Since reading French Kids Eat Everything I have drastically changed the kids snacking schedule. Well, until reading the book we didn’t have any schedule, I just gave them food when they asked for it, thinking that the food was healthy, so why not! Well, giving food “whenever” meant it was a struggle to get them to eat at mealtimes, let alone sit at the table!
Inspired, I made the brave decision to ban constant snacking and given them one, scheduled snack halfway between mealtimes. At home this usually consists of a mixture of nuts, fruit, veg, cheese (not always the same combination). For example, the below snack plate includes carrot sticks, apple slices and cheese slices.
When we go out and about it just takes a little planning to make sure that there’s a packed snack for the park/shopping centre/train. I try to avoid feeding them their snack on the run, by finding a bench or table to sit at – not in the trolley/pram/car seat.
Usually I take a full lunchbox and a couple of bowls to divide the snack for the kids. Like I did with this snack box which includes dried apricots, cheese slices, cashews and carrots. (This snack box was on a long morning outing and was for the adults to share too, which explains the large volume!)
I plan the snack box around how they ate at the previous meal or what’s to come later in the day. So, sometimes the healthy snack box will only include vegetables, like the below box which consists of cucumber, carrots and tomatoes.
I have to be honest with you, at first the snack ban was met with resistance. They used to always snack their way through shopping trips, snacking in the pram/trolley/car seat. Telling them they had to wait until we got home for the next meal was initially met with pleads/tranturms. In the past I would just given them food to keep them quiet, but even a shopping trip’s worth of “healthy snacks” would mean a full tummy at the next meal and a frustrated Mummy. So I stuck to it and they quickly learnt that I meant business.
I’d say the initial few weeks were the hardest. They quickly became accustomed to no food on the run. They know they have to wait for the next scheduled snack/mealtime and that they better eat what’s on their plate or they will have to wait. They can have all the tantrum they want. I know that they ate well at their previous snack/meal and that it won’t be long until they can eat again.
The result of the ban on constant snacking and creation of scheduled healthy snacks instead, has meant that the kids are actually hungry at mealtimes and they are usually ASKING when it’s lunch/dinner. They willingly come to the table and usually eat most of what they are given. A fantastic result, in my opinion.
Disclosure – This Post Contains Affiliate Links.
