Independent Snacking

[Victor]

At what age did you let your kids get their own snacks? If they were very little, what did you make accessible and where did you put it? My 3 year old drives me batty with her constant requests for food and drink so I want to figure out how to make her serve herself without creating a huge mess.

 

[Timothy]

Our son is 3 years old now and we don't let him fix his own snacks yet. Obesity runs in my wife's side of the family and she's scared to death that he'll overeat if he's allowed access to the snacks in the house.

 

[Lorenzo]

Three year-olds still need help with fixing their own snacks. My kids' snacks usually consist of milk (or fresh juice) and cookies or sandwiches. I'd say, at about five or six years old, kids can be trained to prepare their own.

 

[Victor]

Thanks. I was thinking of putting out some fresh fruit and veggies since that can generally be prepared in advance and can be eaten pretty freely.

 

[Zimmer]

Just put out a bowl of fruit, make sure to have different kinds so he can chose the one he prefers. In the long term he'll associate snacks with fruits, which is always a good thing.

 

[Salazar]

My three year old gets her own snacks. The wife leaves things like grapes, baby carrots, cucumber sticks, etc. on the lower shelf of the refrigerator and my daughter will take what she wants when she's hungry. There is also a container on the counter with gluten free crackers and she'll take a few out of there.

 

[Andersson]

We have always kept the lower shelf in the fridge stocked with goodies that kids can reach for if they were over the age of four. Anything smaller than that we got it for them, still works with the grand babies too.

 

[Bearsfan]

I think at 4 we would let the kids grab a single serve snack, like a piece of fruit or a granola bar. I don't think it was before 8 or 9 where we let them judge what a serving was out of a multi-serving package. Even at this age though, they still asked if it was ok for them to have a snack.