What age did you start allowing you dc help themselves to food?

[Oly4]

My kids are 9&6 and healthy eaters but if I let them they would snack all day on chocolate or crisps. I tend to limit those.
But I don’t want to create food issues or good/bad food ideas.
At what age did you start letting your kids help themselves to snacks (outside the fruit bowl?) between meals. Or do they still ask as tweens/teens? Thanks

Mine ask at 9 and nearly 13.
But they are not big on eating between meals, they don't ask very often. Less than once a week, probably. They prefer to save treats for pudding after meals.
If they did ask for a treat, I'd expect them to offer some around to everyone in the house - and DH or I would do likewise.

9&7 we dont really snack between meals. They will get treats after lunch or dinner sometimes we offer, sometimes they ask. If it's in between meals and they ask they're directed to the fruit bowl but it's very rare they ask for a snack.

We do take snacks on longer car journeys and they get their 'bag' when we get in the car, but it's for both ways they pretty much always save some for the way back.

It's not really practical for those of us on low incomes to allow children to just take anything they fancy at any time of day. If I did that I'd never eat fruit!

And how do you meal plan if they can just take anything from the fridge whenever?

Mine are 5 and 9 and I've always let them help themselves to fruit and water but they have to ask for anything else. I usually say yes, unless it's about to be a meal.

And how do you get them to eat the meals you've spent ages making when they've been grazing from dawn to dusk? It's one of those Mumsnet v Reality threads.

And how do you meal plan if they can just take anything from the fridge whenever?

They don’t take meal stuff
Crisps
Biscuits
Fruit
Yogurts
Nuts
Cereal
Cake bars
Popcorn
Eggs
Jam and bread
Pot noodles - teens

Makes no difference to meal plans - they aren’t going to whip up a chicken curry!

My 6yo boy has started helping himself.
"Why didnt you ask?"
"Because you'd say no"
I find empty ham packets etc in the fridge, empty cereal boxes and dirty plates (leftovers for my lunch). Argh!!

Mine still asks at 19 because he's a lazy sod .

What does that mean? He asks so you provide it?

I had to stop DD10 hwlping herswlf over lockdown as shes gone from being fit and slim to getting a little layer of fat around her middle. I give her a weeks amount of snacks and when its gone its gone

Since lockdown day 1.

They ask first and then go get.

Ds(16), 6ft tall string bean and now deep voice still asks mummy, never dad, more because he is hungry and wants "ideas".

It is usually after 8-9pm and I'll tell him (same things everytime!) there's eggs, tuna, pasta, cheese, toast, any leftovers, protien yoghurts, banana, apples, beans (and tidy up after yourself!!!) and he'll then make something out of that himself, usually cheesy beans on toast, cheese/ham omelette or tuna pasta and then a yoghurt/fruit after. He seems to need 4 meals a day to keep going.

DD is 4 (5 in September) and she helps herself to food and drinks.

I've got a snack cupboard with all the dry bits (including chocolate, sweets and crisps) plus all the snacks for the fridge & the pre-prepared packs of apple slices & grapes and watermelon.
She pretty much always goes for something savoury and I think it's because she knows that the sweet stuff is always on offer too.

I implemented it so I didn't have to hear 'can I have a snack?' a million times a day; now I reinforce that she can get it herself and (if she's just bored) she isn't bothered enough to stop what she's doing to go and get one!

@RuffleCrow Mine have to their meals and if they don’t then I’ll not let them snack as much. My lock on the cupboard limits what they can snack on. At the start of lockdown I’d go out and when I got home they’d have eaten 2 packets of crisps each, a multipack of chocolate bars and about 10 apples!!! They eat a box of cereal in 2 days 😩 It is expensive having 2 teenage boys and a husband in a physical job as they eat ridiculous amounts of food!
They do eat their meals as well though. My younger son isn’t allowed to snack much as he will not eat his dinner.

I've seen threads on here plenty of times of people who are OUTRAGED that anyone would not give their poor children free range to help themselves to food. After all they ARE a member of the family aren't they?

I have three boys.
If I let them help themselves our cupboards would be bare, 100% of the time.

They have hollow legs. Especially the 13 year old.

They ask.

It's one of those Mumsnet v Reality threads.

Very much so!

If my kids snacked all day they would say "I don't like this" to every meal I cook. Unless it was shit like pizza
Sorry kids you need a balanced diet!

Plus, crisps etc would disappear and there would be nothing left for packed lunches.

My husband likes those coffee biscuits but has to hide them because our teen would eat the whole packet in minutes.

I have to point out that they eat like horses and none of them are overweight.
I remember being like that! Not any more 😭