My daughter constantly wants some thing to eat

[georgene]

My daughter is 4yr she eats a good balanced diet and isn't a fussy eater, but she is constantly wanting something to eat. I have tried to stop all snacking and just stick to main meals, have also tried just giving healthy snacks. She never stops asking I am wondering if I am missing something?! Has she just got a very massive appetite or is she really wanting something else? Please help feeling like old mother Hubbard!

My 4 year old goes through phases of this. I do give snacks but at set times and set things so perhaps a piece of fruit and a breadstick. Whenever she asks in between she just gets told "we eat at meal and snack times not between." Sometimes she strops about it but tough. She gets a small morning snack mid morning at home, at nursery they give veg sticks or something. In the afternoon she gets a more substantial snack at school pick up, it is a long walk for little legs and both she and ds1 need the boost!

The alternative is snack boxes. Put the things you are happy for her to have in a tub (a rice cake, a handful of grapes, a biscuit and a banana for example) and tell her that that is her snack box for the day and when it is gone it is gone. You'll probably find the first few days she scoffs it all after breakfast but she will get used to it and learn to pace herself and keep something for afternoon.

I find my DC (DS nearly 2 and DD nearly 4) go through phases like this.

I've come to the conclusion that DD likes to eat little and often (so do I) as she eats the first part of a meal with gusto but never finishes it and spends the day asking for food (or so it seems!)

I just give her healthy snacks so there's no reason (other than hunger) for her to ask for it. She'll often help herself to apples/satsumas/bananas (she asks first) throughout the day and I make sure she has a bottle of water on hand so it isn't her mistaking thirst for hunger.

I'd say its pretty normal and possibly a growth spurt.
I do feel like I spend all day doing something food related sometimes!