. This modeling is much more effective than rules IMHO.

 

[disfan07]

One of the girls I babysit for is this way. She snacks constantly when she gets home from preschool because she is so bored but we cant go anywhere (to the playground, ride bikes etc) because her younger brother is napping during that time.

What her mom and I have done is that she gets 1 snack of her choice when she gets home (she can choose a couple of cookies, some chips, fruit snacks, whatever). After that snack, if she comes back, she can only have something healthy (fruit, veggies, yogurt, string cheese, etc). If she eats that, than we know she really is still hungry. If she comes back asking a third time she only gets offered veggies. Most of the time, she decides she doesnt want it and than she doesnt ask again for a few hours and that is usually after she is outside running around and she really is hungry.

We definitely noticed a change in her snacking. IF she really is still hungry after the first snack, she'll eat the healthy snack. So even if she is snacking, at least its fruits and veggies.
She gets hoemf rom preschool about 1:15 adn her brothers get home from school about 3:00. The hardest part was gettign her to understand that just because her brothers get a snack at 3 when they get home, she already had her snacks and if shes not hungry she doesnt need anythign else, but she seems to be understanding that because she has stopped asking for snacks everytime they get homef rom school.

She sually eats breakfast, lunch at school, 2 snacks between 1:15 and 2:15 (1 healthy, 1 not so healthy), snack before dinner (if dinner is after 6:00), dinner and snack after dinner (if dinner is before 6:00)

 

[crisi]

Set aside times for snacks...so they aren't available "for the asking." Work on getting it to three a day - between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, and before bedtime.

(If you feel guilty with the for the asking part, having something like baby carrots that are always available for the asking. Something your kid will eat if they are really hungry, but is good for them. Avoid fruit "for the asking" while its fructose, its still really high in sugar and helps develop that sweet tooth.)

Fruit is good. Cheese - my kids loved cheese curds. Raisins. Yogurt. Peanut Butter Toast is a popular snack around our house. Air popped popcorn.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

Good snack list. We make a lot of hummus for a veggie dip, too. It is a lovely recipe with no oil.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

My son had a feeding tube when he was little, and power struggles can be a huge issue with kids weaning from a tube because they don't get hunger the same way the rest of us do. To my son, eating was something you did when you were bored, or when something looked yummy, but it was in no way connected to the feeling of hunger for a long time.

Because of that I wanted to avoid any thing that might possibly end up in a power struggle - no "two more bites" or "you can only have desert if you eat your main course", nothing like that.

What we did was each day I'd pack a lunch box with a meal's worth of yummy little bites (cut up grilled salmon or chicken, hard boiled egg, cut up cheese, a small yogurt, some berries or grapes or a little thing of applesauce, peas, little corn bread muffins, whole wheat bread with no-sugar jam spread on it etc . . . ). Lots of little tastes, but that added up to what I thought was a reasonable meal for a toddler/preschooler. Then where ever we went (we were out an about a lot when he was little -- it was just our way, so we'd be at the park or the store, or a museum more than we were home), if he was hungry he could choose from there. By the end of the day it was always empty, and then we'd go home for dinner, which he ate with the family.

It wonder if something similar would work for you -- make a plate of the kind of things you'd like him to eat, put it in the fridge and let him help himself.

 

[rubato]

The answer is actually pretty simple:
Don't let them have snacks.

I know, easier said than done. My son started this behavior, but I quickly nipped it in the bud. He eats breakfast, lunch, dinner, evening snack (only because we eat dinner SUPER early). That's it. If he eats enough at meals, he shouldn't be hungry in between. My whole family (except me) and my husbands whole family (including him) leans towards obesity. I don't want my son to be hungry, but I don't ever want him to eat just because he's bored or even think food is a boredom cure. It's really hard, but I want him to have the view that food is fuel, not entertainment.

 

[pweyl36]

I put a reasonable amount of food on their plate and let them eat what they want, but any leftovers go in the fridge and if they are hungry within 2 hours of the meal then I let them eat their leftovers before any other snacks are an option, I also cut off snacks at leaast 30 min before the meal.

Same here, I dont give snacks after dinner. I give treats every now and then.

 

[puffkin]

(If you feel guilty with the for the asking part, having something like baby carrots that are always available for the asking. Something your kid will eat if they are really hungry, but is good for them. Avoid fruit "for the asking" while its fructose, its still really high in sugar and helps develop that sweet tooth.)

It amazes me how people don't realize fruit is good, but only in moderation. I would never leave it out all the time for kids. If you ever do Weight Watchers, eating a lot of fruit isn't good because of all the points (bananas are killers at 2 pts). Same with nuts and cheese lots of calories there. All great options, but only in moderation.

