How Often Should My Kid Eat?

We often hear that kids should eat 3 meals and 2 snacks a day, but is that always reasonable? The answer, as you might imagine, is complex.

Offering meals and snacks on a schedule is one of the more important factors in planning out your day. Have you ever heard of the term food insecurity? Food insecurity is when there is limited access to sufficient food. In children who experience food insecurity, this leads to hoarding behaviors and over-eating since kids never know when they’re next meal will come. To prevent this from happening, I recommend that you always serve meals at a predictable time. For example, in our family breakfast is around 8-8:30am, lunch is around 12-12:30pm, and dinner is around 5:30-6pm. This may seem obvious, but it doesn’t always happen for all kids.

The question of when to offer snacks becomes a little bit tricker. Sometimes snacks just don't happen for a number of reasons: Perhaps your day was busier than expected, perhaps your child was still full from breakfast. It’s OK if you skip a few snacks. When my daughter was little I reached out to a dietitian Mom friend of mine and asked "how do you fit three meals in two snacks in such a short day?" She replied "it doesn't always happen, and you shouldn’t stress over it". Unlike meals, snacks can be flexible and added or eliminated based on your child and your day.

Another rule of thumb for the timing of meals & snacks is that there should be at least two hours in between a meal and a snack. This allow the child to experience what a tummy feels like when it’s hungry, which ultimately leads to a more robust intake of food. If a child is "grazing" all day, they tend to never feel hungry which leads to a smaller intake of food at mealtime. I can't tell you how many times I've had a parent in the office tell me "my child is such a bad eater" or “my child doesn’t seem to be growing well” only to find out that they are a classic “grazer”. Have you ever tried grazing all day (think about Thanksgiving day)? I typically never feel super hungry on these days, that’s because my stomach is always partially full.

Finally, meals and snacks should always be serviced at the kitchen table, in a secure space (think high chair) with their feet firmly planted on a surface to facilitate swallowing, with no distractions (no TV/games/tablets at the table), and as a family. Kids eat better when they eat at a table with their family present and without any distractions. This is a prime time to bond with your little one and ask about their day, talk about feelings, and learn more about their life!  Not to mention that eating food while walking around the house is a choking hazard and is just plain messy! Here are a few of my favorite high chairs that facilitate good posture during meal times: Stokke Tripp Trapp, Abiie Beyond Wooden High Chair, and the Ergobaby Evolve.