Ask The Expert is a weekly column on Littlestomaks.com. The idea is to have a reader-submitted question answered by a nutrition expert or a pediatrician. Feel free to submit your question in the comments section below.
This week, Registered Dietitian Emma Stirling offers a few handy tips on how to empower your little ones at an early age in selecting treats and snacks appropriately and in balance with healthful foods.
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Emma Stirling, MS, RD
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Question: I’ve simply avoided giving my toddler any candy, chocolates or ice-cream until now, but can’t keep this up forever. What’s the best approach?
Answer:
So you wake up one day and your baby, who was enjoying her food and eating reasonably well, turned into a toddler. Suddenly your food is the last thing on her radar. And when she is hungry, there are far too many new foods available in the supermarket, at the café or at grandmas. So how should you approach treat or ‘extra’ foods? And what are some top tips for the whole, extended family? Let’s explore this, at times, conflicting area of toddler nutrition.
Reward wisely
If you be a good girl at the grocery store, you can get a treat. You didn’t eat all your veggies, so you can’t have ice-cream. Oh my poor darling, let me get a plaster for your grazed knee and a little candy to cheer you up. Sound familiar? If you have childhood memories of food treats being connected with rewards or punishment or comforts, then chances are you will copy these behaviors with your own children. But the problem with this is, it simply teaches children that treat foods are the most desirable and this can set up future patterns of emotional eating. The key is to break this cycle and approach treats as an enjoyable part of regular eating, with no strings attached.
Tip: Try non-food rewards for good behavior like a sticker chart, new book or favorite outing.
Separate snacks
Due to their small stomach capacity and active day, toddlers need mid-meal nutritious snacks for fuel and to help ensure daily nutrient requirements are met. It’s important to clearly separate snack foods from treat foods. The two lists will differ from family to family depending on your personal nutrition views. But the key is to make it clear to all family members. Yes that’s you grandma, daddy and big cousin, babysitter. At mid-meal snacktime make sure little stomachs fill up from your “nutritious snacks list” first like fresh berries, wholegrain crackers and dip or small cubes of cheese. And pack portable snacks in case you are caught out and the closest option is a convenience store. Once hunger is curbed or satisfied you can offer something from the “treat list”. In my family all treats for all family members (yes, daddy’s dark chocolate too) are kept in an opaque container on a top shelf in the pantry. Out of sight, out of mind, until treat time.
Tip: Be a positive role model and prepare a nutritious snacks platter to enjoy together.
Timetable treats
Aim to be consistent with your approach and set up a timetable or guidelines on how you will include treats. In my family, since my children were three years old, we have all been able to choose, two portion controlled treats a day on request. I’ve talked to them about the difference between treats and fill you up healthy foods, plus the idea of time appropriate eating – “no we won’t have an ice-cream now, we’ve just had breakfast and ice-cream isn’t a breakfast food”. So now they ask for their treat at appropriate times, like after dinner (brush your teeth before bed) or when on an outing. It sounds too simple, but the power is in empowering at a young age. It wasn’t long before my daughter cottoned on – “Oh I won’t have a treat after lunch mom, I’m going to save it for an ice-cream after swimming lessons”.
And you’ll be amazed at how it works at the grocery store. My children can now purchase items for the treats box, take them home and store them away without any pester power or “I want one NOW!”. And on some (rare) days, they even forget to ask for a treat.
Maybe you think that sounds rather generous? In your home, it may only be a treat three times a week, or only after sport, or only at parties. But whatever you decide stick to it, even on vacation, when a few too many extras can slip in. A treat time plan the whole family (even mom and dad) sticks to, helps your kids develop a healthy relationship with food.
Tip: Make a craft project together and cut out pictures of treat foods and snack foods from catalogues. Stick them on a chart that clearly shows the two groups for all to see.
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Disclaimer – Information provided in Ask The Expert column on Littlestomaks.com is intended to give you general guidance on a question related to toddler nutrition. It is not meant to be treated as medical advice. You are welcome to contact this expert for a detailed consultation on your specific situation to determine what actions, if any, you should take regarding nutrition and health of your toddlers. We do not recommend you to take any action based solely on the information presented in this column. Experts have agreed to provide their professional opinion on toddler nutrition related questions on a voluntary basis and no compensation is offered to them by Littlestomaks.com.
