The snack requests are going to kill me off.

[3AndStopping]

One week into the summer holidays and if I hear ‘I’m hungry.’ One more time I might actually bang my head against a brick wall!! Helppppp!
(light hearted(ish) of course.)

I wonder, have things really changed since the 80s/90s?

I see a lot of threads on this, plus I know people who struggle with kids always asking for food. I'm genuinely curious about it as I have a 2 year old who doesn't ask yet, just eats what he's given but I'm wondering if this will change and when!

We had 3 set meals a day plus set snack times. It wouldn't have occurred to us to ask for food outside of those times! Our meals and snacks were pretty hearty though as we ran around non stop.

It was the same at my friends houses. We had a snack then carried on playing until the next mealtime.

Into the 4th week of 8 here in NI of the summer holidays, I feel your pain!!!!

Possibly controversial (on Mumsnet) but don’t children need to learn that it’s ok to be hungry? We don’t need to be constantly filling them up and it’s actually quite nice to be hungry before you are about to eat a meal?

Children ask if they get what they ask for, even if they only sometimes get it. If they are never allowed snacks outside of set times they don't ask. Parents tend to provide something in a shiny packet fairly regularly (often taken in by claims that it's healthy as it contains fruit etc). It's hard to be the only parent who doesn't as your children just go and pester someone else's mum instead!

I agree but it’s a bloody nightmare. They come out of school absolutely crazing for snacks as do all their friends. Was never a thing when I was growing up and I’m not that old.

I like getting my DC to cook cakes and biscuits. Keeps them occupied. Reasonably healthy food to have a snacks (better than ultra processed anyway).

Mine is the same with apples I threaten to worm him more often (he is on regular worming schedule like a cat as the school has regular worm issues and he is a nail biter and 🤢 bum scratcher)

My problem is stopping the whining for “treat” type snacks, eg lolly, chocolate, sweets. We have come up with a token system - 2tokens a day to “spend” on treats. Fruit is free. I couldn’t let them help themselves because they would.not.stop

My DC (10 and 8) don’t ask for snacks but we have a routine. They have breakfast, lunch, a mid afternoon snack (as breakfast and lunch are early) then dinner. They know what’s coming when and they eat the meals they’re given so they aren’t hungry inbetween. They are always busy too, so no wanting to eat through boredom either.

This is a brilliant idea. We don’t have kids but I’m wondering if it might work for us instead! 😂

Try protein for snacks. Will they eat hummus with chopped veg or crackers?

Were we this bad growing up?

I dont recall ever asking my mom for snacks on holiday (and we had 3 months of summer holidays!!!!). Obviously thats not to say I never asked... but were we this bad and I just dont remember?

I dont have kids (yet), but all my friends who do have been complaining of this!

I do it for me too! One nice treat for myself and it definitely makes me think about what i am eating! Its so easy to just grab a handful of biscuits or a bag of crisps if its there. Although my husband is on a major lifestyle change diet presently amd if he were not i suspect he would just find amd eat my treat!

@AutumnCrow

Have you tried one of those automatic pet feeders that only open at certain times?
Dragons' Den beckons - the holiday snack feeder for children. There are different compartments though - nuts, dried fruit, skittles and M&Ms.

I'll do the demo if you do the talking 😬

@PoshPineapple , Dbro and Sil had one of those, for their (usually several) foster cats.
Dbro put a notice on the front of it saying, ‘Self Service - Thin Cats Only’. 😂

if they're that hungry they will eat it

THIS!
And bunch/es of bananas.

My Mum would supervise me making my breakfast, she'd make me a lunch box for lunch then for dinner she'd give me a choice of two meals. For snacks I had a snack box. In that box was snacks I could have through the day: Lunchables, those dipper things you have the little pot of cheese with, fruit, baby bels, yogurts

Just an idea

With kids who all like different things (one in particular is very fussy!) How do you find snacks that aren't expensive and rubbish that will actually get eaten? Things like hummus, veg sticks etc. Would just rot in our house.
My youngest will not touch fruit, the rest demolish it but berries go off so quickly these days especially as they are expensive!

Someone recently said toast. With jam.

Have a set time, 10.30am and 3pm everything else is a no.

Oh dear, I think I need to deworm my eats ridiculous amounts of food and is skinny!. I'm always threatening to film her eating a whole bucket of chicken and post it on YouTube 😁. I thank God she loves fruit and salads and veg . She loves protein more than cakes and ice cream etc

I tend to keep the fruit bowl filled and when they ask for a snack it's always an apple first. That'll keep them munching on it for a while so nothing else before lunch.
The next time she asks for a snack she's more direct so I'll allow it if she has a glass of milk with it. More often than not she'll have the milk and leave the snack half eaten.

@ASGIRC

Were we this bad growing up?

I dont recall ever asking my mom for snacks on holiday (and we had 3 months of summer holidays!!!!). Obviously thats not to say I never asked... but were we this bad and I just dont remember?

I was thinking the exact same thing. Except I think it about a lot of things these days; that's how I know I've got dinosaur status in sight! But for sure snacking wasn't a thing in the 70's. I seem to recall we were booted out of the house after breakfast (1 Weetabix topped with half a bag of sugar and a fight over the 'top of the milk'), and not allowed home until 'tea time'. I'm pretty sure we weren't sent off with anything other than a drink and a bag of crisps if we were lucky!

@PoshPineapple I grew up int he 80s and 90s, and while I didnt play outside, Im sure I had breakfast, lunch, a sandwich by 5pm and then dinner at 8/9pm...

Maybe in summer camp theyd give us a juice box and half a sandwich mid morning, and then again in the afternoon... But those happened at set times, for all the kids. But not this constant snacking situation I see my friends, and now MN complaining about!