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I would just bring snacks if the daycare is otherwise fine... My old daycare used to stuff the kids full of sugar and it made me insane. One day they literally had pudding AND cookies at snack in the little toddler room. Why? Why both? I just brought in little tupperwares of approved snacks and some pouches and left them there. You could cross out anything on the menu you didn't want your kid to eat and they would serve what you brought from home.

We do the same thing as @caterw. I go through the menu each week and cross off what I don't want him having. We had to get a dr note in order to bring food from him but our ped was totally on board.

I feel you on not loving the sugary snacks. We opt out of cookies (Lorna Doone and Teddy Grahams) and the super sugary vanilla yogurt. I gave in on graham crackers because they're only once every two weeks and DS loves them. We will bring fruit, veggies, etc on days that we are skipping the provided snack.. Do they provide you with a menu so you can plan in advance? I doubt that you'll make a lot of headway getting them to change their offerings so I'd probably it plan on bringing a little extra food from home.

Ugh. Our daycare snacks are terrible. Our 14 month old still gets food from home but my 3.5 year old has eaten the daycare food since he moved into the toddler room around 1-1.5

I'd kind of just resigned myself to it, and tried to feed the boys better on the days they were with me. I like some of the suggestions above though. I would love to hear thoughts from parents with older kids though... I think it becomes a bit harder to send different snacks when every kid in the class is eating one thing, and one kid gets something else.

Our daycare menu is not great either. I did ask a ton of questions clarifying what was served and how. Cheerios is the cereal. Some foods like gravy I have restricted. I brought in Puffs as a snack alternative although they serve the baby's alternatives to Party Mix already. I don't love the alternatives- Cheezits and Graham Crackers, but those are school foods. At home we serve other foods.

Both daycares my kid has been at have said they'd be happy to give my kid whatever food/snacks I wanted to send. I also have access to a monthly snack menu so I can look at it ahead of time. So I don't think its uncommon for parents to send separate snacks if they choose. Personally, while I haven't always been thrilled with the options, I've just decided it wasn't really worth the fuss.

My answer probably is affected by my child's personality, however. My kid has just never been into food. He's not super picky per se, but he's just not food motivated, so he actually eats a TON better at school with the other children, including healthy foods. I pack him a nutrient dense lunch which he eats very well 90% of the time because all the other kids are eating their lunches. So overall, I'd say he eats a healthier diet because he goes to preschool/daycare even with the less than ideal snacks.

He eats morning and afternoon snack there and the portions I've seen are like a tablespoon of raisins and 2 tablespoons of Goldfish crackers with Dixie cups of water, or like half a granola bar. On Fridays, the kids can have a Dum Dum on the way out of school. Not my favorite thing, but whatever. I'll give him a healthy dinner with lots of fresh fruit at home and if he gets a cookie or a special treat at school for someone's birthday, I'll probably curb his treats at home that day or the next. Furthermore, he's MUCH more physically active on school days than days we are at home, so I'm certain he's burning off all of that sugar through play (especially since snack happens right before play times) because it hasn't affected his behavior at home and he goes to bed just fine every night.

I guess if as adults we aim for the 80/20 split on healthy foods vs. treat foods, then I'm okay with most of it coming from daycare while I focus on what I can control at home. My school is smart enough to know not to amp the kids up on sugar because it just makes their jobs harder anyway. Our teachers always groan when its Halloween time or Valentine's Day because the kids are always acting up the entire week those holidays happen, so I know its not like they want the kids to be sugar junkies either.

DD started at a daycare when she was 13 months old, and their snacks were awful. Like marshmallows and chocolate chips in a "trail mix". Basically until she was 2 years old, i packed most of her lunches and provided snacks since she couldn't have a lot of things they offered. They rarely offered fresh fruit, opting for orange juice (since that's considered a serving of fruit). Yes, she was that kid who had the long list of "do not serve..."

And before i get side-eyes from other parents, one of the reasons we had to restrict her sugar intake was because of the diarrhea it would cause.

DS' daycare is great. They do a lot of baked items from scratch and offer a variety of fresh fruits. I'm more lenient with DS because he is in general a good eater and he eats quite a bit at home.

I understand your concerns. I had issues with the daycare my DD went to when she was younger - there was one week where there was birthday cake and chips offered almost every day for some kid's birthday.

P doesn't go to daycare, but at preschool there is a strict snack calendar that the parent helper is to adhere to. And it is no treats, usually dairy free, gluten free and nut free too. They have 4 recommendations, and you can bring 2 or more as long as they are complimentary food groups (veggies and hummus, fruit and meat, something like that). And it's awesome. So there is no excuse for your daycare to feed the kids junk. If you want to see the example, let me know and I'll send it your way.

Ours tends to be fairly healthy - pita and hummus, fruit, homemade breads, trail mix. But there are days they have a molasses cookie or goldfish crackers. The portions are reasonable. I think bringing our own snacks would cause more drama than it's worth. There are certainly days at home or while traveling that her snacks are less than ideal too. I love the breakfasts and lunches served at our daycare so I just don't worry about it that much.

Here is our February menu for snacks (if you want to suggest a few things to them). There isn't a ton of variation, but it feels relatively healthy.