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Child’s nibbles
There are several reasons for these nibbles. Some children, for example, find it difficult to finish their plate, especially when the portions are too generous. So, of course, they’ll be hungry in less than two hours. Conversely, the nibbler can also be the one who has not had his calorie count at the meal, and who suddenly is hungry. Another possibility: the slightly rebellious child who manifests his young autonomy by taking you hostage by means of interposed plates. He has a sort of adolescent crisis and says to you: ‘No to the family meal at this hour. He does just like you, who eat on the go: a small sandwich now, a toast with hazelnut chocolate dough later. And in between, a yogurt, a banana. Finally, it can come from anxiety. Indeed, even very young, a child can seek to fill an indefinite anxiety by filling himself all day long with small quantities of food, preferably very sweet.
4 meals a day
Breakfast is the first real meal of the day, the one that must break the fast of the night and allow you to wait, without cravings, therefore without snacking, for lunch. To be taken together, with a little time in front of you. Pay attention to the snack. When taken too close to lunch (after 10:30 a.m.), it becomes a snack that can suppress your appetite for lunch. This snack is therefore only justified if the child really does not manage to swallow breakfast. Snack should also be taken away from dinner. But, above all, forget the ‘restorative’ treat of your absence, the one which, during evening shopping at the supermarket, makes dinner too far away. Regular schedules. To keep it from cracking, the best recipe is to be firm about meal times. A little one of this age will find it difficult to wait until 13 p.m. and 20:30 p.m. for lunch and dinner.
At the table, the good example
A balanced meal is a shared moment that is taken in peace and around a table. Children are sensitive to the example or counter-example given by their elders: if everyone eats in their own corner, they will certainly do the same. To throw himself right after on a packet of crisps.
And on the quantity side?
Neither too much nor too little. The little ogre must be given sufficient rations. To the sparrow, we serve portions according to its small appetite that do not discourage it from eating. With the rebel, you have to negotiate (a little), and, as with the one who seeks more to ‘fill up’, you do not compromise on the sugary and fatty supplies in the cupboards. Just don’t buy it.
Breaches of the rules
All the rules, essential to structure a child’s life and help them grow up in a safe environment, must be able to be broken. On Sundays, on vacation, allowing brunch to combine breakfast and lunch or allowing afternoon tea is partying. At aperitif time or at the market, we can also fall in love with good local products or sweet treats. Not enough to make a drama of it! All tastes are in nature. The cardoon dish with bechamel sauce and chard chops au jus are not necessarily to the taste of all children. On these days, they can be offered an alternative.