Allison Vorcheimer “Mommy, I want a snack” is probably the most commonly used phrase for my 3 year old son. If I let him, he would eat a snack about every 30 minutes and survive on snacks alone. Of course, this is not a viable option for us and so begins the snack battle.
I’m not 100% sure what the lure of snacks is over meals but I think the ability to choose vs. having what is being served is a large part of it. Another part for us is that we welcomed a little brother recently and he tends to request snacks while I am breastfeeding (maybe partially to get something since his baby brother gets to eat). On a particularly difficult day I found myself telling him “No applesauce until after you eat more of your pizza!” based on principle alone. If he needs to eat a majority of his meal before being awarded a snack for chicken and veggies the same should apply to pizza night, right?
Fortunately, we are still able to get balance in his diet throughout the day and after discussing with my pediatrician at his last appointment I can share how I am tackling this problem.
1. Healthy Snack selection
This is probably the most important. My son knows where we keep the snacks and will usually try to help himself so I moved the starchy snacks like chips and sweet treats out of reach and loaded the cabinet with easy, healthy options. This way, anything he grabs himself to bring to me while I’m feeding his brother is a better option. We also load up on fruits and yogurt but since these are out of reach, he needs a bit more help.
2. Limit Snacks Before Mealtime
I find it sometimes difficult to balance if he is actually hungry or just wants to munch on something so, as long as he is willing to choose a healthy option, he can have a snack with the exception of within a 30-60 minute window from meal time. This helps to make sure he is actually hungry for his meal and make meal time a little smoother. Like I mentioned above, it is not fool proof and we have tough days (I mean, seriously, what kid refuses to eat pizza?!) but, it does help.
3. Focus on the ‘Big Picture’
Like every parent, I want my son to have a balanced diet, but I have come to terms with balancing this throughout the day vs. in each and every meal. For example, my son’s breakfast favorites right now are pancakes or biscuits. I make it a point to try to include fruit with breakfast but if that fails, our first snack will focus on fruit or protein based choices. Then lunch, I will try to minimize starchy options. Other days, we start off with yogurt and fruit for breakfast so I may give him a sandwich for lunch.
4. Compromise
When all else fails, I will use his preferred snacks as a bargaining chip to include healthier options. If he wants to have some Pirate’s Booty, he needs to first eat a banana or applesauce. This is where those preferred starchy snacks being out of reach will come in handy.
5. Flexibility
Not every day can be perfectly balanced and I am ok with that. Each day is a new day and we do our best. I want my son to listen to his body and do not want to deny him food if he is truly hungry but some days, he just wants to munch more out of boredom. Healthy snack options will usually help me to weed out the difference – Ex. if he is hungry he will not complain about being offered a banana or yogurt but if he just wants to munch he will whine about not being able to have **insert snack here** Just like us, there are days where we just feel hungrier and days we have less of an appetite so I do not put a set limit on how much or little he can eat in a day. As a general rule, if he is willing to eat fruit or healthy choices, I will almost always say yes – the exception being if it is too close to meal time.
Does this sound like your toddler? What do you do to tackle the snack battle?
