Eating Time Zones for Kids who Graze and Snack
The Grazers and the Snackers
We see this all the time in feeding therapy.
Children rarely hungry for meals
Children hesitant to sit and eat
Children who prefer to carry around those snack cups all day and munch on puffs and cheddar bunnies
Children who are not expanding the food varieties because they’re not trying new foods at mealtimes
This is called grazing and it is very common!
Parents
You just want to get them to eat, anything anytime.
You may wonder, are they eating enough?
Why won’t they sit with us to eat?
Why do they only want to eat snacks?
Grazing does not help to support mealtime routines, attention at the table for meals, and full disclosure -- grazing can be dangerous and is a choking hazard depending on the child’s age and current skill level. So, this is important to address.
“Feed and water the children every 2-hours” — one of my favorite sayings to share with parents. It makes me laugh every time but also, IT’S TRUE AND IT WORKS. Keeping blood sugar levels stable and bringing in a mealtime routine can drastically improve behavior, attention, and access to new learning.
As infants become toddlers, children and young adults, we transition out of cluster feeding and feeding on demand, and start transitioning to a more routine-type schedule for mealtimes —This transition can be tough!
Eating Time Zones help to communicate to children (and the whole family) when food is offered, and when it is not. Mealtime routines are not all day long, they begin, and they end.
This method helps to group mealtime routines into 2-hour windows, so food is offered for about 90-minutes, every two hours. In feeding therapy sessions, we use a visual cue for this method which hangs on the refrigerator and can serve as a tool to show children if it is time for food, or if it is not.
There is no requirement to eat during these windows, but food is available if they choose to eat.
Here’s an example of the Eating Time Zones in action!
Parents
If this is something you want to try with your children, book a 15-minute Consultation Call with us and we will walk you through whether this strategy is something that may work for your family.
Therapists
Download the template and Eating Time Zone guide - it’s a 7-page document with 4 varieties of Eating Time Zone schedules/visual cues. If the variation you need for your family is not in the guide, just reach out to us to request a custom template!
If you need support implementing this with your families, we’re here for that too! Schedule 1:1 Therapist Coaching session and we will get you ready to implement this effectively in your practice.