Changing snack habits

Sorry for all the posts lately, lol.

My kids eat a decent breakfast (bowl of cereal with a cereal/fruit bar), almost nothing at lunch, then want a huge snack. Obviously, I don't like it, but how do I stop it? I've been giving them a more reasonable amount of food lately (like 3 to 6oz of yogurt smoothie and 10 goldfish), and every single time I deal with a huge melt down because they want more, and they're crabby until dinner. I'm not kidding, they would eat 15 animal crackers or half a pack of golfdish each if I let them!

How do I deal with it? They typically only eat fruit at lunch They don't eat so well at dinner either, which hasn't changed a bit since I decreased their snack... but they're extremely crabby and whiny in the afternoon now. They have lunch before their nap (11.30am) and a snack at 3pm. Dinner is at 6-6.30pm. I've tried giving them their lunch food back at snack time (usually hard to do as the dog eats it...) and they don't eat it either, then whine.

I just don't want my kids to get used to having huge snacks and not eating at meals... what's a reasonable snack quantiy-wise? they'd eat a full box of berries in one sitting too...

 

I usually tell my kids that they have to try some of their lunch before they can have a snack. If they don't eat a good meal, then they will get yogurt, fruit or a veggie for a snack. My two love berries (especially blueberries) so I don't mind if they eat a whole lot of fruit for a snack. I usually will give two of the Simply Go-Gurts or split a cereal bar, 1/2 cup of fruit or veggies with a dip.

 

Mine eat a snack of cereal in the morning and then eat a big breakfast/early lunch at 11:30 and then go down for a nap, after they wake up I used to feed them lunch but they just didn't eat enough of it. So instead I feed them a snack and then dinner is a little after 6pm.
Snacks are big around here so I just try to make them as healthy as I can. Apple slices, pretzels, meats and cheeses. I made the mistake of buying them those little chocolate chip cookies once as a "snack" and they wanted them ALL the time! So after they ran out, they were gone. I let them search and search for them but nope "all gone". So they got over it.
Good luck!

 

11:30 to 6:30 is a long time, I can imagine that they do get hungry. Maybe, I am unusual but, for me, snacks have never been an issue. I make sure whatever they are snacking on is healthy and when thinking about their diet I look at a whole day, snacks & meals included. If, at the end of the day, their overall diet was healthy & balanced, I am happy. Most doctors will tell you that multiple small meals are better than 3 larger ones anyway, so I have always been okay with them eating smaller amounts at mealtime with snacks in between. Once they stop napping, you will probably be able to shift lunchtime to a later time (12:30 maybe) and they will eat more & then have a smaller snack. Until then, I would go with whatever works if it were me.

 

That's the problem really, overall they don't eat much except cereal, snacks and fruit, lol. With maybe a bit of pasta in the evening.

 

I agree with Tina. I think multiple small meals are better than 3 big meals. As long as their "snacks" are healthy, I wouldn't care when they actually ate and how much...but thats just me. I think at this age three meals and two snacks a day is appropriate. I would just make sure their snacks are fruit, veggies, cheese, whole grains, etc... Put more emphasis on what they are eating instead of when they are eating. ardon:

 

I also agree with the PP's. In reading your question again, however, your concern seems to me that you do not want to get your lo's used to having huge snacks and not eating at meals. Since this is a concern, I would suggest, then, that you change your "mealtimes" to your "snack times." Your lo's may not be hungry enough at lunch time to eat a sufficient amount to satisfy them until their snack time. You could possibly try giving them their lunch meal right after their nap. I would also suggest, like the PPs, that you might want to change their snack foods and substitute some items traditionally thought of as lunch (sliced turkey, yogurt, cheese, vegetables with a dip) as snacks. These might satisfy your lo's more than golfish (my kids eat way more than ten of these, by the way). GL! I find feeding issues tough.

 

I think the main issue is that they tend to fill up on the stuff they like more than the healthy stuff, it doesn't matter when I give it, they won't eat the veggies, cheese is hit and miss, but fruit and goldfish/crackers they'll eat a ton of. Today at 11am they found a leftover bowl of kix from this morning and ate all of it, when they usually don't eat lunch at 11.30am, lol. I ended up giving them more food (yogurt, fruit and pepperonis) and just gave lunch now after their nap, and of course they ate the fruit, some chicken nuggets, and left the carrots... sigh.

 

That is exactly the way mine eat. They eat what they like and leave the rest. I don't know any other way to get them to eat it (veggies and fruit) other than keep offering it. We also have a rule that you have to at least try it. If you don't like it, I won't make you eat it, but you have to at least try one bite. Their picky eating use to be really bad, but it is slowly getting better. AND...I emphasis slowly! Give it time and keep offering the good stuff. They will eventually start eating better.