Children that are allowed to eat/graze constantly?

Aimless

I'm a scrooge, even my teenager has to ask when he wants a snack. Firstly so I can keep track of how much rubbish goes in, and secondly so I don't open the cupboard and find nothing for packed lunches. It's a long way to the shops!

pigpen

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

You have to wonder how anyone can physically eat that much, don't you?

Also, that has got to be 1000 calories plus for breakfast; how much does that cost?

Absolutely.. my 14 y/o son will have 6 Weetabix!! But.. the rest of the meals are much smaller portions he just stocks up at breakfast. my 2 year old regularly has 2-3 bowls of cereal or cereal and toast.. but she eats pretty much nothing the rest of the day so it does balance out.

chelseablue

My neice and nephew are 14 and 10 and they always seem to be in the fridge!

Im 29 and when I was a child I always had breakfast every day, usually toast

I took a packed lunch to school every day, dont remember ever having a mid morning snack at school

After school I used to have a couple of cookies or maybe some crackers

Then dinner at about 5:30

As I got older I used to make some toast or a sandwhich if I was hungry in the evening

You are definately not alone!

If Im blessed with children they wont be sitting around eating rubbish all day! (I couldnt afford it!)

BitterAndTwisted

If there are always crisps, biscuits and snacks to hand and the kids are allowed to help themselves to what they want, when they want it, some will graze all day long.

My parents weren't well-off by a very long stretch so snacks and treats were never freely available, and if they ever were we had to ask first but a slice of bread and butter or some toast was if we were hungry between meals.

I might be a miserable old bag but I hate to see young kids helping themselves to anything without asking that's not fresh fruit

p-pincher

No we don't allow our 2 dd's free reign. I was never allowed to help myself and had to ask before having anything and i'm the same, even fruit, though I would rarely ever say no to that.

My nephews when growing up were allowed free reign and to be honest they just used to pig out and there the same now and they both struggle with their weight, they just can't seem to say no. Instead of having a satsuma or 2 after school they would maybe eat 6 or 7, never one bowl of cereal it would be 3 or 4.

Both of mine have toast, cereal or crumpets for brekkie, quite a big packed lunch for school, a snack after school if the ask, maybe fruit, yoghurt or crisps (at the min there still finishing the easter eggs off) and then dinner. Much the same at weekend. Both of mine are not very big eaters though.

If they're genuinely hungry I dint think theres much of a problem but if they're just snacking out of boredom it will probably cause problems as they get older.

Dinosaur_Train

I agree with those that have said that a lot of snacking is often due to boredom. I think it certainly is in the case of my friend whose 3 children eat all day. All three constantly say they are hungry, and she takes a large carrier bag of food wherever they go. Her youngest even sits in his buggy on the school runs with a tuck box full of food, well I'd class it as a packed lunch really, rather than just one biscuit or a box of raisins or whatever.

I'm really keen to teach my children to have a 'stop' button where food is concerned, and I feel that children that are allowed to snack willy nilly won't ever learn to have a stop button and so will become overweight at some point, if they are not overweight already.

Mrs_Imp

We tried implementing 'regular' mealtimes with our 2 year old, but he often got very hungry during the day (he'd raid the cupboard for dry pasta) and would go to bed hungry because he didn't eat much in the evening, leading to many many night time wake ups. Now I tend to go with the flow. If he wants 2 bowls of cereal for breakfast, he gets it, and he has lots of small snacks during the day, and then usually very little in the evening. He no longer raids the cupboard and his night-time waking has reduced dramatically. It works for us.

eta: he is not overweight and shows no signs of becoming overweight. His body just requires food little and often.

anniemf2508

I don't give my 2 free reign, if they want food between meals they do ask. I swear tho they both have hollow legs.
My son is 6 and on a typical day he will have 2 breakfasts....he'll have a bowl of cereal at 7am when his sister has hers, then about 9am he'll have toast, pancakes or bacon sandwich. Mid morning he'll have a piece of fruit.Lunchtime he'll have a sandwich/wrap,hm cake, bag of crisps and a drink. Mid afternoon he'll have fruit or veg. Dinner he'll eat everything on his plate. 7pm he'll have supper of a biscuit or something.
He is homeschooled so his meal times can be varied.

Joons

That is crazy, what you are doing is the correct way to feed children. When we were kids apart from our set meals we had to ask permission to enter the kitchen and even when we got in it would be a jam piece if you were lucky! Their children must or will become overweight eating all that crap, even fruit is high in sugars. £250 a week on groceries is a joke, hell mend them.

OrkneyStar

I think along the same lines as you OP.
DH is nearly 6 and he has:
-porridge for breakfast, made with milk and has dried or fresh fruit in and a little honey, milk
- morning snack at school or home if holidays of fruit or dried fruit or a healthy snack bar
-lunch of sandwich (made with 1 slice of bread only, so 2 quarters) containing cheese or decent ham (proper meat not reformed) or decent beef, yoghurt, fruit (satsuma or kiwi or pear or blueberries), water from school
-sometimes afternoon snack similar to morning
-dinner, portion 1/2 my size (I have a small adult sized portion) of pretty much whatever we are having- always at least one sort of veg, some carbs, some protein (sometimes meat sometimes not), sometimes a pudding of jelly or fruit or angel delight made with milk and so on, fruit juice
-supper of toast and honey, marg or jam (choc spread on special occasions!), or small bowl porridge, milk
He does get some sweeties but limited amounts.
If he is extra hungry any time not too close to a planned meal he will be offered fruit as first option or perhaps a flapjack.
I would be concerned that someone of any age was eating 2-3 bowls of cereal, surely porridge and/or toast with marg/honey etc would be much healthier? I know when I have cereal I need something else too, and DS is not filled up the same with it either.