My child refuses to eat proper meals and only wants snacks. What can I do?

 

It is helpful to remember here that you are responsible for when and where your child eats and the foods on offer. They are responsible for what and how much of that food they eat. 

 

To support you to meet your responsibilities and then hand over to your child, I recommend implementing a meal and snack routine so that they know when food is due. You can talk to them about the new routine and how it fits around their daily schedule, a pictorial timetable on the wall can be helpful for younger children. 

 

Sticking to your routine will help them learn that they need to eat what they want from the food on offer when it is available. If they ask for snacks when it isn’t snack time, you can say no and explain that it isn’t snack time as well as when more food is due. At mealtimes, you can let them know that it is OK if they don’t eat but that they’ll have to wait until the next meal or snack time for more food. You can make mealtimes easier for them but including foods that they like in what you’re offering. 

 

If your child is a big snacker, you can also alleviate the concerns you may have about the foods they are and aren’t eating by offering a balanced and sustaining snack. Offering a range of food groups at snack time as well as at mealtimes increases the variety of foods available to them and keeps them fuller for longer, reducing the demands for snacks.