To think toddlers don’t need snacks?

[Cuppasoupmonster]

I was just pondering this when washing up. I’ve never really given DD snacks, she has her 3 meals a day and that’s usually it, maybe once or twice a week she will have a digestive biscuit or yoghurt if dinner is going to be later than usual. However it seems like when we go on days out with other mums and toddlers, they come laden with snacks that are whipped out every hour or two. AIBU to think toddlers don’t really need to snack and this might be contributing to the obesity crisis?

Children are naturally programmed grazers, so I don't think giving snacks to feed them 'little and often' is unreasonable if that's what suits that individual child.But taking bags full of them out and about and using them to 'placate' every time a child gets abit frustrated/fed up/difficult even if they aren't hungry is different.

Snacking isn’t a new phenomenon. I’d say the only change in kids’ snacks from when I was young is that they are much healthier. It’s common now to see kids being given prepared fruit and such, while when I was a kid snacks were much less healthy and sugary drinks were common too. Sunny D, chocolate, cheap crisps like Bikers, can of Coke etc. I don’t often see kids enjoying the types of snacks that me and my friends ate when we were young.

@Hedonism nothing you reposted there said what you implied I did. Please stop desperately trying to ascribe things to me that I didn’t say.

Still haven't answered how many kids you've got, OP.

You really can't see how 'I’ve never really given DD snacks......... However it seems like when we go on days out with other mums and toddlers, they come laden with snacks that are whipped out every hour or two.' could come across as judgemental?

Okaaaayyyyy.

This.

I might add that she clearly needs to boost her self esteem by kicking others.

But eating a piece of cheese as a snack isn't what's making kids obese.

Not is mother's proffering tupperware full of breadsticks and cherry tomatoes.

It's the shit processed food that's doing it.

I grew up in a household where we had 3 healthy meals a day and no snacks.
As an adult, I have THE most unhealthy relationship with food.
I don't believe in controlling food too much, and think that healthy-ish snacks are fine.

I have nearly-6-yo twins.

1 has never really been a snacker. Quite content with his 3 meals a day. If I offer a snack, he'll eat it quite happily, but he rarely ever asked for a snack.

2 has been a snacker all her life. Constantly looking for the next thing to eat! It has dialed back a bit, now she's a little bit older, but she'll still a big snacker.

Both have normal builds.

My 1 year old needs them

I snacked 30 years ago don’t talk rubbish, snacking isn’t new. Kids had morning snacks and afternoon snacks in nursery back then just as they do now.

I’m an adult who snacks, is that allowed?

Not really sure what this new thing is about being high and mighty about no snacking being better.
I don’t like to load up and eat a massive meal in one sitting, neither does my DD.

But we are all different? Also, you've had plenty of well presented and constructive counter points, some of which suggest you're wrong.

And there's a different between snacks and what you've now termed "constant eating". I'd also say your kids are eating snack food. Depth and nuance? It's a debate about snacking not an interpretation of a poem by Homer.

Well the bar for judgemental is so incredibly low on here we basically can’t have an opinion on anything any more. Someone will take it, internalise it, become incandescent with rage and then rant away about something you didn’t even say 😂

It's not what you say, it's the way that you say it.

I don’t believe for a moment that you didn’t realise that this thread would go this way.

That’s what everyone says on here when they simply don’t like the topic of a thread because they’re taking it personally, they blame it on the ‘tone’.

To be fair even if I was trying to start an almighty shit storm about childhood nutrition, you’ve all blown it up for me!

Okey dokes, if you say so. Happy new year.

It isn't anything to do with tone, it's the words you use and the clear underlying attitude.

You could have said "As a parent I want to make sure my child has a healthy diet, and so I was wondering about what could be causing the obesity crisis in the UK. Do you think snacking could play a part in this? What do you think is the right number of meals/snacks for a toddler?" etc etc.

But you didn't. You said a version of "I do this with my child and, in my experience of parenting one single toddler, it seems to be working, so therefore by that logic everyone else on the planet must be doing it wrong and the NHS is misadvising people."

well no because I know what a healthy diet is, I’m not going to play faux naive and end up having a different conversation altogether because people are overwhelmingly sensitive to everything.

People are overwhelmingly sensitive to you judging their parenting and calling their children fat. Yes.

Especially when you're giving your children the exact same, if not worse, foods, just as different points in the day.

well no because I know what a healthy diet is

So, again, you're right based on your experience with one toddler, and the rest of the snack-giving world, and the NHS to boot, are all wrong. 🤣

Ok then.

It varies on the child. If they are small build and don't eat much at a meal, then they might need to snack between meals.

If they go crazy when hungry, then they will need a snack to keep behaviour at a good level. I would always pack snacks for any trip when I wasn't sure where the next food was coming from - which included playdates (for emergencies).

So what is healthier about having Pom bears or a yoghurt directly after a lunch vs 2 hours later?

You’re just talking rubbish. Snacking isn’t inherently bad, you can snack on healthy foods. Equally you can eat shit food and too much of it but keep that to 3 times a day.

The fact it allows them to become hungry before the next meal rather than constantly filling their tummy and teaching it that it always needs to be full of food? Have you even read my posts?