What do you give your toddlers for snacks?

[peanut4us]

Our ped said sara should be eating 3 meals a day now (which she does) and having a snack in the morning an done in the afternoon. It is such a chore to get her to be interested in what I want her to eat that I don't want to waste my "good" ones on non meal times. So what do your toddlers eat for snacks?

[cinrein]

I try to view the snacks as extensions of her main meals---more like 5 mini meals.

I usually give Anna a protein, starch and fruit with a sippy of milk for a snack. Cheese is her all-time favorite food. I'll give her Cheerios with it, or some toasted wheat bread. She'll eat just about any fruit until she explodes, so I tend to not be so generous with the fruit. She is so finicky about what she eats anymore, so I currently have only a few things that she'll even allow on her high chair tray during any given week (and those items change from week to week).

Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

[McQ]

I can't imagine feeding Declan any more than I already do. He eats/drinks 7 times a day. And we haven't branched into snacks yet. It's like he's eating around the clock.

He gets a bottle when he wakes up, then breakfast 2 hours later.
Another bottle before the morning nap, lunch about 1/2 an hour after he wakes up.
Third bottle before the afternoon nap, dinner about an hour after he wakes up.
Bottle before bed.

With all the meals I offer some sort of fruit, cheese, toast, animal crackers, cheerios or some thing from our plate. Not all of these mind you, probably 2 of them at each meal to keep his little hands busy while I'm doing something in the kitchen.

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03
and number 2 EDD 9.14.04

[nitaghei]

Joey,

I count BF'g or a bottle/sippy of milk as snacks. In any case, DS gets 3 meals and an afternoon snack that is solid food + milk. He's also nursing 3-4 times a day still. At his 12 month check up, his ped said as long as he was having 3 meals a day, he was fine.

His snack is usually milk + cheese and/or cheerios or fruit. I don't vary this much, because he seems to like predictability.

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a cocker and a PWD

[ppshah]

I've found it helpful to consolidate milk and meals- more like "adult" meals so it doesn't feel like we're eating all day long.

Snacks:

Mini blueberry muffins
yogurt
cheerios
fruit
cereal bars
unsweetened apple sauce

We are only doing one afternoon snack per day. Need to add a morning snack so curious to see what others will suggest.

[mharling]

- Cheerios
- Veggie Booty
- Cheese
- Fruit
- Kix
- Pita with hummus

Mary
Lane 4/6/03

[JElaineB]

DS is having Veggie Booty right now for his afternoon snack. This morning he had about 6 ounces of yogurt for his morning snack. He also gets 2 cups of milk a day after lunch and after dinner, though I don't count those as snacks, more extensions of his meals.

Other things he likes for snacks besides yougurt and Veggie Booty

-mini pancakes (often leftover from breakfast! - can buy frozen or make your own)
-fruit
-Cheerios
-Goldfish crackers
-many other types of crackers
-bread and butter
-half a jelly or jelly & soynut butter sandwich, folded over
-Teddy Grahams
-Gerber Graduates snacks (cookies, crackers, cereal bars)
-cheese (not eating it lately though)

That's all I can think of right now.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

Jennifer
mom to Jacob