Nutrition: The right snacks for toddlers

The most important things in brief

• When toddlers get hungry, it's always a good idea to have some snacks to nip whining in the bud.
• For many parents, packing snacks when going on long trips or even just to the playground becomes a routine.
• This leads directly to the question of which hunger suppressants are suitable for this.
• It is definitely advisable to have wet wipes in your luggage in addition to the snacks.

When toddlers get hungry, they become cranky - a deeply human trait that even adults cannot always shake off. But they just grab a snack on the way and that's it. However, when you go on a trip with young children, make sure to pack some finger food that is fresh and healthy and will soothe an empty stomach.

Why snacks and snacks are good

There's more to the practical side of toddler snacks than satisfying hunger. From a nutritional perspective, it's good to always have a few snacks on hand. Especially in the first years of life, the stores for nutrients in children are still very small, which is why it is important to regularly supply these stores with new nutrients.

This means: give your child something to eat from time to time. There are actually no limits to your imagination if you stick to certain basic rules: no industrial sugar and nothing that is difficult to digest. Vegetables and fruit are kept reasonably fresh for a few hours in appropriate Tupperware.

Vegetables and fruit, but also dairy and grain products

So if your toddler gets tasty and healthy snacks in between, these are not just for filling. They also promote the child's performance and concentration - especially in those children who move a lot and are slim. If fruit and vegetables are not enough to satisfy your hunger, you can just as easily use products that mainly consist of cereals or dairy products.

Of course, many parents wish they had the time and energy to make their own snacks at home. Especially biscuits made from grain or rusks - for example from spelled - can also be made at home. This also ensures that as little or no industrial sugar as possible is used in production. But you don't always manage to take care of it at home in preparation for a trip.

Pay attention to the ingredients when buying

So it's good that the retail trade has now understood that children have to eat a healthy and balanced diet - especially in infancy - and accordingly has a whole range of such products in their range. However, as a parent, you should make the effort when buying and check the ingredients of the snacks for toddlers.

Too much sugar, especially in the first years of life, is not only very bad for the teeth, sugar is also almost always the basis for the development of obesity. The Swiss Society for Nutrition recommends that no more than ten percent of children's daily energy requirements should come from sugar. For children up to three that means a maximum of 25 grams of sugar daily, for children from 4 to 6 a maximum of 35 grams. Ideally, however, children remain well below these values.