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?

[mrsjay]

YANBU at all i work with young children and the parents bring a bloody picnic then they eat lunch my dds maybe had the odd sweet or maybe a bit of fruit if we went into a shop but why do they think little children need to be fed all day

[MerryMarigold]

My kids are 8,5,5 and I am 41 and I still have a mid morning snack and an afternoon snack. They get really hungry otherwise and I can overeat on the main meals if I don't have it. Agree with little and often, though not all the time. A snack at 10.30 and a snack at 3.30 are not constant snacking. My kids are very slim (me, less so!).

[RonSwansonsLushMoustache]

YANBU. I think some people just don't get out of the habit from when their children are toddlers.

I relish the freedom of just carrying a fiver in my pocket and car keys, rather than bags full of stuff 'just in case'.

My friend still takes snacks, drinks, toys, books, baby wipes etc wherever she goes, her youngest is 4. She brings snacks to my house, and has even produced them just as I'm serving the children dinner

[RonSwansonsLushMoustache]

Meant to say, and said friend's children are never hungry enough to eat a proper dinner because they've been grazing on matzos or ham or cheese and 'pink milk' all afternoon.

[MyFirstName]

Oh and I will admit when DCs were teeny (2yo/3yo) that I did on 2 or 3 occasions use a vast array of unhealthy snacks to appease them/keeping them quiet. Waiting in a hospital waiting room(s). 6 Hour train journey. That kind of thing. Odd occasions. To try and help my DCs not become the child from hell for other people. And yes blatant bribery and corruption. I had toys/entertainment/colouring as well.

Would I do it again if DCs were still that small? Hell yes. Needs must. I would just be aware that some people would be sitting very uncomfortably with their judgy pants hoiked up to they armpits.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

Possum, with respect but why do you read them then? For some people the snacking is a serious issue. I've picked up really great tips from some threads and funnily enough, manage not to read 'judgement' into everything.

[HobbetInTheHeadlights]

When I come out of school I see parents immediately breaking open bags of this and bags of that for their children, usually biscuits/crisps/other processed delights. I don't understand!


I've started doing this since youngest started school and they all went on school dinners. It's not a long walk home - but they could make it a painful experience - then they'd want a big snack and if said no or did early tea they'd still be a nightmare all evening.

So they get an apple, orange or few biscuits or bit of cucumber or small bit of cheese possibly home made cake often a 'healthier' recipe. We can then sometime head of to the park instead of coming straight home.

It makes a stupid amount of difference to their behaviour and I imagine as they get older it will be phased out.

We don't snack in house but do take food - meals or snack on days out but we have no car so days can be very long and unpredictable and it often cheaper and healthier to have snacks with us.

The DC are a health weight and so no adverse affects from this yet.

[georgesdino]

I bet a lot of the non snackers are car drivers as well.

[pyjamaramadrama]

This is a touchy subject for me, I have a slim ds who's constantly asking for snacks and I've a constant battle against my parents who are always trying to top him up with snacks, and not healthy ones.

I don't take snacks out with me unless it's a packed lunch for an outing, I used to bring a banana or a couple of crackers when ds was under 3.

I think it's fine to feel a bit hungry and also to eat at normal meal times because at school and work these are things that you'll have to cope with.

These days we have constant access to food, drive thrus, takeaway delivery, 24 hour shops, we don't really need to be teaching children to eat on demand, they're not going to starve to death.

[Theodorous]

Was she supposed to lie and pretend she went to see The Muppet Movie at her local cinema?

Why is it important to mention what it was?

[Sparklysilversequins]

If I eat three big "healthy" meals a day I put on weight. We are all made differently, grazing is healthier for some. I don't think three meals a day is the ideal for many tbh.

[LongPieceofString]

I love snacks! No point being peckish and tired and ratty when there are snacks in the world.

[GoodnessIsThatTheTime]

I have food issues so I've gone with the they'll eat when hungry line (extension of blw I guess?).

dd1 has a snack after school. Sometimes cake, often a pb sandwich, or fruit. Depends what they fancy.

dd2 similar to above eats after school run... Then doesn't really easy so much later. Bith self regulate and eat well, good weight for age.

I wouldn't want them to be superslim if it meant hungry. As long as right weight for age (mine are)

I'm not but I have multiple food issues abd don't want to pass on so read a fair bit about it. Similarly don't offer pudding as a reward etc.

