Snacking

[Phoenix]

I have a 2 and a half year old who has bad snacking habits.

I am really struggling to give healthy options with the tantrums and general physical reaction I get when giving him choices that are better for him. IYKWIM?
DP has been doing the shopping and we don't agree on most of the snack foods. He is all about quick and easy satisfaction, where as I would prefer to spend a bit more time and get a good food option instead.

So what I am asking is, without an oven (because mine has died and my landlord, aka Dad, isn't wanting to fix it until he returns home from Canberra.), what do you have that is a quick and easy yet healthy snack you have for your children?

H will go from satisfied and happy, to screaming, pushing, crying, mess until he has food. He will eat fruit no problem but it is getting him away from the cupboard for him to see that I have given him something he likes.

I don't even know if I am making sense, I seem to be a waffling mess atm.

Maybe I need to do up a lunchbox everyday with options he can eat and then they are already done and he knows what he can have.

Well if you got this far, I should congratulate you! LOL!

[Phoenix]

Another thing is that he won't tell me what it is what he wants, either food or drink, just pulls on me and starts to cry when I don't move straight away. I got poked in the eye one day because he didn't get what he wanted. It was really painful. He knows how to talk, yet chooses not to most of the time. I ask him to use his words to tell me but he just gets angry.

[Astra]

I'm struggling with this one too. We usually resort to half a sandwich, a glass of milk or yoghurt but dip has been popular in the past. Hopefully someone else will have some better suggestions.

[random]

My 2yo grazes all day too. She will eat any veges that are slightly sweet - so peas, corn, carrot, capsicum, beans. I dish out a bag of frozen veges into little containers and keep in freezer and just nuke one at a time. Also cubed capsicum and tomato, tofu, tempeh (we are vegan)

Crackers too of course.

Discovered tubes of avocado at woolies - they have been really handy, just squeeze a bit at a time onto cracker. Hummus and sunflower seed spread on crackers too.

She just will not sit to eat so wanders around with a little container that I refill continuously. She doesn't talk yet but will nod or shake her head if I point to something.

She will share what I eat for brekky, lunch dinner etc but won't generally eat it on her own, only sitting on my lap. Or she will stand on a chair at the bench top and eat bits and pieces while I cook.

[nadiah]

what do you have that is a quick and easy yet healthy snack you have for your children?

I usually give DS (3) a peanut butter sandwich, a few pieces of cheese or a boiled egg, plus fruit and veg. So cut apple, watermelon, mandarin, cucumber, red capsicum, left over steamed broccoli, any fruit and veg he likes. These travel well in a snack box as well. His preferences change so I used to mix it up with different carbs: those round rice-cake things (we call them "coasters" in our house) until he tired of those, a sandwich with a different filling. It's hard to give advice though because kids are notorious for having singular food preferences. One thing you could try is making a picture out of the snack. Butterflies, other insects and flowers are easy. DS likes to eat the "eyes" (sultanas). I also keep any things he likes a little too much in a location in the pantry where he can't see it. The crunchy noodles and mini biscuits hide at the back of our pantry.

[Phoenix]

OM Random, 2 YEARS! She was only just crawling when I saw you last. Obviously I know that was ages ago but that spins me out!
H will shake or nod at things I point to too, but he will only nod once I have exhausted every other option and gone to the sweet biscuits. I am hoping that DP has seen enough of H's meltdowns to know that these type of snacks are not ones that we should have in the house. I have them hidden, but he knows where they are hidden. LOL!
I think we are going to have to have a complete food overhaul. DP does the shopping after work so we don't have to take the boys as it isn't easy to shop, and so he is rushed and buys whatever he see's that is on special. It doesn't work for us, let alone my boys. I would like to keep it as his job, he does enjoy it, but I don't enjoy the food that our house is full of.

My boys don't seem to stop eating. They are both grazers too.

Thanks for the tips, I think I do need to do more preparing so it is quick to satisfy him and healthy.

[cef77]

Without sounding too abrupt, do DP a list of appropriate snacks?? If there are only healthy options in the house, that will make choice easier, maybe? I dunno. I imagine there will be a period of adjustment.

Hope that's not too direct or pushy!? Just got my analytical cap on today :2lol

[boy wrangler]

I'm with you C, I'd be giving him an exhaustive list and being very clear that he only buys what's on the list.

