Snack hounding driving me mad

[Relocatiorelocation]

We've come to a play village place this morning. Both dc are presently stood in different corners of the place sulking as I've said no to more snacks.

They drive me bloody mad.

Just a whiff of a cafe / shop / ice cream cart and they can completely ruin a day out. They both just stand there like starving Street dogs giving me eyes for snacks. They absolutely aren't hungry, they have adequate snacks and treats, but nothing is ever enough.

From a health, finance and not wanting Verucca Salt children I limit snacks and treats but they certainly don't go without.
I've cut outings short before as their keeping on has driven me mad. They don't have any additional needs or physical conditions or anything, they are just annoying sugar hounds.

Any tips?

I don't think 6 is to young for telling the time or saying we are going to do this this and this first before lunch. Have you considered not taking any snacks out at all ?

I have pretty much always said no. I’m a Mean Mum who wants her kids not to develop bad habits of expecting a sugary treat every time we go out. I have boring snacks from home in my bag if they are starving but almost never bought treats.

After a fairly short while they stopped asking.

Now they are older I do buy treats more often as they’ve learned not to nag or expect it - the better habit is hopefully formed. They know it’s a rare treat and appreciate it more. Also their bodies/calorie needs are bigger so it’s not such a big deal from a health perspective.

Lots of people saying sugary snacks aren’t a big deal but also lots of overweight kids in the UK 🤷‍♀️

dd is 22
exactly the same,
as soon as we go anywhere, she is hungry! or wants a cocktail because it is such a good price

quite off putting.

I’ve never bought into the whole snack thing. I’ve never given them so my kid doesn’t know any different. And three meals a day is plenty of food.

There are some unpleasant responses here.

It is natural when you’ve spent money and want to do something nice for your children to be upset when it’s ruined.

@Relocatiorelocation mine are the same age and exactly the same. It drives me mad! So far I have tried:
only having boring snacks available - makes the whingeing worse
telling them only one afternoon and one morning snack - back fires when 3yo doesn't eat any lunch and then needs an extra snack - 6yo gets very indignant - even if the extra snack is just his leftover cheese sandwich!
big meals and no snacks at all: cue lots of moaning that I’m the worst mum in the world.
only snacks from home - no café bought snacks: they obsess about the snacks they know I have in my bag and nag until I hand them over, usually about 20mins into a day out.

im just hoping it’s a phase :/

one thing that has worked is telling them ‘no lunch today just snacks’ and then essentially serving lunch in a Tupperware: they love it. If the same food was on a plate they’d turn their noses up at it.

In response to your update. Maybe the food is not filling your toddler up. It might be healthy and nutritionally correct but maybe it needs a different composition. Even differently cooked oats aren't considered equal in their ability to make you feel full.

I'm also under the impression that toddlers require more but smaller meals due to their stomach capacity being a lot smaller than an adult or even a primary school child. Its like expecting a kitten to eat one or two big meals a day. Its physically impossible.

orange juice, raisins and a muffin, plus access to unlimited fresh and dried fruit is a big amount of sugar. If that’s how I started my day, I would be hungry for more sugar all day

At the w surely she has her own money and it's up to her what she does?

I have one the same age. I don't agree with her choices but she already knows that. Lol

I don't understand why you give into the whingeing ?
"Bad luck" and step away from toddler rolling on the floor, carry on conversation.

I always told mine I don't understand whining, ask nicely "Can I have xyz"
NO
The End

sulking as I've said no to more snacks

I don't understand why you give into the whingeing

sigh

Op has already given in by buying a muffin she didn't want them to have.

I was thinking similar. Would it be worth trying cheese as a snack? I certainly be avoiding the dried fruit that probably has more sugar in it than the muffin.

One thing I did always allow mine was plenty to drink at soft play etc.

Are they overweight? Do they eat their dinner? If it's an issue, I would stop. If not, let them eat as many snacks as they want. My 2 x ds's, did a lot of sport. They ate. Constantly.

Take snacks with you. More interesting ones than dried fruit!

Dried fruit is awful for the teeth, not filling and full of sugar.

You could make some flapjacks or healthier/low sugar muffins that are more appealing to kids and actually fill them up.

I also don't give in to whinging under any guise and my DC know that if they get something nice to eat, they should be grateful. If they whinge, we leave and I'm far more stubborn than they are!

That works if both children are whingeing and you have unlimited money I suppose.

There isn’t anything wrong with buying something nice. A muffin, an ice cream, some biscuits or a cake.

But it’s exhausting when they keep on.

I don’t have a brilliant eater but I do know how it feels when a nice day is spoiled.

No child needs to keep eating, especially when they're out doing something fun like a Play Village!

Christ, it's bad enough now that over 60% of adults are overweight, it's likely to be off the scale in the future if they're raised to keep on and on eating even they're supposed to be out having fun.

Keep at it OP. A good firm NO.

Eggs etc for breakfast, then a muffin and raisins mid morning is lots of food, so you know they are not hungry. Stand firm, it’s fruit, water or we’ll go home.

To be honest your snack options would have left me hungry and having had too much sugar.

@VyeBrator
Really? I'd already asked OP if they were overweight. So do back off!

My niece and nephew are exactly like this. From my perspective it is clearly as a result of my sisters own food issues - she has made food and snacks a massive thing and is so uptight about eating. Children are now in a terrible cycle of nagging and pestering and thinking about food constantly. If they come to mine they just talk and ask about snacks nonstop. I think they need a complete reset of two weeks without anyone mentioning food at all. However my sister thinks it is the kids fault and it is so ingrained I can't see it changing. Really makes days out hard to bare sometimes.

What I don't understand is, if you paid for some treat outings, why not give them treat like ice cream etc as well, rather than raisins? It's not everyday, is it?
It's natural for kids to want something different that looks appealing, and see other kids enjoying. I never say no to treat if we are out/on holiday etc, basically doing something fun.

What on earth does weight have to do with it?

Do you honestly think teaching a child to have a bad relationship with food, is fine as long as they're not overweight?

They need to break the link between having fun and having food.