Do your children have snacks between meals?

[Socci]

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DS wouldn't touch lettuce - he is mistrustful of leaves and wouldn't go on the grass last summer. He frowns if I offer him lettuce or watercress

definitely, they are much too small to go for so long between meals. ds1 in particular gets cross and angry when his blood sugar drops. but we have a fruitbowl at child level and they help themselves - ds1 in particular is a complete fruit bat. apples pears satsumas bananas and grapes always available. they also can get themselves water out of the icemaker on the fridge.
the 2 year old even gets a bowl and a knife and chops his grapes in half himself so he doesn't choke on them!!! Sweet.

my ds 1 loves salad and they all LOVE spinach, think it is a huge treat. god knows why, strange children!

DD an angel now we have realised that constant nibbles keep her happy.She is 16m and on the go all day, exept 2hr nap in pm. Meals were good, but now requirements are small but constant. Downside is I feel like a vending machine, upside is I no longer cook for her (diet starts here)

I must remember snacks; I forget too often.

Agree, hunker, the only green thing most toddlers will eat is snot!

that's why we are self service in palazzo peahead

Princess PPH - ds2 (4) asked the other night if dinner had spinach in. When I said no he had a mega tantrum on the kitchen floor - "but I want spinach!" I was exasperated and amused in equal measures.

Oh yes, they do stuff themselves on fruit. Or at least start on fruit and leave the bits rotting in the corners, obviously.

Poor ds1 never got snacks - just 3 nutritionally balanced meals a day. It never occured to me to give him anything in between - poor kid. Ds2 gets lots of snacks - anything for a bit of peace.

yes, morning and afternoon snack of water or milk and a piece of fruit/veg or sometimes a treat-type thing plus some fruit/veg.

think it's good to cram in as much fruit/veg as possible and mine are much more likely to eat them if a snack than if part of a meal.

lol, MI - always find dd's carrot tops and apple cores rotting around the place.

And I've learned the hard way that giving them both a snack when ds1 gets in from school at 3 (we eat dinner at about 6) makes those nightmare hours between 4 and bed a lot easier. It doesn't have to be crap. Ds1 won't eat fruit so I usually give them breadsticks, or crackers and cheese, a couple of Digestives, or crisps (they both like those Potato Heads reduced fat, no salt ones so I don't have guilt about them ).

Yes DS 21 months has 3 meals plus 2 snacks. usually fruit, rice cakes, breadsticks, or if he's lucky, cake . Snacks do not appear to affect his appetite.

Gave him a stick of celery to try today. he will try most things, but rejects most that are green and leafy, too. His look of complete bemusement as to why I was eating it and saying "mmm, yummy" when to him it obviously tasted like a piece of wet bark, was quite amusing.

LOL DD offered chocolate by MIL and greatMIL but prefers satsumas much to their chagrin, leave chocolate to me,ha ha

Must admit said lettuce was drenched in creamy salad dressing.

But still, he ate it!

Gawd I still need snacks to get thru the day so I'd be surprised if my ds (17 months) didn't need them the way he runs around! We have a piece of fruit each mid morning and some kind of cake for me & a rice cake for him mid afternoon (he hasn't had sugar yet & I haven't got around to finding any sugar free cake recipes yet!) He quite often also has a snack (or bit of his dinner if he leaves any!) before having his last bf if he's been running around a lot.

Mine are older (5 and 7 yo) and trough down loads of snacks between meals and still eat more or less whatever is put in front of them.

They are tall, healthy and slim too

I think the no sugar idea is very bad for children, I firmly believe that their bodies need sugar to get them through the intense energy demands placed on it.

I loathe aspartime, sorbitol and other artificial sweeteners with a passion and mine always have full sugar versions of things. However, they are very good at moderating their intake, helped a little by me

They do get a bit of choice as to what snacks they choose, afterall we are trying to introduce the concept of selfcontrol here rather than parental control. Over Christmas, despite chocolate and other sweets being freely available, they've eaten their own weight in clementines!

Ds gets plenty of sugar from the fruit he eats - he does not need refined sugar at all atm (I am sure no human actually needs it to survive - it just tastes nice!) He's not even 18 months yet FFS!! I will be introducing refined sugar in home-made cakes etc when he is a little older, but not atm as he can't clean his teeth properly yet & I see no need to give him a sweet tooth - he has the rest of his life to develop that on his own!

I agree about the artificial sweeteners & try to avoid them in what I eat so will be avoiding as far as I can for ds.

Yes self control is good but at 17 months would you expect a child to have the self control not to run out into the road - I wouldn't! So why expect the same when it comes to what to eat - I use parent control because he is too young to make those kinds of decisions atm. I have actually used parental control in a good way so that he knows when he is full & stops eating - he has only ever fed himself and has never been spoon-fed - that way he has control over what he eats.

I remember seeing a dietitian on telly recommending three meals and three snacks... my ds certainly needs them...

A day, that is!

Agree that kids don't need refined sugar. But sugar is better than sugar substitutes IYKWIM. Ds didn't have sugar til about 18 months or so, and still hasn't got a sweet tooth at all, despite everyone predicting sugar binging as soon as the ban was lifted.

Re sugar free cakes-its possible to "sweeten" cakes with dried fruit purees, eg dates, or bananas. But bear in mind that these are still sugar.

Sazhig - I was talking about my children who are 5 and 7 which is quite a different proposition to 17 months!

I'm now in a situation where the children 'trade' snacks at school and need to know how to make balances and healthy choices.

Whilst at 17 months you can control what they eat as they get older they need to find their own balance and that means educating them in teh choices they make.

I stand by what I said about sugar - I don't think it is the big bad wolf that it is made out to be. I think it has a role in a healthy diet, in moderation.

DS has always had snacks - and I agree with Soapbox about sugar. I am happy for DS to eat reasonable quality chocolate, ice cream and straightforward cakes with known and natural ingredients alongside cheese, satsumas, apple slices etc etc.
I have alwayd found that well-spaced snacks have kept his energy up and spirits sweet.

I avoid sweets, chocolate that has been fiddled with and added-to, gunnky cakes (mini-rolls) flavoured crisps, etc.

Children can't get enough energy from bulky high fibre foods, since they can't eat enough, and need the energy of unprocessed fats and sugars .