I have two children, 18 months and 3 years old, and I find that they want to snack all day long! I only allow healthy foods, but they are constantly in the pantry looking for something to eat. I realize that eating small amounts all day is a healthier way to live than consuming three large meals, but I'm curious if any of your children seem to eat all day too! I will add that they are both healthy weight, even on the slim side. I wonder if I should have certain "snack times" at say 10 am and 3 pm, or should I wait until they get older to worry about it?
Hobbymommy, 38, is a discussion leader from Mesa. She is a happy stay-at-home mommy to a 3-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son.
It is very normal for
It is very normal for children to eat and drink all throughout the day. What I do while the kids eat breakfast is wash and cut brocolli and carrots for them to eat with ranch, cut bananas in half because they usually start one and dont finish it.I also always have goldfish and graham crackers for them. I give my kids three full meals obviously and then they snack all day in between. Kids will eat you out of house and home!
Jennifer is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com and mommy to four beautiful girls who range from 9 to 4 years of age.
My son who is nine.....seems
My son who is nine.....seems to be eating all day too. He was like that as a baby as well. I breast feed, seemed as if I never got up! I think it is healthy for children to snack( healthy ) through out the day.My son too, is very healthy and slender.I eat the same way.So did my father so he may come by it honestly.My husband eats three meals.....boring...ha..ha
My son is very energetic so he needs fuel. I don't think a timed snack time would help ( well for my child ). As long as the food is healthy and they are burning off the calories they are consuming I see no reason not to feed your body!
My daughter who is 7 will
My daughter who is 7 will sometimes eat three meals a day with a morning and afternoon snack (which is what I prefer) but, this on Sunday she ate like crazy all day. I too try and do as much healthy stuff as possibel (carrots, apples, grapes, and cheese are HUGE) with milk for all her meals. I would just suggest that if you see there weight starting changing drastically you take them to their pediatrician.
"It's not to late to become who you've always wanted to be..."
Kids tend to eat more when
Kids tend to eat more when they're going through a growth spurt. Yes, they say that five small meals a day are better than three huge ones, though the logistics of that can be annoying when you'd like the family to sit down to a meal together or the children get to school and will be expected to eat only at meals and snack time. I'd think about creating some definite meal and snack times, especially for the 3-year-old so it's not so hard when he starts school.
My daughter is in preschool
My daughter is in preschool and there she has breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack and then dinner when she gets home. She'll have a snack before bed, but something healthy, like cut up apples, banana's, yogurt, gold fish or something along those lines. Sometimes when she gets home if she's super hungry before dinner I'll let her have a piece of cheese or a few goldfish just to curb her a little bit before dinner, but she usually eats a good dinner too.
On the weekends, she's pretty good about eating 3 solid meals depending on what we've got going on. Sometimes she'll graze, but usually it's only if she's really hungry, not because of bordem or anything .... she's on a pretty good routine for eating I think with not an excessive amount of snacking .... although she will go through an occasional time when it seems like she's eating constantly .... I think that's when she's going through growth spurts or something.
I don't think your kids are
I don't think your kids are too young to have set snack times, with some flexibility of course. I do that with my kids (6 and 2) in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon. I'm not against the idea of eating all day long - a lot of kids are like that (and adults too!) but I think it may set a bad habit and if they later develop a weight problem, then it could be hard to adjust their eating habits.
Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 6 and 2.
The thing that is more
The thing that is more likely to cause a weight problem, is eating by the clock, which trains children to ignore their own body signals. Moms should not be saying, "oh you just ate, you can't possibly be hungry". If the kid wants to eat, let them eat - HEALTHY choices. My kids can go into the fridge at any time and grab, fruit, raisins, carrots, popsicles anytime.
There was a great study done a few years back, where the amounts of food were carefully weighed, prior to and after it was served to young children. However, the experimental group had sugar free juice served to them, while the contrrol group had juice with sugar served to them (identical color, smell and taste). This was repeated for several weeks, over and over agian. Surprise, surprise, the kids NATURALLY regulated their calorie intake! If they had the sugar free drink, they ate more calories. If they had the sugar drink, they ate less. Kids naturally do this - it's only when outside influence of the clock or the adults pushing or withholding food, did the kids get out of whack with their own natural signaling.
"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein