How do you manage treats or snacks at your house?

[cakemom]

Frankly, I am tired of managing rules for snacks and treats at our house. I feel like I am a "Treat Cop" and I really don't want to be. My 2 kids do not have the best eating habits. Lots of carbs and little on the fruits/veggies, protein and milks. I have listed a daily eating chart with what they need to eat at each meal (to get all their food groups in) in order to then be able to eat a treat (basically any unnaturally sweet or salty snack). They get a small treat after they eat a balanced meal. It has just turned into me constantly being a "food or treat manager" to see if they did indeed eat what they needed to before their snacks. It has also turned into constant questioning about what a small treat is and how much exactly. I feel like we talk way too much about treats in our house and sometimes I feel like maybe I am micromanaging the situation too much. I don't want my kids to leave home and go nuts with sugar because they were limited and monatored constantly but I also want them to eat more healthfully without me needing to constantly talk about snacks/treats or be a constant treat cop. Any advice on what to do here? What do you all do about treats in your house? :confused:

 

Thank you,

Frustrated Treat Cop

[whitestavern]

Well, I'm all ears because we struggle with this as well. What I finally did, and it certainly has helped, is instituted a rule that at any time during the day they can have any fruits or veggies as snacks. They do not have to ask me. I facilitate this by trying to have a good variety of fruits/veggies at all times, and making sure that said fruits/veggies are easy for them to grab (ie cutting the celery, peppers, pineapple, etc.) After dinner they are allowed to have a sweet snack or popcorn, provided there is something of that nature in the house, which there isn't always. It really helped in the sense that they aren't constantly asking, "Can I have X," "Can I have Y," and the how much can I have, etc. BUT, I still do feel like the food police. My dc eat very well at mealtimes and I make healthy and wholesome food, but it seems like they would eat nonstop if allowed to (and they definitely can't self regulate junk food). I am concerned, as you noted, that they will go crazy when they leave our home to go into the real world. Not sure what the answer is so I'm :bigear:

[MamaT]

I don't regulate snacks. I keep a healthy supply of snacks around (plus ice cream!) and they are free to eat them whenever they are hungry. If I had someone not eating meals I would keep a closer eye on snacks, but so far that hasn't happened. My dc are very active and no one is overweight. I figure if they are hungry, they should eat.

[Jennifer in MI]

I don't regulate either. But, I also don't have treat type food in the house. (I'm the one who would eat ALL of them!! LOL) Snacks around here include:

 

Peanut butter and jelly on ww homemade bread

Homemade hummus and pita

Homemade plain yogurt (sometimes sweetened with honey or jelly)

Fruit/veggies of all sorts (sometimes with cream cheese)

Popcorn

A variety of nuts and seeds

 

My kids really do self-regulate their eating quite well. We have healthy meals with a big breakfast - eggs, oatmeal, toast. Starts them off right!

 

This isn't to say we don't have junk food snacks ever. But, they are a special treat for us!

[2cents]

We have snack times: Afternoon and evening. They are usually a 100 cal snack, smoothie or a piece of fruit. I had to stop the free feeding because it was interfering with regular meals and getting out of control.

[LuvToRead]

Here's what I do. I wish I was more consistent, because it works well at our house.

 

Anything in the crisper drawers are fair game. I have oranges, grapes, celery, apples, carrots, any easy to eat fruit/veggie. I also have these square containers that I put yogurt, sliced cheese, etc, that I keep at the bottom of the fridge.

 

In the pantry, I also have the same square containers that I keep on the low shelf. I may put individual applesauces, small bags of pretzels, raisins, crackers in those.

 

In a perfect world, I place a daily portion of snacks in these containers every morning, and when they are empty, they are empty. But, in my world, this only gets done when I think about it.

 

They can have toast and peanut butter, but they must ask for those because the peanut butter is on a really high shelf in the pantry.

 

We do sometimes have junk food, but I do regulate that, otherwise an entire bag of chips would disappear in a day.

Edited June 24, 2010 by LuvToRead

[Haiku]

My advice is to stop worrying about their daily intake and think of it as more of a weekly thing. They don't have to have perfectly balanced meals every day to be healthy. I would also designate one time during the day (after lunch, before bed, whenever) as treat time, when everyone gets a treat, no matter what. Make sure that your home is 99.9% food that you feel comfortable with your kids eating whenever, and keep the .01% of junk food for the designated treat time.

 

Tara

[athena1277]

We snack on a schedule. Dd can have a snack about 2pm, assuming she ate decently at lunch. Ds is asleep and only has a snack if he gets up early. We eat dinner early (about 5pm) so they get dessert at 7, again if they ate well at dinner. If they didn't eat the previous meal well, I require that they eat a healthy snack, like fruit or cheese. If it's not snack time, they are not allowed food. If I allowed more food between meals, they would not eat meals. It may not be the best way to handle it, but it works well for us.

[3littlekeets]

I buy any "junk" for the month and replenish fruits and veggies every other day or so. When the "junk" (e.g. popsicles, pudding, chips) is gone, it is gone!

 

My kids 7,9,11 often have junk LEFT and devour the fruits, veggies, and yogurt. When friends are over, they want to have junk to offer, so they make sure they have it here :D, and see it as a friend thing, not a dietary necessity.

 

They love cherries, strawberries, celery with pb, and can have as much of those items as they wish. We try to eat at least 5 or 6 times day, and my kids are thin and active. Perhaps their cravings are telling you something about their bodies needs for more food....and they aren't getting the right types.

Edited June 24, 2010 by 3littlekeets

[sheryl]

Frankly, I am tired of managing rules for snacks and treats at our house. I feel like I am a "Treat Cop" and I really don't want to be. My 2 kids do not have the best eating habits. Lots of carbs and little on the fruits/veggies, protein and milks. I have listed a daily eating chart with what they need to eat at each meal (to get all their food groups in) in order to then be able to eat a treat (basically any unnaturally sweet or salty snack). They get a small treat after they eat a balanced meal. It has just turned into me constantly being a "food or treat manager" to see if they did indeed eat what they needed to before their snacks. It has also turned into constant questioning about what a small treat is and how much exactly. I feel like we talk way too much about treats in our house and sometimes I feel like maybe I am micromanaging the situation too much. I don't want my kids to leave home and go nuts with sugar because they were limited and monatored constantly but I also want them to eat more healthfully without me needing to constantly talk about snacks/treats or be a constant treat cop. Any advice on what to do here? What do you all do about treats in your house? :confused:

 

Thank you,

Frustrated Treat Cop

 

 

Well, I could have written this thread, or most of it. I give my dd VERY LITTLE sugar. It's not because she has add, adhd, but I don't sugar in inappropriate amounts is good for anyone....adult and child alike. So, what's an appropriate amount? I don't know. But, I give her very little. When her epilepsy was manifested in seizures, she'd find all the sugar she could and SNEAK the stuff. WHAT? She had her first sip of pop/soda at the age of 7 or 8 and didn't like it b/c her taste buds were trained not to like it??? Perhaps.

 

My 11 yo dd proceeded to tell me that her friend, J, gets snacks whenever she wants them. I proceeded to tell her that her cousin, my niece who is now 26, was given a snack basket fully stocked by my sister when she was growing up. My niece is very overweight today. Back to friend J....she has noticably gained much weight in the last 6 months and I'm atttibuting it to the "snack basket" her mom gives her. When she came to play in the sprinkler with my dd the other day, the Mom left 2 single row packages of cookies....those little pkgs from Walgreens.

 

I don't want to teach my dd that everyone is a size 4....I'm not, but sugar in abundance is not healthy.

 

The answer for me will be to maybe "trial run here" make a goody basket of different kinds of snacks.....candies to dried fruits. She may have to "earn" them some way...thinking this through. Or, at least chart what she's eaten, so it's not all gone in one day. Back to the drawing boards to think this through some more.............

[AspieMel]

We're a bit different here, as we're on a strict diet. Our family is gluten/dairy/soy/peanut free.. Because my oldest is self-limiting to meats and starcy-carbs, I find "healthy" snacks and offer them often. We'll do things like Veggie crackers, natural fruit "rollups", freeze-dried fruit ("chips"), GF pretzels made w/ pea protien... etc.. Besides the main meals, they get small snacks every 2ish hours or so. I'll do anything I can think of to sneak fruit and veggies in, I even make muffins and hide pureed fruit and veggies in them. All 3 of my kids have texture sensitivities (they get it from me!) so I get food into them when I can :)

[Parrothead]

I don't regulate snacks. I keep a healthy supply of snacks around (plus ice cream!) and they are free to eat them whenever they are hungry. If I had someone not eating meals I would keep a closer eye on snacks, but so far that hasn't happened. My dc are very active and no one is overweight. I figure if they are hungry, they should eat.

That is what we do too.

[texasmama]

My kids stopped asking so much for sweets when I instituted a two small sweets a day rule. They now manage their own intake pretty well and know if they eat their sweets before noon, that is it for the day. I stuff them full of fruits and veggies during meal times so I don't worry as much if they have a snack of tortilla chips during the day.

[Ellie]

We didn't really do snacks or treats very often. Our only rules regarding meals were that children ate what was on their plates--not that they had to clean their plates, only that what was served was all they were getting--and they weren't ever allowed to say, "EWWWWW." :-)

 

Only one dd was a problem, and we managed that. When she was 2, she'd eat one pea, a dab of potatoes, and a teensy-tinsy piece of meat and say she was full, and get down from the table. While the rest of us were still eating, she'd come back and say she was hungry. So the rule became that when she left the table, that was it until the next meal. If she had eaten what I thought was enough for a little person her age and she got the munchies in an hour or so, she could have a snack; if she had picked at her food, she had to wait until the next meal. We only had to do that a couple of times.

[Matryoshka]

I don't regulate either. But, I also don't have treat type food in the house. (I'm the one who would eat ALL of them!! LOL) Snacks around here include:

 

Peanut butter and jelly on ww homemade bread

Homemade hummus and pita

Homemade plain yogurt (sometimes sweetened with honey or jelly)

Fruit/veggies of all sorts (sometimes with cream cheese)

Popcorn

A variety of nuts and seeds

 

This isn't to say we don't have junk food snacks ever. But, they are a special treat for us!

 

This almost exactly describes us (and the fact that I'd be the one scarfing all the junk if it were here...) I can't have it in the house. Oh, and our hummus and yogurt are store-bought. :tongue_smilie:

 

I do buy "healthy" bars from TJ's that are supposed to be for when we're running out and need to bring something along, and those do get raided, which annoys me.

[fairfarmhand]

We have snack times at 10:30, 3 pm and sometimes a small treat after supper. Morning snack MUST be healthy...carrots, apples, grapes, raisins, yogurt etc. (I cannot stand the sugar rush when we are trying to do school) Afternoon snack can either be a sweet (popsicle, ice cream, sometimes cookies ) or a "junky" item (pb crackers, pretzels, etc.) Evening snack can be a sweet if they didn't eat one earlier in the day, but otherwise it might be popcorn, applesauce, mandarin oranges, etc. We don't have treats immediately after meals. If you don't eat an appropriate amount at meals you miss the next snack.

 

I was shocked that my kids consider eating mandarin oranges or cinnamon applesauce or yogurt a dessert! I guess they just don't know any better. They know the snack times and if they ask for food in between times I simply tell them to wait till the next snack or meal time.

[cakemom]

Lots of good ideas! I just cleaned out our pantry. :D I think I just need to just stop buying anything I don't want them to snack on at home and then just let them have good snacks if they are hungry after their meals.

 

The problem then creeps back into the house with any holiday that comes about. The grandma's buy them candy, they go to birthday parties and bring home goodie bags. Before you know it, there is sugary snacks in the house all over again. What do you do find works in these situations?

 

I don't mind if they live it up at birthday parties or when we go somewhere special, it is just at home on a daily basis that is the major problem.

 

Thanks,

 

Looking to retire from my position as Treat Cop.......lol

[Karen in CO]

We have a mix of very healthy and mostly healthy food for snacks. My only rule is no chocolate after dark. Other than that, everyone in my family is welcome to all the food in the house.

 

I just can't remember or enforce complex rules so I don't make them.

[cakemom]

I just can't remember or enforce complex rules so I don't make them.

 

:iagree: It is hard to keep up with all the rules all the time. I think there is something to keeping it simple. :)

[Matryoshka]

The problem then creeps back into the house with any holiday that comes about. The grandma's buy them candy, they go to birthday parties and bring home goodie bags. Before you know it, there is sugary snacks in the house all over again. What do you do find works in these situations?

 

I let them pig out for a while, then the rest mysteriously... disappears...

[ecj98]

I keep a snack basket in the pantry filled with granola bars, graham crackers, pretzels, etc. I also keep one in the fridge filled with yogurt, cheese and fruit. They can have a snack mid morning, mid afternoon and before bed. They can have each item only once per day (i.e. they can't have 3 granola bars a day).

[LibraryLover]

 

I just can't remember or enforce complex rules so I don't make them.

 

 

:D I hear that. I am not in the equation at all. If my kids are hungry they eat, if they aren't they don't. I am completely uninterested in whether they have cheese at 10am or an apple at 2 or 4 or ice cream at noon. They are very healthy, have rarely been ill and don't overeat. Even when they were little I didnt care what they had for snacks, as everything I bought/buy I am comfortable with them eating. If I have to buy something for an event etc, I would put it out of sight when they were small, although now that they are older I can say "This is not for us. I am saving this for....".

 

I don't buy foods I can't stand to see my kids eat, and we don't have any food rules. My dds will walk to an ice cream for small soft ice cream cones (the cheapest ones) a couple of times a week, but that means they walk nearly two miles for it (one there one back). Both are slender. My youngest ds must be ready for a growth spurt, as I think he's looking a little stocky right now. The funny thing is is that he is not a big snacker at all. My oldest dd is the biggest grazer; she has a metabolism to envy.

 

I also agree 100% with Tara's comment that it's better to look at food intake over a period of time rather than worry about each day. We ran out of fruit over the weekend (they had also picked the strawberry patch clean, and thankfully I did see some new ones ripening when I was watering this morning) .

I didn't pick any fruit at the market until yesteday, and then they all pretty much enjoyed a entire half of a watermelon yesterday. They have also been been picking pea pods and raspberries from the garden...although the raspberries are still not in abundance. I never thought to count taking peapods off the vines when you're outside as snacking, but I suppose it is. There is no way I could keep track of that. lol Just wait until the cherry tomatoes starts coming in. lol

Edited June 24, 2010 by LibraryLover

[fairfarmhand]

 

The problem then creeps back into the house with any holiday that comes about. The grandma's buy them candy, they go to birthday parties and bring home goodie bags. Before you know it, there is sugary snacks in the house all over again. What do you do find works in these situations?

 

I

 

I have a special canister for sugary snacks. I confiscate all Halloween (or Easter or Christmas) candy when it gets here and all the kids get to pick a few things that night. Then it goes in a high cabinet and that will be their sweet treats (if they want it) for awhile. For whatever reason, I end up throwing out some in a couple weeks because they get the things they like best and don't really care to eat the rest of it. I think it also helps that it is "out of sight out of mind" and it is easier for them to get into the fridge and get something healthy than to ask mom, wait for her to get down the canister and dig through it looking for something they like. Also they'd rather have a whole handful of pretzels to munch on than a single sucker.

[4besitos]

I too have the snack standards for our house, granola bars, fruit snacks, string cheese, go-gurt or yogurt, fruit. The children generally want a snack mid-morning and late afternoon. Except for fruit, it is only 1 of each of the above a day. I have been trying to get better on the fruit/veggie intake daily. And I am blessed that my children do not try and sneak snacks. I can have a package of cookies on the counter and if they have had their treat after lunch....they leave the bag alone. I have tried to move the treat to after lunch so that they have more time to burn it off than if they have dessert after dinner.

