To think your child doesn't need a snack in a 30-minute toddler class?

[Mummyreindeerlegz]

Sorry for the long title.

Why is it some parents give their one year old snacks during really short classes (or at all during classes!)? A one year old wandering around with a soggy rice cake, dropping bits is grim. Wait half an hour or give them a snack before you come.

Please tell me why people think this is ok? Fully prepared to be told I am being unreasonable.

Sorry but I think you are being a bit precious. I understand your kid has intolerances, I had a good friend who had the same with their kid, any bit of dairy and it wasn't pretty. I have a kid with an allergy, certain foods are potentially very dangerous. But I can't stop other kids having snacks wherever we go, neither can you. You just have to watch your kid and make sure they don't pick other stuff up. PITA, but you're not going to manage the toddler years without being around other kids who smack unless you stay at home all the time (which I don't recommend for the sake of your sanity).

Kids who snack - obviously!

I read your post earlier on, op and I remembered how irritating it was when bits got dropped and my dd had CMPI. Not a severe allergy but enough to give her tummy ache.

I seem to remember having a supply of rice cakes just in case but it was usually to stave off a tantrum.

I do know a child who becomes terribly sick if he doesn't always have something in his stomach though.

So, if they are eating i would really prefer for many reasons that they are sitting down. Not wandering around, dropping stuff and rocking choking

Risking. Not rocking.

Who actually cares? Jesus the things people judge over. Save your ire for people that don't feed their kids.

Incidentally all the toddler classes I go to are no food allowed. So if your child has an allergy op maybe look for a different class.

I have an older child too, who also has similar issues so this isn't my first rodeo. I still think letting your child wander around dropping food and not cheating it up is rude whether or not allergies or intolerances are involved.

If you knew me you would know I'm the least precious person, however I don't want to be running around trying to stop my child picking up dribbly crap another child has dropped or avoiding the instruments covered in sticky crumbs.

Well maybe they're busy before or after. How is it different taking snack time at a class vs a visit to someone or in the supermarket/ bank/ post office queue or whatever? The child has to snack at sometime and some people are busy

YANBU - I am again a Grandparent and when my kids were little this snack culture simply did not exist. Weaning was moving a child from bottle/breast to 3 meals a day and once that was done, normally by 1st birthday, your child got three meals a day at the same time and of the same items as the parents and rarely if ever had snacks.

Snacks between meals were the treats you had on days out or when someone was visiting. Or when you knew the main meal was going to be much later than normal

It is something I have noticed since my daughter has had children - I find it bizarre - I would never of considered giving my children a snack during a 3 hr class never mind 30mins. Modern parents seem to enjoy creating extra work for themselves.

My son has type 1 diabetes and if he were hypo then he would need a snack to stop him collapsing, or indeed just the excitement of a toddler group and the extra activity would mean that he would absolutely HAVE to have a snack to ward off any ensuing hypos.

Before diagnosis we had terrible trouble with behaviour and it is now becoming apparent to us that low blood sugars in exactly this sort of situation can cause a messy meltdown.

Oh God yes, the instruments caked in food. Blegh. If your life is so busy that you haven't got time to feed your kids then you probably need to relook at your toddler class schedule to be honest.

But presumably, the toddler who goes to a 10am class doesn't wake up at 10am.

It's less about being 'unable to go without' for 30 minutes and more about what time the class actually falls IME - my toddlers were always ready for a snack by 10am ish but I wouldn't have left it much later than that as it would be pushing a bit close to lunch time.

I don't really see the issue if I'm honest. Yes it is only a 30minute class, however I personally would prefer the children I look after to eat in a class than on the way to said class, or on the way back, or at the shops we may nip to afterwards, or whilst walking the dog before the class.
In the class I am in close proximity to the children so can check for choking, which I cannot do whilst they are in the back of the car.
It's a toddler group, it's hardly the most sanitary of environments whether a child is snacking or not.

Can you tell that entitled children with no social graces irritate me? 

How many one year olds do you know with social graces?

So it's a music class? Well I suppose it would be annoying if little Johnny is smearing instruments with food and ramming rice cakes down the end of a trumpet.

Taking some wipes and pointedly wiping the tambourine whilst tutting is the usual British way of handling these things.

If eating cannot be avoided then children need to sit down to eat, have hands and faces wiped afterwards, and parents need to clean up any mess. No wandering around spreading goop on the equipment.

Other people's parenting can drive you crazy if you pay too much attention to it - best to let it just wash over you where possible!

That said, I'm not great at heeding my own advice. My local toddler group recently had a refurb including a brand new soft play corner. There was one mum who would shove her child into the clean and new soft play with coat and shoes on and a huge sandwich in one hand, then bugger off to the corner to chat with her mates for the full hour and a half. Every week.

I found it so infuriating. Many times I (and others) helped her kid out of shoes and coat and steered them back out of the soft play until they'd finished eating (all done kindly) and would get only glares in return.

Unicorn I agree - it annoys me no end to see children (and adults) walking about whilst eating. Sit down! Enjoy your snack!
The amount of times DS has come out of school with a treat handed out from the class birthday child, and they are all walking home with stuffing it in, instead of waiting.
Also the parents waiting with snacks ready - sandwiches, crisps or whatever. They only ate 3 hours ago FFS
Anyway, rant over!

10am was always snack time in our routine and is in nursery. I couldn't get upset or irritated by toddlers having a snack anywhere tbh.

This is why I always hated mum and toddler classes..
An hour of forced friendliness with other stressed mum's, the worry that your child isn't behaving or in fact listening to the "teacher" at all, and all with an undercurrent of competitive parenting.

No thanks.

My DS has constantly got a snack, never realised it was an issue for other parents

nope, can't get stressed about toddlers having a snack at all, although I agree with pps that they could sit down to avoid dropping food all over the place.
Sometimes toddlers get hungry, perhaps they've had breakfast very early or for whatever reason refused to eat much at breakfast time. They do not understand the concept of waiting 30minutes and will spend the class grizzling, which will draw judgement from other parents. So you can't win really.

My DD used to get hungry frequently - she needed snacks. Now she's 4 she's understood for quite some time that she just has to wait if we're out. As a toddler she wouldn't have understood.

I'm with you Sundance. Three meals a day, snacks on rare occasions, no wandering around while eating, and always wipe hands and mouth after food.

I can't imagine caring about one-year-olds eating snacks as much as some people in this thread. Parents should clean up after their crumbly toddlers however.

YABU because who cares

ShallNotBeNamed but why has he? Why has he constantly got a snack? Does he not eat meals?

Snacks have been around since toddlers have been toddlers
I don't think that's true. Snacking wasn't a thing when I was a child,
nor when I took my dcs to playgroup. We'd sing and play clapping games and the like, but eating was never a part of it. We might have a drink and a bit of banana when we got home though, or maybe before, so we didn't get hungry while we were out.