To not carry about endless snacks and things for my DC?

[AwfulMaureen]

I seem to be seeing an awful lot of parents with snacks in bags....I remember that I did do that a bit when the children were tiny...as in under 3...and their meal times weren't always regular. But now they are 9 and 6 I don't...however I see that the parents of their friends have things in their bags all the time....bags of cheese or chocolate bars...cartons of juice etc. This is not for long gaps between meals whilst waiting for swimming lessons or anything...it's constantly!

Walking about town with a friend and her bag is full of bloody food! Her son is NINE...surely he can wait a couple of hours?

[AwfulMaureen]

Yonis with your assertion that because your children are so active that they need to constantly eat without any end to it or any discrimination.

[AwfulMaureen]

Worra It's one of those subjects isn't it? Seems to hit a nerve.

[JuniperHeartwand]

Hmm WorraLiberty maybe you're right, I'd never thought about it to be honest, I thought I was not that unusual (okay a bit weird maybe). Incidentally I'm not overweight and hardly ever actually eat the snacks, they're in my bag for days or weeks until I need them, but I still think it's not unreasonable to plan ahead a little like this for your own kids who can't plan for themselves. As a previous poster said, your plans might change eg car breakdown, hospital visit etc.

[DoYonisHangLow]

Interesting that you seem to know my children more than I do

Obviously they do have an end they just dictate it themselves by listening to their bodies rather than click watching. As I said, DD2 eats constantly the ought the morning then has nothing from 11am ish to dinner time (I would give her food if she asked obv but she doesn't). DD1 eats lots more but is the perfect weight for her height so obviously isn't eating too much, maybe your children would be overweight if they accepted and ate lots more snacks. Mine isn't.

As I said, I just want my children to eat according to their appetites at the times they're hungry as opposed to social convention (not that this can be avoided at times eg at school). If I listen to my own body I don't get hungry till 4pm ish them I graze till bedtime. I'm a perfectly healthy weight but probably wouldn't be if I ate 3 meals a day when I wasn't hungry!

[teenagetantrums]

No need to take food if you are only out for a while, I always took water but that was it. Mind you I am the worst prepared mum in the world, I never took spare clothes, often forgot tissues/wet wipes and plasters that all stuff real mums seem to carry. its amazing mine made it to teenagers.

[ThisFenceIsComfy]

Oh dear. I admit I take snacks for DS who's nearly two whenever we go on a 'long-haul' trip in the pushchair. It keeps him from screaming "I'm stuck!!!!" a lot. Ditto for bus trips . Although a toy car works occasionally.

Hope I haven't condemned him to boredom snacking though.

[DoYonisHangLow]

clock watching

throughout the morning.

Really need to start proof reading

[stubbornstains]

I never take snacks and rarely take drinks unless we're going to be out for a long time. This backfires on me because when other children have snacks/drinks DS wants one and I don't have one for him, then there's an awkward thing where the other parent feels they have to share and even if I say oh no, he's fine, because they've offered it to him I can't always refuse on his behalf (and it seems a bit mean to).

^^This. (Sigh). I guess you just have to get used to being a Dreadful Parent, in the eyes of others. I regularly offer DS (4) a snack after pre school at home, and he normally refuses because he knows he's just going to get something boring like fruit.

But when we're out, and we're with someone who has something like those cunning little pretend healthy super-sweet ever-so pricey kiddie bars, he can put on his best famine victim expression, irrespective of the fact that he wolfed 2 adult sized bowls of porridge 2 hours ago.

[WeAreSix]

This has got me thinking, as I always have snacks in my bag for my DCs. DD2 does have a medical problem which means she needs to eat frequently so it's a necessity for her.

The others don't need snacks, but I've almost always got something in my bag to fend off hunger until we are home to eat properly. Not sure why, but it's just one of those things I do. DCs are not overweight at all and it doesn't seem to be turning them into comfort eaters.

They also have times where they have to wait and I say no to a snack, so maybe the balance is working.

Different for everyone I suppose!

[fuzzpig]

YANBU.

We really got into the habit of keeping DCs happy with food when they were little. Trying to break that association (ie 'eat something if you're bored') now. DH is finding it harder than I am, the big softie.

[fuzzpig]

I do usually take water everywhere though as hydration is important.

[CaptainTripps]

Op I agree with you. The number of kids who get snacks shoved into their hands after swimming must be reflective of what's going on up and down the country.

We are simply eating too fucking much. Folks get all bristly over it as in what the hell has it got to do with you? etc etc. But we are growing a nation of little chubsters children who won't be able to recognise real hunger signs and act accordingly. Just can't be good long term.

