3yr old and snacks - do you restrict?

[Watersign76]

3yr old can access the cupboards & fridge and often requests crisps & ice lollies in between meals.

He is stocky but not overweight. He generally eats the child size portions of proper meals we give him. We don't force him to finish, but do encourage him to eat a little more as he appears to be going through a "one mouthful is enough" stage.

DP who looks like Jack Sprat's thinner brother and ONLY ever eats when he is hungry (yes, I know that is the norm!) is keen we restrict the treats and try to focus him on 3 meals a day. But I understand that kids really should have a heathly (prob not the requested ice lollies & crips though!) snack. So we are talking about starting a snack time, rather than letting him poke about in the cupboards.

My relationship with food is terrible and I am overweight, so I am very aware of what he eats.

What do others do?

Thanks

i pretty much let mine have snacks if they ask for them, i only restrict if it's close to dinner time

i figure they know when they're hungry better than I do, and I tend to just give them fruit or veg or oatcakes with humous, olives and stuff like that so it's fairly healthy i suppose
also plenty of drinks in case they're actually thirsty not hungry

I dole out fruit (fresh & dried) and things like flapjacks, carrot sticks and houmous, occasionally a yogurt, the odd biscuit, crackers etc as snacks, usually something mid morning and something at 330ish (school).

Many 3 year olds need snacks in between meals - in fact I would say most of them, so cutting them out is not a great idea, usually.

Crisps etc are a treat, not a daily snack; ice lollies are a dessert (unless it's summer!)

I would restrict the treats, too.

To be honest, I would let him carry on with his 'one mouthful is enough' habit, but point out that he may feel hungry later. Learning about their own hunger and how to regulate it is the best way to get children to eat well. If he has one mouthful and says he doesn't want any more, say 'OK, I htink you will be hungry later though' and leave it at that. And when he does get hungry you can say 'do you think it was because you didn't have enough lunch?' (hand out a banana and a drink, but not lots of snacks)

Then you can move onto (when he's had his one mouthful/however much it is) 'do you remember yesterday when you were really hungry after breakfast/lunch/tea etc?' and gently get him to understand he is in control of how much he eats (of what is put in front of him) and you are in control of what is put in front of him.

I've gone a bit far past your 'what do you do about snacks' question, but I think it's all related.

I wouldn't let a 3 year old select his own snacks from the cupboards tbh - I would say 'you can have this piece of fruit or that cracker'. And I would regulate when the snacks happen - nothing within about 45 minutes of the next meal, more or less.

I wouldn't let a three year old get his own snacks out of the cupboard as I think it's too much responsibility.

I, like you, try to focus on the three meals a day so if my dd (4) tells me she is hungry at 11am I will say something like Clanico mentioned about 'do you think it was because you didn't have enough breakfast' and I would tell her it was almost lunch time and probably bring it forward it I could.

The thing I don't like is eating because they are bored so I try to crack down on that the most.

nothing wrong with snacks but I wouldn't have crisps and ice lollies as the snacks

Thanks all, lots of helpful advice.

I don't let him have the lollies and crisps, as the norm but that is what he requests. Was just setting the scene that he can get to them.

I do think some of it is boredom. He has been chicken pox house bound for the last week, so I have spent a long period with him in and it made me look at his eating habits.

Thanks again