Snacks For Babies

Even more worrying Norah. They have the internet and presumably that's where they find the information which the marketing companies want them to find.

I see young children on the bus, babes in buggies, being given endless snacks to keep them quiet.

...and coke/squash in a bottle.

NotSpaghetti

^Young parents have internet, they well understand nutrition^

No they don't- they just go for what's convenient.

My GD lives almost entirely on sweet things, as does one of my GSs. Thankfully the other one has a healthy appetite and my hope is the other two will grow out of it.

Exactly keepingquiet, I was quoting Norah!

Casdon

Both my children and my granddaughter had snacks available when out shopping, which bought time because after about nine months old they got so bored in the pushchair after a while. Apart from carrot sticks, the best one I found was breadsticks, easy to hold and didn’t mash up - and lasted ages.

It reminded me that DH loved his french stick, but by the time we got to the checkout DS had eaten the end of it. Not because he was hungry, but because he loved it too.

Food seems to be a placebo these days. Babies' metabolism is faster than ours so they do need more often, but as they grow the space between should be greater.

As a very active skinny child, I had breakfast, but mum would pack me a snack to go with my morning milk, but despite school lunch with double helpings, I would be "starving" by the time I got home, so milk and biscuit to keep me going until dinner. Not so my siblings, who did not need them.

However, my pattern was set as a "constant eater", and while my siblings' weight has been normal, I am obese and struggling because my stomach acid is set to receive. My doc tells me the only way is to go hungry with water to reset.

We had fruit buns at mid-morning in school.
The best buns I've ever eaten!

I always used to take bread and water when we went out to the park or shopping (no car, local shops most days).
This was in the early 70s. However, I'm not sure DD would have survived without chocolate semolina, a quick and easy bed-time snack.

It’s partly the now ubiquitous use of the horrible word ‘snack’ isn’t it? Never used when I was young, or my own children were young, except as a smaller than usual meal for some reason.
My GC are all teenagers now so have never heard of these pouches for the -1s which do sound unnecessary and unwholesome. After about 9 mnths babies like something to gnaw at and those finger-shaped things like dog biscuits prob better for the purpose than carrots wh disintegrate too quickly.

Also ‘grazing’ is another word we hear nowadays.

It used to be that cows and horses ‘grazed’, now it seems humans do also.

I'm a bit surprised at all the people who "never" had snacks growing up.

Did none of you ever have school milk at breaktime?

Also I remember having snack time of squash/milk with a biscuit or cut up fruit at nursery in the 1960s.

And I ate with my parents after work - so tended to have something (not a lot) to eat when I got home from school.

I don't know what happened when I was under 1 though.

We’ve just had the 3 Gdcs (10, 9, 5) staying for 4 nights. We were out of the house for 3 full days, and I don’t mind admitting that I always take snacks, including bananas, since they’re invariably hungry between meals.

They are all very slim and extremely active and energetic.

(I will add that dh and I were both utterly knackered by the time we took them home last night!)

I used to love Farley’s Rusks! And still would, so often tempted to buy a pack, but haven’t given in for years.

I keep reading on Mumsnet about snacks for children. Apparently they get "snacks" when they're picked up from school, snacks between meals, snacks on car journeys. Admittedly the snacks mentioned appear to be "healthy" such as hummus and brown bread but kids these days seem to be constantly grazing. My son had three meals a day, the evening meal always eaten as a family. Anything else was a treat.

It's the baby snack marketing I object to, not feeding children.
I certainly had school milk at break and school dinners too. After school too but only when I was a growing teenager when I could eat a horse.

When at senior school in the 60s I almost invariably took a Marmite sandwich (made by myself of course) for morning break. Would often have the same on my return home - dinner would not be until around 7.

When younger I do remember envying other kids who had packets of crisps, especially after swimming, when I’d be more than usually famished - my mother never bought such things.

I believe there is growing concern about the amount of prepared, processed food that very young children often eat these days. They must be quite popular as there seem to be more and more on offer. I have also noticed special ranges of sweets for babies, presumably to be eaten between meals and not instead of pudding as there seem to be special baby puddings as well.

Snacks for babies should be soft, nutritious, and easy to digest, such as mashed fruits, steamed vegetables, yogurt, or small pieces of soft cheese. They should be free from added sugar, salt, and choking hazards, supporting healthy growth and development.

The jury is out.

Some nutritionists recommend five smaller Neal's a day for weaned babies and toddlers.

Certainly DC1 was (and is) better eating like that and she is a slim and energetic woman
DC2 couldn't be filled up - hollow legs! Now well over 6', slim and energetic
DC3 was picky and needed to be persuaded to eat although she eats very well now, has studied nutrition. The same outcome too, slim and fit.
Children are not all the same with the same dietary needs.

Some children only get fed junk food even if it is just three meals a day.
Schools often serve junk food too.

Neal's
meals

BlueBelle

My babies never had snacks either The only snacks the grandkids had if I recall it was bits of fruit or raisins they had those hard biscuit things to chew on when they teeth were coming through you put a string through the end can’t remember what they were called ? Ah were they Farleys

Bickiepegs!

Bickiepegs!
Yes!

Farleys rusks went to mush and were just sugar-loaded!!

One of my grandchildren feeds her babies a dreadful diet ( my opinion) with lots of junk and chicken nuggets, chips, Coca-Cola etc. I have to admit they are bright, healthy and energetic kids and I keep my mouth shut in the interests of family harmony. The rest of the family are much more fussy about balanced diets etc- their kids are also bright and happy but for some reason get a lot of colds which the ones on the nasty diet seem to avoid. Strange.

That made me laugh nanna8.
It seems often the case so there must be a hidden factor protecting the junk food eaters from getting sick!
I believe in a little of what you fancy does you good

But maybe not before you're 1yr old.
My DM used the chocolate test on me and my siblings. We were born during rationing so sugar was not readily available and she kept a supply of chocolate for emergencies.
If one of us had a fall and screamed, she would offer chocolate. If the screaming continued, she'd call the doctor. It usually stopped.