Constantly crying for snacks or ice...

One of my DDs has learned where we keep our Goldfish and cookies and constantly goes over to that cabinet and whines and cries for them. She also goes to the ice maker and whines for a piece of ice. She does this just after finishing a big meal, so it's not due to hunger, it's more of a game. I take her to the play room to distract her, which works, but while I'm in the kitchen preparing meals it just goes on and on. What do you guys do? Do you limit it to two snacks/ice and then just let them cry? I don't think she can comprehend it if I tell her it's the last one and no more, but maybe she can. Ugh!

 

My guys are getting in the habit of "panhandling" for snacks because DH likes to give them animal crackers when they're fussy. I'm trying to get DH out of this habit because I feel like it's important for my boys to have structured meals/snacks at consistent times, and almost always at the table. When my guys get whiny for "cook-cook" while we're making meals I try and distract them with a catalog they can tear up, or let them pull all the Tupperware out of the kitchen cabinets! :lol:

It's definitely tough when you're trying to cook yourself and you don't have enough hands to keep them busy.

 

My girls are just about 15 months old and LOVE goldfish and string cheese. It definitely was a mistake on my part to dole either out as a distraction...but as we all know sometimes you have to do whatever works at the moment to satisfy two at once if you can!

Anyway, what I started doing is saying in a really excited voice, "Last Bite!" when we're down to one peice each of whatever the snack is. Then after I give each of them the last bite, I clap my hands together and then show them my empty hands and say (again, in an excited voice)"ALL GONE"! all while smiling. My girls totally get it. They will attempt to repeat "ALL GONE!" after they pop the last piece in their mouths and clap and show me their hands too. Then they walk off and play with toys, destroy things, etc. It really has worked well for us.

 

i think we may be creating snack monsters in our house but it seems to be working well so far - we got our girls snack cups with these flexible lid things that you can reach into & pull food out but it helps keep the food from dumping out if they turn the snack cup over. anyway, we fill them in the morning with "trail mix" (cheerios, goldfish & yogurt covered raisins) & leave it on their table. they have access to it all day along with their water sippies. we still do three official meals & two official snacks a day as well. so far, it doesn't seem that the grazing is affecting how much they eat at their meals. anyway, hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the butt. ardon:

 

lol this original post is something i could have written myself. my girls also go to the 'snack' cabinet and reach up and whine and jump up and down. and then they always try this right before bedtime, so we end up giving them a few bites of something so they will sleep without protest. i'm not sure what to do either.

 

Thanks for the input! I put some gold fish in a bowl and some ice cubes in a bowl and set them on the floor and let them graze. This totally stopped the whining at the cabinet and ice machine. I'm going to get some of those snack cups with lids so they can't spill them as much.

 

We do pretty much the same exact thing as you.... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's going to work out in the end! Mine are underweight so I figure healthy snacking might be a good way to increase their calorie content.... hopefully we aren't creating snack junkies!

 

My two figured out how to open those snack traps in 2 days... so we now deal with a mess all the time.

I'm afraid mine are snack junkies though... We got rid of breakfast on most days and just give them cheerios or kix in a little bowl, but they come to us 20 times a day with the bowls asking for more now... even just after lunch (which they didn't finish). And we get tantrums when we say no... and they don't eat that much at meals anymore.

It stinks! I'd like to just give them fruit or cheese to graze on, but fruit dumped on the floor is just gross.

 

My ds could live off of crackers if I would let him so we do the same thing with the snack traps - just let them carry around that cup full of goldfish, or cheerios or whatever and eat on it (and feed them to the dog) until they are gone and they seem to realize that there are no more coming once those cups are empty.

 

My boys do the same thing. They are always asking for more cookies/crackers/fruit/cheese as soon as they are done with their snack. They are both on the small side, but both eat like they have a hollow leg. The joke at daycare is that they eat 3 breakfasts and 2 lunches since their "snacks" end up turing more into meals. At home I keep a gate in the doorway to our kitchen which helps the whining at the pantry while I'm cooking, so instead they whine at the gate. Eventually they get the idea that I'm not giving them anything and they move on. It has taken us a long time to get there though and that is only while I'm cooking dinner. They know the sign for all gone and we always tell them that when we finish a meal or snack. Slowly they seem to be catching on, but it's hard for me to not give in since they are still so small.