[andsmile]

I take snacks out because:

I dont want to pay for food when we are out and about.
I dont want to buy chocolate/biscuits/crisps or fruit shoots that are prevalent.
Sometimes if I know we are eating late or will be dealyed in eating they will have fruit and cereal bar while we are out to keep topped up.
DS eats little and often, 5 small meals a day.

[WorraLiberty]

But see even if my car broke down (if I had one) or we had to go to hospital, the world won't stop turning if the kids get a bit hungry.

I'd try to find a vending machine and if there wasn't one, they'd wait until they got home.

[BIWI]

The problem is that, as a nation, we have got used to snacking. And the reason that we have got used to snacking is because we're always hungry. And we're always hungry because we eat so much carbohydrate.

Too many carbs causes our blood sugar to surge, which means a massive surge in insulin, to deal with the blood sugar - which is followed quickly by a huge fall in our blood sugar, which our bodies translate into 'I'm hungry'. It's nothing to do with our stomachs being empty.

So we're constantly eating.

And what we tend to eat these days, thinking that we're eating healthily, is carbs - fruit, bread, rice cakes, fruit juice, hummous, etc

If we ate protein and fat for our meals, we wouldn't be hungry in between and our blood sugar would be stable. And we wouldn't need to snack all the bloody time!

[IWillOnlyEatBeans]

I take snacks and a drink out with me for my two DC (4 and 1).

The snacks don't always get eaten, but I'd rather have them with me just in case. I'd rather be able to give DS2 a rice cake when he starts getting hungry rather than faff about trying to find something suitable when we're out and about (DS2 has quite a few food allergies).

If I am out with friends and they don't have snacks for their DC I will offer them some of mine, because it would look rude not to and I'm happy to share. I'm certainly not judging them and thinking they are a Dreadful Parent!

[Chewbecca]

YANBU

But I think it may be just down to being either a worry type who likes to be prepared for all eventualities or the 'it'll all be fine, let's just get on with it' type who don't bother.

[TheUnemployableLeech]

Doesn't it also depend on when they eat meals? Mine have breakfast around 630, so to wait until 12 for the next meal, especially if they've been swimming/skating/running round the park all morning is too long (also for me). Same again, to wait for evening meal at 6-630 with an afternoon of doing things is a long time. I always have a snack in my bag, just a packet of plain cracker-biscuity things, something the DC are not keen on so I know if they accept it then they really are hungry!

[TheSkiingGardener]

I get a migraine if I don't eat when I'm hungry, and I've noticed my DS's get super grumpy very quickly if hungry. They're 3 and 1 though, so I carry snacks. It's something I'm aware of having to keep an eye on as they grow. I want them to just eat at mealtimes ideally and not generally snack, but I don't want them suffering headaches so I'm going to tread softly and probably be carrying snacks just in case for a while.

[WorraLiberty]

BIWI that's true but we're also overlooking the fact that if a child is constantly given food the minute they say they're hungry...they will grow up thinking hunger is the enemy.

Hunger is a perfectly natural and normal thing. It's something that a lot of children and adults have forgotten how to cope with for a couple of hours until dinner time.

Even walking round a busy shopping precinct you'll see so many people eating, like they couldn't possibly wait until they got home.

[andsmile]

I would add that neither DC are overweight.

I dont think swimming is a good example to cite as I think you can be 'low' and have real hunger pains after a swim.

I dont use food as a reward or punishment ie they get their pudding or chocolate at the weekend reguardless of behaviour. I see so many parents using food as a reward.

My pet hate re snacks is parents who greet kids in the school playground with sweets. I just never do this, such a bad habit. They may have fruit when they get home if the meal is not ready to serve anytime soon.

[WorraLiberty]

The snacks don't always get eaten, but I'd rather have them with me just in case.

Just in case of what though?

[ikeaismylocal]

My ds is 14 months old and I take a satsuma or banana with me, that is all. I only give ds the fruit if we are for some reason running late and it is his regular meal time.

Are you supposed to offer them snacks?

[allisgood1]

After reading through I think YANBU to not always carry snacks. YABU for being a judgy pants for parents who do.

[BIWI]

Hunger, from an empty stomach, is pretty normal. But honestly, how often is that really true? We don't know what hunger is in the Western world. (For the most part - I'm obviously assuming we're talking about people here who can afford food)

Hunger is driven by two things - an empty stomach, which isn't something many of us really suffer from, and hormones - which is something exacerbated by an too-high intake of carbs.