[Mrs Mungo]

I don't regulate snacks. I keep a healthy supply of snacks around (plus ice cream!) and they are free to eat them whenever they are hungry. If I had someone not eating meals I would keep a closer eye on snacks, but so far that hasn't happened. My dc are very active and no one is overweight. I figure if they are hungry, they should eat.

 

I don't regulate either. But, I also don't have treat type food in the house. (I'm the one who would eat ALL of them!! LOL) Snacks around here include:

 

Peanut butter and jelly on ww homemade bread

Homemade hummus and pita

Homemade plain yogurt (sometimes sweetened with honey or jelly)

Fruit/veggies of all sorts (sometimes with cream cheese)

Popcorn

A variety of nuts and seeds

 

My kids really do self-regulate their eating quite well. We have healthy meals with a big breakfast - eggs, oatmeal, toast. Starts them off right!

 

This isn't to say we don't have junk food snacks ever. But, they are a special treat for us!

 

I buy any "junk" for the month and replenish fruits and veggies every other day or so. When the "junk" (e.g. popsicles, pudding, chips) is gone, it is gone!

 

My kids 7,9,11 often have junk LEFT and devour the fruits, veggies, and yogurt. When friends are over, they want to have junk to offer, so they make sure they have it here :D, and see it as a friend thing, not a dietary necessity.

 

They love cherries, strawberries, celery with pb, and can have as much of those items as they wish. We try to eat at least 5 or 6 times day, and my kids are thin and active. Perhaps their cravings are telling you something about their bodies needs for more food....and they aren't getting the right types.

 

:iagree: We are some sort of mix of these. I have tons of healthy snacks in the house, a few unhealthy snacks, I don't limit snacks.

 

This morning they have had the following snacks: cheese on toast, olives, pickles

[mommy4ever]

I was just thinking on this today.

 

I have a 16 yo bottomless pit, that chooses to eat only junk. I have a 13yo that recently has started to have bad skin and getting chunky... again eats junk... 11 yo is picky and chooses junk. 6 yo is and has always been picky.

 

SOOOO... next week, they are away for 3 days, I'm cleaning out the junk. Period. They will learn to eat properly. I'll tell them it is a health project.

 

I don't regulate. IF they are hungry, they eat, but they are choosing all the snacky things, not the healthy things. Time to change it.

[jld]

Like others, I only buy food I feel comfortable having them help themselves to. The kitchen is pretty much always open here.

[MtnTeaching]

Luckily, this hasn't been much of a problem as long as I do the shopping. I was raised by my grandparents and snacking just wasn't part of our lifestyle. Since having my own kids, I did start a "snack drawer" and I try to keep things like applesauce, mandarin oranges, nuts, trailmix, etc. in there. Fresh fruit in the basket on the counter. Yogurt, cheese and cut veggies in the fridge seem to round it out. The kids are very good at asking before they grab things especially if it's close to a meal.

 

The standard practice at Halloween is that they pick through it for two or three days and then they "sell" me anything they don't want for $$$. They usually wind up selling pretty much everything they have left.

 

Now - if I could get dh to stop snacking. I asked if he could stop by the store for milk the other day and he came back with a tray of cinnamon rolls, Oreos, Capt. Crunch and two bags of Pepperidge Farms cookies. No kidding!!!:confused:

[jewellsmommy]

I took business card perforated stock (the kind you print yourself) and made tickets. One fruit, one vegetable, one whole grain, one dairy and one DD's choice. The choice card is for any of the other categories or a cookie or ice cream sandwich etc. I mounted a small hook low on the wall in the kitchen for her cards and one hook on the side of the fridge for the used cards and I move them every morning.

 

When she wants a snack, she brings me the card and I get her snack. She has yet to go through all cards in a day and there have been days that she didn't even use her choice card.

 

We have been doing this for months and it has kept unlike other processes. It has helped to teach moderation and I think that this type of balance will "keep" even without the cards as she gets older.

[iona]

:lurk5: