Luna's tiniest buddy

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

It's been a while since I've been active here!

We have a very active (now 1.5 year old) toddler who absolutely LOVES her doggie.  A while back we had trouble with defensive behavior from Luna, but with consistent training they are now best buds.  This brings me to the trouble (and part of the reason they are best buds)!

 

Our little one has decided that she should share ALL food with Luna.  Dinnertime and snacks.  It's not good for Luna's waistline, our floors, poor mommy who has to make extra snacks because she gave half to Luna.. you get the idea.  Luna hasn't had any digestive issues (thankfully) from the sharing, but I've had to lower her daily kibble intake a little bit.

 

Here is evidence of Luna enjoying the fact that our little one has hands and can open containers.  She found a box of shreddies that I had been snacking on...each had a mouth full of shreddies before I discovered the shenanigans.

 

Gating Luna off outside the kitchen when we are eating dinner seems to help... but at snacktime she is too busy to sit and eat, she's usually carrying a bowl around while she plays.  These days she's pretty much always eating (growth spurts...), so I don't really want to separate Luna from the family anytime she is snacking.  Luna would spend half her day away from her family.  Little one is pretty good at telling Luna "NO!" if she doesn't want to share (and Luna is pretty good at not "stealing"), but if little one is in a sharing mood then I can't usually stop her in time.

Any suggestions?  Should I just let it go and let them enjoy their snack sharing? :p

[BG and Gavin]

What a cutie!  No experience with little ones but had to comment on the pic!  Good luck.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Thanks!

[F, Calla & Luca]

No suggestions really but you have a beautiful toddler, generous too :-)

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Thank you!  Yes, a little overly generous.. Here's a non-chipmunk picture, she isn't *always* eating after all.  She tries to feed me sometimes too, but I don't really want her half-eaten apple slices and nibbled-on cheerios..

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Like!  What a cutie.

[Wendy and Myla]

She's adorable - her eyes are beautiful!!!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Your girls are adorable.

I don't think there is any reason that snacking cannot be confined to a table or high chair setting for even young children. I may be old fashioned, but I wouldn't allow any child to be carrying a bowl of food or snacks around while she plays, or to just be nibbling and snacking at any random time, dog or no dog. It's a toddler version of "mindless eating", and it's a contributing factor for weight problems in older kids and adults. (The personal trainer in me is coming out, sorry.) While that probably needn't be a concern for you with your DD, it's also just not a good habit to get started with. It would certainly prevent the issue of sharing food with Luna, too. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yeah, I have thought about the obesity concerns.  I try not to give her food when she's clearly not hungry and just wants to nibble, but if she's anything like me (and DH) she gets hungry often.  I generally try to keep the snack food healthy and food low-calorie (plain fruit or veggies most of the time or a small slice of cheese, handful of plain cheerios) so she eats more at mealtimes and she doesn't get anything if a meal is only 1 hour away.  I had free access to snacks growing up and I have no obesity issues, but my brothers do, which probably came from eating when they weren't hungry.

Usually our day goes like this:

- Breakfast at 7

- Snacks at 8:30, 10 (small)

- Lunch at 11:30 followed by nap

- Snacks at 2 & 3:30 (small)

- Dinner at 5 (no snacks before bedtime)

Those seem (to me) like reasonable snack times, but they can sometimes stretch to 20 minutes long because she keeps asking for more food.

I think part of her desire to eat constantly is that she's teething (possibly molars this time) and the chewing helps her gums.  She is average weight and above average height, so basically growing like a weed.

Maybe I'll ask her home daycare provider what snack times are and we can try to match that on weekends.  I'm sure she doesn't have time to be feeding the kids whenever they want all day.

[Adina P]

As a dietitian with a special interest in child feeding, I agree with Karen.  Obesity issues aside, it is helpful on many levels for toddlers to get used to structured, seated meals and snacks.  Feed as often as every 2 hours, let her eat as much as she wants, but keep it on a schedule and be the leader in terms of putting it on the table on time rather than wait for her to beg for food... and it will help TREMENDOUSLY as she gets older and more persnickety in her preferences ;-)   Otherwise it's very easy to develop a habit of eating out of boredom, to cope with emotions, and as she gets older it will interfere with her appetite for meals and consequent enjoyment of more adult foods.  Plus it's less messy to confine food to the table :-)

http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/htf/11to36months.php

http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/cms-assets/documents/105500-525938....

Considering how often she's hungry, she might benefit from having some high calorie foods offered at snacks--will stick with her longer.  Offer protein, fat and carbs at all meals in whatever forms you prefer.  Don't skimp on fat for a toddler.  She'll get what she needs if there is some of everything and it is offered at structured, predictable meal and snack times.  To me a snack is just a mini meal, it doesn't have to be 'light'  but should be 2-3 hours away from the next eating opportunity to prevent her appetite from being blunted for that next meal.  You might find that simply making snacks more filling will help with the constant grazing desire.  Because at this age all meals are equal really...they are all opportunities for nutrition and calories so there is no reason to make snacks into 'snacky foods' or 'light' when kids eat every 2 hours.  Food is food is food is food.  Whereas for adults, snacks are just to help make it to the next meal if two meals are spaced toooo far apart.   

And kids' appetites from 2-6 or so is highly erratic and preferences change at the drop of a hat.  The more structured and consistent you can be, the better.  That way even if they skip a few meals here and there, you know they will get another equal meal very soon and they have the chance to get good nutrition at every eating opportunity.

[Adina P]

She's totally cute, by the way.  And at this age, my daughter was just starting to come out of her wild throwing food phase.  Dog or no dog.  It was maddening.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I tried keeping Luna out of the kitchen for the whole mealtime today - seemed to help a lot with the food throwing.  She looked around, realized Luna wasn't around and didn't throw her food.  I think it helped that she really enjoyed today's meal though.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Thanks Adina!  It's tough for me to say no to her, especially since she is running around saying "snack" and pointing at the fridge.  I'll have to institute some tough love.

It's hard for me too tell just how much to feed her at snacktime.  So let's say she gets up at 7... if I offer her a snack around 9 then lunch is at 11, should I just feed her as much "snack" as she wants at 9?

Guesstimating how much she usually eats at a snack, she could easily down 2-3 oz. of cheese and half an apple's worth of fruit or a handful of cheerios.