How often do you feed your kids?

I always went with three meals a day with snacks in between with my daughter and with my daycare kids also. Pooping however is an individual thing some kids poop more than once a day others once a day and still others may only poop every other day. It has more to do with what they are eating more than when they are eating. I had one daycare kid who pooped 3-4 times a day some days and only once on other days. But the 5 year old should by now know his body cues and know when he needs to go. You might want to talk to his dr. about that. the three year old is still new to the whole potty thing.

foxyfire33 hi when my son was little I fed him three times a
day and snacks in between and it seemed to work just fine.How come your little ones are being disciplined by others fo having accidents. thosethings are unavoidable and no child should be disciplined for that.And everything is not your fault. IN-laws
should stick their noses out of what is really your own business at leastthats my take on it.

Hi foxyfire33

It sounds like you are having a hard time and getting some grief from people, please don't blame yourself. I have 3 boys aged 3,5 and 7 and each ones bathroom habits are different. They do normally move their bowels everyday but I don't panic if they don't. My kids usually eat cereal for breakfast, followed by a fruit snack around mid morning, lunch, then a fruit snack late afternoon and later dinner. If they are still hungry after all that I allow them to have some more fruit or a yogurt if they wish. I don't think that your 5 year old pooping his pants has got anything to do with what he eats or why your 3 year old is not trained yet. I don't think you 3 year old is quite ready yet or he is being lazy. I think your 5 year old maybe just not getting to the toilet in time as he is so busy playing.

I hope I have been of some help.

Most children don't eat BIG meals. Mine always ate supper with us (still didn't eat a lot at one time) but the rest of the day they had small amounts of healthy foods, they also had a snack before bed. You might want to talk the five year olds problem over with his Dr. My oldest son couldn't drink fruit juice because it always made him have a accident, he is thirteen now and still can't tolerate fruit juice although he doesn't have a problem with the actual fruit, so the problem might just be a certain type of food he is eating.

In-laws! The always know everything better, don't they. First off, feeding schedules have nothing to do with wetting or pooping in your pants. Nor does proper nutrition. Who came up with that garbage? Although, it's easier for them to poop if they get enough fiber, lol, and certain foods will make it more liquidy and harder for kids to judge whether they just let off gas or something else is coming out. Some kids do have issues with potty-training, and it does take longer. Growth spurts can throw you back to accidents, too. Sometimes there may even be a medical condition. And yes, sometimes it's the way one potty-trains. How are they disciplined for accidents, etc.? Or better rewarded for no-accident days? Who does the disciplining? Why do you feel forced to have the five year old in pull-ups? How can the kid feel uncomfortable that way wanting to bring things away before an accident happens? And who is watching for signs of a need to go potty? I have a seven year old who rather plays until the very last second than go to the potty. She thinks she'll miss something if she doesn't go. We see the signs and send her no matter how much protest we get. And we have always been right, out comes the waterfall or the mountain of poop.

Anyhow, many nutritionists recommend five smaller meals throughout the day, even for adults. However, the average kids usually gets breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and two small snacks, one in the morning, one in the afternoon. They have faster metabolisms and work off more energy than the average adult anyway, especially at such a young age, when the stomach indeed doesn't hold large amounts of food.

But really, this is the first time I hear somebody relating a kid's potty training accidents with the frequency of meals, lol.

I try to feed my son at least three times a day. I say try because he is a very picky eater and will only eats when he wants to. Some days he gets three meals in and other days I am luck if I get him to eat one meal.

For little kids they need to eat 5 or 6 times a day because their tummies don't hold that much. Can you imagine making a little one wait until suppertime? They will eat but then be hungry again before bed. I think feeding them breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, supper, snack is the best way... and those snacks could be fruits, veggies or anything healthy. Kids do sometimes poop more than once a day, and there is nothing wrong with that... the thing is to help them know when they have to go to the potty. I think the pull ups just tell the kid it is okay to use it as a diaper... I put my child in training pants made of cloth when she was training and she caught on quickly because she didn't want to wet or poop in her panties.

Also I don't think it is good to scold little ones about pooping in their panties.. they get confused I think with the diaper like pullup.

O.k. sweety first don't blame your self. You are doing what every pediatrician has told me to do over the past 16 years of raising kids. Also Every kid will potty train at their own pace no matter how hard you push if they aren't ready they aren't going to do it. I'm not saying don't try just don't freak when they do it their way. I have a 4 year old that pooped her pants when she slept until 4 months ago. She said it hurt when she went so she wouldn't go. The problem was that she got constipated after a bout with the flu once and it hurt so she got scared, this lead to her holding it then things got too big and would hurt reinforcing her fears. So her body would relax when she slept and she would go then. Pooping is usually the hardest part of potty training, and getting mixed signals from multiple grown ups will make it even harder. Try to talk to the in laws and get them to let you raise your own kid. If that doesn't work do what I did... I stopped talking to everyone for 6 months while I got things on a working track. This not only let my little ones get focused on what I was telling them with out the confusion of everyone else it sent a message to the grandparents saying "I'm the mother back off or I'll take you out of their lives". I know that I will have upset a few people with that comment but I believe in putting my kids first and will do what ever I have to to be sure they are raised the way I feel is best for them. Anyone or anything that is a danger to this or directly to my kids is dealt with quickly and very rarely with any second thoughts. I've lost a lot of friends for this but my kids are healthy,happy,polite, and well educated and that is all that matters to me.
Things will work out for you and the kids in time just have faith in your skills as a mother and stand your ground. Best wishes

Hi Foxyfire, My son is four and I like to make sure he has breakfast lunch and dinner but some days all he'll want to eat is fruit and drinks plenty, other days he will non stop eating from the moment he gets up til when he goes to bed. For example today he didn't want breakfast and had a drink instead then about 10 he asked if he could have a ham sandwich, he had an apple and half a banana before going to school at twelve, a fruit snack and glass of milk at school and then when he came home meatballs, potatoes and green beans which he munched his way through but yesterday other than a few mouthfuls of cereal and a sandwich and fruit at lunch he just picked at his evening meal. Kids will eat when they are hungry especially at that age. My son does go once a day though and we have no accidents. I think if the in laws stepped back and let you get on with being a mum they would be fine and completely accident free by now. I used to let mine run around without anything on when I was training and left potties in different rooms until he got used to knowing when he needed to go and now he just runs upstairs to the toilet. Good luck with this one. We all parent different, whatever works do it. Ellie:D

No, they poop when they poop, regardless of when you feed them, and I figure that a wide variety of foods offered in small portions, several times a day is just fine. Go ahead and feed them "Breakfast, lunch and dinner" Call the other two meals snacks. Tell the inlaws to butt out. If the poop theory held true, then I would only poop once a day, at the same time every day. You need your own place, my dear.