My dd (8) is obsessed with snacks. She absolutely will not eat anything that is healthy. I cook big dinners and put alot of effort into making a balanced diet for my family. My dd will not eat any vegetables at all, she refuses. After having cocoa puffs for breakfst she thinks she deserves a snack for eating all her cereal! I have never given snacks after breakfast but really...after cocoa puffs?? That is a snack! She never eats what i cook unless its a lazy night and we have sloppy joes. In fact the other things she eats are hot dogs, pizza, mac and cheese, and peanut butter sandwiches. She was never this picky but every day she adds something else on the list she doesn't like anymore. Because of this i have told her that i will not be buying her snacks becuase i feel that the things she eats are really snacks! She gets very angry if any one else has a snack, especially my ds, she says its not fair. I feel bad BUT we all eat vegetables and eat full balanced dinners. I am tired of making her something else every night so i stopped, then she doesn't eat at all and she drives me nuts all night because she is hungry. I am to the point that i just don't know what to do anymore. I don't like her eating all this junk. Now when she eats an apple she thinks she deserves a snack for it. She wants ice cream after eating a peanut butter sandwich for dinner! I don't want to give her a snack for that! Any ideas????????

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 07:07 am:

We rarely have junk food in our house. I just don't buy it, so it's simply not an option. My kids snack on fresh fruit/veggies, cheese sticks, air popped popcorn, cheese and crackers, yogurt, etc.. They eat what I'm serving or they have to make their own sandwich. Sometimes they'll opt to make their own sandwich but usually they don't want to bother and will eat what I'm serving. If they choose not to eat at all, no problem. I don't pressure them, but then they know they'll have to hold out until the next meal. I found they eat much better if I back off and don't make such a big deal about it.

By Feona on Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 07:57 am:

I think you have the right idea. Get rid of the junk food.

Serve the healthy foods. Any junk food she doesn't like? I would get some of that for ds.

Also there are lots of healthy junk food like fig cookies. (at least you get a little fig) Raisens. I think you lose your taste for the junk if you stay away from it. Also the health food store has tons of more healthy snacks.

By Cat on Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 08:35 am:

I agree with trying to get as much of the "junk" out of the house as possible. I had to start buying healthier snacks because my oldest started a new medication about a month ago that increased his appetite. He gained, I kid you not, 8lbs in 10 days. Not all a bad thing, he was incredibaly skinny to begin with! So now we have lots of fruit (he loves) and veggies (he'll eat with ranch dressing or onion dip). I also got pretzels, lower fat tortilla chips, frozen fruit bars (not sugery popsicles), yogurt/gogurt, and stuff like that. His weight gain has tapered off (partialy because of the healthier snacks and partialy because his body has adjusted to the medication). Does your dd like to cook? You could find some healthy snack cookbooks (either buy or at the library). That might motivate her a little. But you don't want to turn this into a control issue. NO good could come of that. Good luck and if you find any good recipes, share with us!

By Ladypeacek on Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 08:46 am:

I am gonna try the recipe thing, she doesn't eat any of the good junk except some fruit. I have been buying lots of fruit but she wants that for a meal and then a snack. She is getting so picky. She wants fast food allt he time and i don't where she gets it from! I do NOT bring fast food home except every once in a long while! I will defintely share some recipes if i can find some she will eat! Luckily her weight is very good, i thought she may start to lose weight since she doesn't eat!

By Mommyathome on Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 11:41 am:

I agree w/everyone else Try eliminating the option of junk food for a snack.
My kids rarely eat snacks during the day. Sometimes after school they will want one but that isn't very often. Usually they get grahm crackers and a banana/apple/orange.
They have all been really good to eat all of their meals. I think it's because they don't snack much in between, so by the time dinner comes around they actually want to eat.
If they don't like what we are having, they have the option to get down from the table and wait in their room until everyone else is finished. Then, that's it. They have to wait until the next meal. Only my DD (4) has ever opted to skip dinner because she didn't like it. It only happened once and she's never done it again. I guess by the time breakfast rolled around she was feeling pretty darn hungry!

By Texannie on Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 12:12 pm:

It sounds to me more like a control issue. What do you do when she doesn't eat her dinner? Is she getting alot of attention (even negative) by being picky?

By Ladypeacek on Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 12:32 pm:

Well i have tried different things. At first i let her make a sandwich or hot dog if she didn't want what i made. Then that started to become a habit every night. So i told her she needed to stop and eat what i made. If she didn't want it then she didn't eat but then she whined all night about being hungry! I guess i am just tired of hearing it. She does not get any attention when she doesn't eat, i make a point of ignoring it while we eat. I don't allow her a snack if she doesn not eat what i cook which is where the big problem is, she has thrown horrible fits about wanting one and i just tell her that she can have one as soon as she eats dinner! I think i am just gonna have to get rid of it all for a while. I just thought that wasn't fair to those of us who do eat healthy and would like a snack every now and again!

By Debbie on Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 01:57 pm:

My dks do have a snack in the afternoon. They will have yogart, cheese/peanut butter and crackers, fruit, popcorn, and my youngest ds loves goldfish. I usually have fudgsicles because both my dks love them. They can each have one if they eat their dinner. They did start bugging me for them all the time a few months back, so I quit buying them. They were so upset, but I told them I would only buy them if they followed the rules which is 1 after dinner only. They have not bugged me about them since I started buying them again.

As far as meal, they have choices at breakfast and lunch. However, I let them pick from a few only. I only have trouble at dinner with my youngest ds (age 3), but he had major issues with reflux last summer, so we aren't as strict with him. My oldest (age 6) is to eat what I make. I don't have any problems with him. He will at least try anything and usually likes it. If my youngest doesn't like what we are having, then he can have a bowl of cereal. He does have to try it though and I always make sure to serve at least one item that I know he likes.

Your daughter is big enough that I would just sit down and make some rules about eating and snacking. Whatever you feel is appropriate for your family. If she doesn't follow them or whines about them, then stop buying the junk for awhile. Make sure that she knows that this will be the consequence if she doesn't follow the rules.

Good luck!! Hope things get better soon.

By Coopaveryben on Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 02:35 pm:

I went to a parenting class on just this topic. What they said was to give them their plate at supper if they don't eat it stick it back in the fridge, when they ask for a snack pull it out...still don't eat it, at breakfast they get their dinner plate with the same food, keep doing it until they eat it.

She is old enough that you can make her a list of snacks she can have, only if she at least makes an effort to eat her supper. I would also set a snack time and tell her the rules, ours are: no snacks between breakfast and lunch, no snacking directly after meals, snack time is around 2:30 or 3:00 and mine usually go to bed after supper so there is no snacking then but if for some reason they are up later than usual, several hours, I will let them have something.

I always had to eat what was served too and that is what I require of my children. I think when they demand you make them something else they are missing out on nutrition, they are showing a lack of respect for your time, and they need to learn how to act when go to eat at someone else's house.