[WorraLiberty]

Possum, with respect but why do you read them then? For some people the snacking is a serious issue. I've picked up really great tips from some threads and funnily enough, manage not to read 'judgement' into everything.

I agree Lying. I'm not sure why some people get so angsty about (imo) quite informative discussions.

[bonesarecoralmade]

" If I want to take snacks for DC whatever their age then it's no concern of yours."

It is if we are doing things together, you produce a packet of junk carbs (in am expensive posh wrapper with "organic" on it, but still basically junk carbs) at 5pm and my 3 year old has to have one, and this means that the salmon fillet and vegetables I am going to serve at 6 get picked at and thrown away.

I got sick of my dd not eating her dinner on days when we saw friends. It's lovely to have a group you can meet up with in the park but when it's sunny and you are meeting 4 days out of 7, that means that 4 days out of 7 your 3-year-old with a very finite appetite is going to eat some stupid bar out of a packet instead of a real meal.

[SizzlesSit]

This is a very interesting thread.

When I was a child I ate little and often. Even if I didn't eat in between meals I couldn't eat large portions and could never manage my main meal plus a pudding.

As an adult I think I snack too much (fruit and chocolate usually) but don't know how to cut it down, as I still can't eat large meals in one go. It always get commented on in restaurants (by friends/colleagues and the waiters) that I don't finish my plate but I physically can't.

I too get migraines if I don't eat regularly.

Thing is, DH is French and eats 3 (huge) main meals and never snacks. But eats loads of carbs. He is very slim.

I'm not passing my "bad" habits onto 2 year old DS, purely because he is like his dad and doesn't like snacking. We often offer food but 9 times out of 10 he refuses it.

So, how should I cut down my snacking? I'm currently pregnant so I won't be doing it immediately (33 weeks and still being sick/having nausea so need to nibble throughout the day) but I'm interested in avoiding this blood sugar low which I get most days.

[mrsjay]

this thread isnt about starving childrenor being stricy about food it is about the endless drinks and grapes and whatever else that parents give children when out and about in little pots and bags a lot of parents(in my limited experience) seem to think if you just keep children grazing then they will be happy

[HobbetInTheHeadlights]

georgesdino I wonder if you're right.

I mean once the DC are in the car their cooperation isn't as necessary - but if you need them to walk or stand waiting for an undetermined period of time for bus or train or do mad dash to connect or the overall journey goes to hell and takes much longer than planned - the impact of upset hungry DC who chose not to cooperate as well as normal is so much more.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

There are some things that I just must NOT ever buy. Not because the children snack on them but because I would - and finish them - no matter how many were there. I have quite good willpower but these things are my kryptonite and my children, having half my genes, might also be susceptible and I really, really don't want that.

So... if we snack, we have a bit of fruit and/or small cubes of cheese.

I don't really mind what other people do but, as mentioned by other posters, if we were out together, my children would want packet-snacks too - and then not eat their dinners. I don't want that.

[SizzlesSit]

Oh just to say, I snack most days but am a size 10 (well, when not pregnant) so it seems to work for me. But I would love to avoid the blood sugar low

[meerschweinchen]

Are we all talking about the same thing when we say snack? To me a snack is anything you eat between meals. Yet more than one poster here is saying there's no need to eat snacks, but if their children are hungry, they can have a piece of fruit between meals. Fruit is what I give my children as snacks!

[floofyapogo]

Parents at my local school seem to think the only way to get younger, non-school siblings through any event is to stuff white chocolate buttons in their gobs constantly. I guess the whiteness of the chocolate makes them fruit, practically . . .

It's quite entertaining to see which child will get the buttons shoved in the quickest. The parents who are sharpest on the draw often get them in there even before said child has wailed - and I have seen a few spit them out again as they were only getting ready to say something, not angling for sweets .

It's a very small school with lots of assemblies of 30 minutes or so, 95% of families live within 5 minutes walking distance. No idea what would happen if the buttons, cheese strings, and Fruit Shoots weren't laid out on the spare chairs immediately, but I can only assume it would be horrific and must be avoided At All Costs.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

merschweinchen (great name!)... I think they're different things. I think of fruit/cheese bits that I give between meals as snacks. I wouldn't give crack, crisps, biscuits or carbs like that because I think it spikes sugar levels.

[mrsjay]

I wouldn't give crack, crisps, biscuits or carbs like that because I think it spikes sugar levels.

I hope you wouldnt be giving your children crack