Every Two Hours

By Kimberly Hicken

            Several years ago, I was at a gathering with other mothers. One of the women in our group was actually a grandmother; all of her own children were raised. She was the one that many of us looked to for guidance as we tried to maneuver through our day to day lives with little ones. At this particular meeting she taught us all something that was life changing for me.

            “Kids are so full of energy,” she told us. “Sometimes they just won’t settle down, but I learned something years ago as a young mother. These little ones need to eat every two hours.”

            The concept was shocking to me. Every two hours? Are you kidding me? I was having a hard-enough time getting three meals prepared; how was I supposed to feed them every two hours? The look of shock on my face must have been mirrored by several of the other young mothers in the room.

            “I know it seems like a lot,” laughed this lady. “It’s really not though. I’m not talking about full meals, just a little snack. Easy stuff like graham crackers and milk, apple slices, a banana, a bit of yogurt. They just need something in their tummies. They are so much easier to deal with when they have food in them.”

            I was still a little skeptical, but I didn’t want to say anything. One of the other moms, however, had no qualms. “Don’t you worry about them overeating? Getting fat?”

            The grandma of the group chuckled softly. “No, little kids aren’t like adults. They don’t overeat. When they’re full, they’re full. They stop eating. We have to teach them to overeat.”

            Several of us nodded our heads in agreement. We’d all noticed that our toddlers would stop eating when they were full. No amount of coaxing could get a young child to clean his plate if he felt full. The conversation then veered to other topics, but I was left contemplating her words of wisdom. Feed the kids every two hours. It was a novel concept. I decided to give it a try.

Here’s What Happened:

            It turns out that this grandmother knew what she was talking about. I tried to remember to give the kids some sort of snack every two hours, but I wasn’t very good at remembering. That didn’t matter though. My kids reminded me in ways I’d never noticed before. Were they starting to argue? If I looked at the clock, it had been about two hours since they had last eaten. Was my toddler having a meltdown? A glance at my watch told me that we’d reached the two-hour mark. Were the children starting to get underfoot? Again, two hours had passed.

            The fix was easy, of course. I just started giving them a small, healthy snack every two hours. It didn’t take much time or effort on my part: A handful of grapes, a few raisons, some carrot sticks (preferably with dip), a few crackers, or even a sandwich split between them. They weren’t ravenous; they just needed a little something in their tummies. The results were amazing. My children became so much easier to deal with, I wondered if they had been kidnapped by aliens and replaced with different creatures.

Unexpected Benefits:

            I’ll admit that in the beginning, I worried that these snacks would affect mealtime. I was concerned that when it came time for lunch or dinner, my kids wouldn’t eat. I was wrong. They still ate a healthy meal. Snacks became a way of saving my sanity. It also allowed me to introduce new food options to my kids. When I wanted to have them try a new vegetable, for example, I served it as a snack. Since snack time was a pleasurable time, my kids looked at this new food as something pleasant. They didn’t view it with suspicion. There was no longer any battle over “eating your vegetables” or “trying a new food.” It was a snack. If you didn’t want the snack, that was fine. No one ever has to eat a snack.

And Now?

            Today, I’m the grandma and guess what I do when I’m around younger mothers who seem to be struggling? I suggest snacks. I tell them that kids need to eat every two hours. I’m met with the same doubt and skepticism that I gave that grandmother so many years ago, but that’s okay. I’ve been on their end. I know how they’re feeling. I smile and tell them the benefits of small snacks for small children. I don’t know if they listen to me, but at least I’ve passed on the wisdom. As for myself, when my grandkids come to visit, they can count on one thing. There will be snacks.