Or you could try and keep the "sometimes" treats (as we call them) for when DP is home and then he can deal with the behaviour himself! :2lol I may have my mean hat on tonight! ;)

[Madi]

Yep, lots of foods are banned from this house. If my DH wants treat food, he keeps it in his drawer at work. We are on the failsafe diet, and DH can see how much better the kids are on it, and this inspires him and me to be more careful with our food too. If it's not ok for the kids to eat, we don't eat it.

A lunchbox with packed snacks are really handy; I started doing that before Huddy went to school so I could get a better idea of what he ate in the day (so I wouldn't pack to much or to little), and now I do it for Tabi too. She just goes to the fridge and grabs her drink bottle or lunchbox and can do it all herself. So maybe your little man needs a bit more independence with his food? Maybe do some research on the Montessori style of letting kids access their own foods; might make a difference? :shrug

[Bron]

what about piklets? you can make them healthy (wholewheat organic flour, back yard chookie eggs, raw milk) and add veges, cheese, ham whatever :)

[Hailstorm]

Yeah I would definately be giving him a list, Veg wouldn't be able to do the shopping without one :2lol

Both my kids were like this, I found having a plate on the table of cut up fruit, vegies, crackers, along with a big bottle of water, which I directed them too whenever they were hungry helped a lot.

Also just plain and simple not having the foods in the house is a good idea, great idea actually, if the bad foods aren't there then they won't want them (eventually) then you can introduce them in again slowly. We had to do that cordial we just outright banned it from the house altogether and now they don't ever have it.

As for the tanty's, if he is nice and full of healthy food the tanty's should subside, it will take a while but you'll get there in the end, try having some toys to distract him with. Oh another idea is to give him the choice say 'would you like a carrot stick or some banana, or maybe some cheese and crackers' or whatever you have then if he says no 'say well this is what we'll be eating now can you pick something now or come back later when you have made your choice' and then turn him away unless he tells you what he wants.

Here are some suggestions, of some quick and easy snacks:

Cut up vegies: snowpeas, carrot, celery
Cheese and crackers with dip, kabana
Fruit. Fruit salad
Yoghurt
Toast (this is a super popular one for my kids) with, baked beans/tinned spaghetti/ cheese/ vegemite
Ham/ salami/ cold meats on a plate with some cheese and cut up bread

[Stardust]

I agree. Give a list. Here we have occasional home made bickies but mostly fruit (failsafe fruit) and veg, toast (oat sourdough), veg sticks with hummous or a nut butter, boiled eggs are a huge favourite, porridge, rice puffs, rice milk.... It's hard having all day snackers!

[boy wrangler]

It sounds like I'm lucky to have boys that don't snack! We have definite meals and we all sit down and eat together. Breaky, morning tea, lunch, dinner. They rarely eat outside of those meals but if they do then they get a carrot or apple or some other fruit or veg they can get themselves and eat themselves. They do eat a lot at each meal though.

[cherish]

he sounds like a pretty normal 2 year old..

we have popcorn, manderins, cheese, sandwiches, crackers..

bascially I attempt to mostly not have other stuff in the house.. cause if it's not here.. they can't eat it.. sure- they still have tanty's.. but that's just part of being 2..(or 3 and 6 in my kids cases.)

how about getting him to help you get good snacks ready- yes, it's messy and takes ages... but is a good activity..

Also- if your H buys stupid snacks.. find another cupboard to keep them in.. so little ones can't find them

[Innate Nurturer]

It certainly can be so hard to read their minds sometimes!

We've just finished a 4 or 5 month stint without an oven, so I would've thought I'd had some good ideas... but can't think of anything out of the ordinary at the moment... hmmm

We're big on fruit and veg here, and we always have it on offer. We've set B (14months) up with a little table that always has water on it, and we try keep fruit n veg here so he can graze as he desires. We vary it between raw, steamed, stir-fried, or things like apples stewed to soft but can still hold together for fingerfood.
Toast with various spreadings - vegemite or equivalent, tahini, jams, peanut butter, just butter or equivalent, avocado, hummus
Crumpets are a hit in our house this week!
I also cook some plain pasta, then drizzle it with olive oil. Sometimes a few chili flakes, and a few bits of grated cheese. B really likes this, devours it, but it also serves as fingerfood as he can run around with a bit of pasta and come back when he wants to... he rarely sits down to eat anything.

It can be hard, especially when everything seems to have sugar in it, and it doesnt take much sugar to see a change of behaviour! And we are vegetarian, gluten free and low dairy in our home, so it can feel limited.

