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OT: Snacks and picky eaters
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My children are ALWAYS asking for snacks! I’m hungry seems to be the mantra of the Bowman family…LOL! I have 3 meals a day and a morning snack and an afternoon snack and they are STILL hungry. I’m reaching out and asking what others do, especially big families. I am on a VERY strict food budget and have to be very strategic and creative in planning for meals and snacks. Oh, and I have an extremely picky eater! Do you make them taste everything or go without until the next meal? I’m feeling like a short order cook these days! Thanks 🙂
Tameka
This is familiar! Every family is different. Here’s how we make it work with 11 of us, one very picky (almost no meat, no pasta, no rice, etc).
Meals happen at 7am, noon, and 5pm. I make a meal and you eat it or not. But you don’t get anything else. We do require older kids (age 5+) to take a couple small bites of things they don’t like before they can take seconds on things they DO like.
Snacks are spaced between meals at 10am, 3pm, and 7pm. You may eat what I offer at this time. Snacks are small and generally we offer: fruit, veggies, or pretzels. Sometimes I have homemade granola bars, crackers and peanut butter, or nuts. Dried fruit is also sometimes available at snack time. All snack items have portion sizes – kids know to use a specific measuring cup for pretzels, etc. I do allow lots of veggies if they want them, but fruits generally are limited to one serving.
Nobody grabs food outside of these specific times, parents included.
I don’t insist anyone eats, but I also don’t let them eat junk food between meals. We drink water. Milk occasionally (like with pancakes or on cereal). Generally, the kids eat at least some of what is offered. It is very rare to have someone totally pass up all food at a meal. They will usually eat at least the fruit offered.
I think protein and healthy fats are key to keep kids and adults from snacking too much. The metabolism just burns through carbs so quickly and this leaves us constantly hungry.
I try to make my kids and myself have protein and/or healthy fats with each snack and meal-especially breakfast. Peanut butter toast is going to fill a child up for a much longer time than jelly toast for instance. Eggs are a big staple for breakfast around here. Cheese and nuts are also good choices.
Eating larger meals also helps to keep the hunger at bay. Adding protein to breakfast really cuts out morning snacking around here. We usually end up having an afternoon snack. I encourage something like apples and peanut butter, whole wheat crackers and cheese, cheese and grapes, a salad with cheese on it and/or nuts.
Tristan and Melanie 32, thank you so much!! I have another quick question….what are your bedtimes for 14, 11, 10, 9 year olds?
My daughter is 14 and everyone here kind of goes to bed at the same time around here. My husband has to rise early for work and it’s just easier that way. We usually all go to bed at 9 but my daughter is allowed to read until 10.
Bedtime was 8 with reading aloud until 9 when they were younger. I’ve never been successful at getting my kids to bed any earlier than that as we live in a small house and it’s very hard to go to sleep when other people are still up and moving about. Of course when they were very little, they fell asleep quickly and the noise didn’t bother them.
Bedtime during the school year is 8pm for all ages, with reading in bed until 9pm. For summer we are more flexible, so usually 9pm bed with 10pm lights out, unless we have something the next morning that kids need to be up and ready for, like a trip to the zoo or meeting up with friends.
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