 

[Heidijs]

Oh gosh, same problem here!!! My DD4 is terrible...she won't eat her supper, says she's full and ten minutes later, can I have a treat? Drives me nuts! I used to put her plate in the fridge and make her eat it if she was hungry shortly after dinner...or my new thing is if you're that hungry but won't eat dinner, here's some fruit! Usually a big banana. No ice cream or sweets. Or I'll make her a slice of toast but this is rare I give in to something else. We make her try everything on her plate cus she'll say she doesn't like ANY of it if we don't make her try it. Dinner time at our house is nuts almost every night. It's us telling her over and over to eat! Take another bite! 3 more bites! UGH!!!!! Then I see other kids her age who don't have to be told! They just gobble it up like they're starving!!!!!! Why can't that be my kid! Put sweets in front of her and she will of course...ugh...I know, I was no better at that age either. Basically when we go on our trip, our afternoon snack will be before a certain time and then nothing else after that so she hopefully eats somewhat of a decent meal. If she doesn't, then she won't get an evening snack and I'll take something healthy that's not a fun snack for her!

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

It amazes me how people don't realize fruit is good, but only in moderation. I would never leave it out all the time for kids. If you ever do Weight Watchers, eating a lot of fruit isn't good because of all the points (bananas are killers at 2 pts). Same with nuts and cheese lots of calories there. All great options, but only in moderation.

If you allow a child to always have healthy options, I find that they discover their own sense of moderation. We keep cookies around, and even m&m's in a jar. LOL, the only one in the house who is likely to grab a handful is me. Same goes for the fruit, cheese and nuts. Nothing is "forbidden" or hidden. They eat their meals without a problem. We do tend toward natural foods most of the time, though.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Always try a glass of water first. Many times hunger is actually dehydration. Offer and make them drink the water first. If they come back a second time after the water has been consumed, let them have a snack, they are hungry. My kids eat their meals, drink often, snack often, and still are within weight guidelines. DS is actually a bit underweight. Every body is different. You just need to monitor your child, but I would never deny my child food or drink because it didn't fit within my hunger times.

 

[crisi]

Always try a glass of water first. Many times hunger is actually dehydration. Offer and make them drink the water first. If they come back a second time after the water has been consumed, let them have a snack, they are hungry. My kids eat their meals, drink often, snack often, and still are within weight guidelines. DS is actually a bit underweight. Every body is different. You just need to monitor your child, but I would never deny my child food or drink because it didn't fit within my hunger times.

It isn't necessarily a matter of weight management for a lot of kids. You can be a healthy weight, but if you are snacking because you are bored, it isn't a good habit to get into no matter what your weight is. If your kids are snacking because snacking means getting Mom's attention and you know Mom will drop what she is doing for the "I'm hungry" plea, that isn't good either. It can also just be a matter of time management - school is not going to stop for your all-day kindergartner when he wants a snack, so getting used to snacking on a schedule can be part of school readiness.

I used to feel really guilty if my kids said they were hungry, so I always fed them. Then I began to see that they were hungriest when it was least convenient for me - or to avoid something. My daughter would get hungry at bedtime - delaying bedtime. My son would need a snack when we were trying to get out the door. They'd both want snacks when I was trying to make dinner. For my kids, snacking wasn't about being either hungry or bored - but a way to manipulate mom.

So I think you need to understand (or try to understand) the motivation behind the snacking before you set the rules.

My kids are a lot older now, and there isn't "snack time" - but they are supposed to ask before they grab something. In part because my son has been known to eat all the cheese I was going to use for dinner. Or my daughter down the whole box of strawberries I was going to use for dessert. In part because if allowed, they do engage in "mindless snacking" and while neither one has a weight problem, they don't need to establish "box of goldfish crackers in front of the TV" as a habit.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I do not think it is as much what you choose to do as doing what you choose to do. Follow through. DS was very tiny and a poor eater. DGS is not so tiny but very slim and not a good eater either. I am very laid back about eating and refuse to make it an issue. I wantDGS, as I did DS, to learn to listen to his body. If he is hurgry, I want him to eat. If not, he should not eat.

When we have dinner, everyone sits together while we eat a healthy meal. DGS (3) may choose to eat it all or nothing but we all sit together and talk and enjoy each other. No stress. If we have any desert (an excpetion) there are no stings attached.We enjoy the treat together. If he is hungry later, he can eat from the choices we have. The catch is that those choices are just a good as his dinner would have been for him. Baby carrots, tiny tomatos, fruit, whole grain crackers, fat free cheese etc. Not so heathy treats are in the "special" drawer and are for treats.

I would adress the being board issue as well. After dinner, mom and dad get busy cleaning up, getting ready to unwind etc. Kid's not getting as much attention! Ask for snack to get attention. Try to involve them in the clean up of dinner or have one parent have special play time while one cleans up and then if they are really hungry later, fine. Try to have lots of fun, active things going on through out the day to keep them stimulated. We do not do this but one idea is to only eat at the table. If they are realy hungry, they will stop play to sit and eat. They may nibble as they watch tv or play, hungry or not.


Also we have always had to be careful with drinks. Water is very important but other drinks, milk ,juice etc, can fill them up just before or at the beginning of a meal, so the do not eat well but do not hold them long and then they are hungry again!


My advice is not over reacting but choose a plan and stick with it. The goal is healthy active kids that learn to self regulate and enjoy food.