Frittatas? eggs are awesome - scrambled, soft boiled, hard boiled, poached, allows you to alternate their appearance/texture/taste
Hamburger-like patties on their own? (chickpea patties here lol)

B's also big on spices a lot... loves pepper in things, just brings out flavour to make foods more appealing.

I also find it's a matter of offering a few things so he can choose to suit his mood, and also having a variety of things throughout the week. If I offer something two days in a row, even if B loved something and consumed it instantly on day one, by day 2 he doesn't want it... a few days later he's all for it again. So just a 'stock rotation' on the options can help, doesn't mean you need to be extravagant with the menu.

Oh and things like milkshakes/smoothies where you can add whatever you like so you know he's getting something healthy, and you can even fill it out with fibre or protein grains a bit so its not all sugar/carbs if thats a concern.

Hope there's something helpful there hon :-)

[Phoenix]

AWESOME! I knew that if I asked I could see that he isn't eating just crap. I have been giving him a lot of the suggestions made so I don't feel too bad now.

DP and I had a chat about it last night, he is very much in favour of cutting out sweet biscuits, le snacks, shapes and the sugar filled muesli bars that he has been making a regular in the shop. We are going to sit down and make a list of things that we both think are better alternatives and they will be the regulars instead. He even made suggestions, I was so surprised because he has grown up convienence snacking!

Bron, love the idea of extras in the piklets, we do in muffins but didn't think of it in piklets. Madi, we are going to do the lunchbox for H, I think he will respond well to that. Cherish, another cupboard is such an easy idea, but one that I didn't think of. Cef and BW, neither posts were pushy or direct, you are right, most men are such simple creatures and need a detailed list :laugh IN, he loves smoothies, thanks for the reminder.

I think I am going to do up a list to put on the fridge as a reminder of what can be made, when he starts his tantrum it is really hard to think sometimes.

Thank you everyone. :)

[lucylu]

Oh, hugs Em :heart This thread brings back memories. Sounds normal, but I remember running low on patience and feeling like it would never end at times. It will though!

Everyone else has said everything. As he gets older he'll be better able to understand the idea of treats being around but him not being able to have them. Until then I'd hide them in a better place :2lol or stop buying them.

xx

[Phoenix]

We just did a little shop for school lunches, and I had gone to buy some cake, (yeah I know, but not having an oven to bake in is really annoying) and he started to get pushy about me giving him some right then and there. I usually don't mind giving food while shopping but it was a whole cake. So I put it back and continued shopping, we got some rice crackers that he enjoyed while wheeling around, so that was a good compremise.
I bought some little containers to put some dip in and stuff to make dip out of. They both love dippy biscuits.

[mama_bel]

Good on you Em! Sometimes it seems like a big deal to make changes, but after a few weeks of doing things a different way, it's all normal and good. I hope your dp gets out of the habit of buying those foods you don't want to have in the house, and cheaper, healthier versions can take over!

I love to make 'bliss balls' - basically any seed/nut butter, cocoa/carob powder, honey, coconut, dried fruit chopped tiny - you can put lots of different things in them - just combine until you can roll them, coat in coconut and store in the fridge. About super-ball size (iykwim?) is a good size. Like a rum ball! But not... :)

My dh has some crackers and muesli bars and flavoured tuna tins for his lunches in a plastic box on the top shelf of a high cupboard in the kitchen. From there he can take his own crap food to work and the kids never ask for it 'cos it's Dad's. Mostly they never see it. :) We also bake muffins, wrap and freeze. Same with sandwiches - wrap and freeze, labelled. :) It's important here to have grab-and-go food for dh as he works shift work and can't go to the shops easily once he's on the work site.

Best wishes with the homemade dippy bikkies!

[Phoenix]

Bliss balls are a great idea, healthy but look like a treat! Nice! I have all those ingredients in the cupboard too, so going to make some today.

[cherish]

yum= I should make some bliss balls for my kids..

I don't actually mind my kids snacking.. isn't it better to have small regular meals/snacks then irregular huge meals?

no worries about the cupboard.. it is easier for me to control the food here.. as I don't have a partner to please or do the shopping etc..

[Phoenix]

It isn't so much about how much he snacks, just what he is wanting to snack on and the meltdowns he has when he doesn't get the sweet stuff.
I found that it was way easier to monitor when I was a sole mumma, I just didn't buy it.