As a parent, where do you stand on the whole snacking thing?

Depending on which book you read / what your pediatrician says / what works for your family, you might do square meals or more frequent, smaller meals. One famous pediatrician even recommends leaving out an array of snacks out for a toddler, say, in a muffin tin, so that she can eat on the go all day.

But that wouldn’t work for us. First, we’re rarely inside the house for long periods of time. And I never wanted to be one of those parents whose cars and sofas are full of crushed Cheerios and crackers. (Not that crumbs are that awful. And not that our house and car are clean. But anyway.)

So we’re pretty much a three-meals-and-afternoon-snack kind of family—but it seems we’re going against the trend. A recent study by Business Insights says snacking occasions are forecast to increase 3.6 percent in the United States, compared to overall eating occasions, from 2004 to 2008.

The same report says fully 10 percent of Americans now forgo regular meals in favor of grazing. Wow!

Look for fast feeders to jump on the trend, catering to snacky consumers with a wider array of snacks and scaled-down meals. The move is aimed at us grown-ups who sometimes want a smaller meal.

But think about this: Snack-sized adult items might make decent substitutes for kids’ meals.

McDonald’s is catering to the trend by introducing several new Snack Wrap varieties. Pleased with the results of its summer 2006 launch of the Ranch Snack Wrap, McDonald’s recently rolled out more snacking options for customers, like the new Honey Mustard Snack Wrap. The chicken snacks now are available in both grilled and crispy choices. McDonald’s already had other snack items on the menu, including the Snack Size Fruit & Walnut Salad, Fruit ‘N Yogurt Parfait, and Apple Dippers, among others.

The grilled version of the Honey Mustard wrap is pictured here. It’s got chicken breast meat, cheddar jack cheese, lettuce, and a sweet and tangy Honey Mustard sauce, wrapped inside a flour tortilla. It’s offered for a promotional period at $1.29 at participating McDonald’s restaurants nationwide.

And at 270 calories, 18 grams of protein, and zero trans fats, it’s an option I’d consider for Baby A. What do you think?

Overall, this trend could create a much wider variety of dining options for clever parents and their kids. Now if only the chicken could be hormone-free….

Rumor has it that by the third or fourth kid, you give up worrying about perfectly clean hands. You more experienced parents will have to let me know just how true that is. But now that Baby A is two and a half, I can understand. At some point, safety becomes more about making sure the child hasn’t run out into the parking lot and less about keeping those little fingers sanitized.

No kidding. We recently installed a slide-lock way up high inside our front door because Baby A was opting to go on walks outside by herself. Scary, huh?

For those of us with the luxury of focusing our cleanliness efforts on only one child, chain restaurants can still seem like repositories of ick. From sticky tables to dirty high-chairs, eating out with a young child can feel like a three-legged race in which your race partner is an octopus.

That’s why I thought it was great to hear Chick-fil-A launched a program early this year to put complimentary hand-sanitizer wipes and disposable placemats in Chick-fil-A restaurants. This is a smart move, and I hope more restaurant chains will follow suit.

The Chick-fil-A Children’s Placemat is a disposable sanitary eating surface designed to help babies and toddlers eat finger foods safely. It’s ideal for kids who are using tray-less high chairs. (The official announcement specified “kids three and under,” but Baby A and many of her friends gave up high chairs a long time ago, before age two.) The placemat also features educational games that parents can play with children while eating, as well as information on Chick-fil-A’s Kid’s Meal options.

The placemat is supplied by Neat Solutions, Inc., which was founded by a mom trying to clean up her own kids’ dining experiences.

At the same time, Chick-fil-A partnered with GOJO, the inventors of Purell, to offer co-branded sanitizing hand wipes at participating Chick-fil-A locations to encourage customers to clean and sanitize their hands before eating. Chick-fil-A franchisees operating stand-alone restaurants now have the option of installing a special dispenser adjacent to their playground areas that has individual Purell hand wipe packets for parents to help their children to use to clean their hands after playing.

Restaurants also will offer the wipes to on-the-go customers ordering through the drive-thru, as well as hand them out to customers in the dining rooms. The wipes also will be available at the chain’s mall locations, where it is more difficult for customers to wash their hands before eating in food courts that no longer have easy access to restroom facilities.

Amen, amen, and AMEN. Our whole family used a Purell station inside the playground at a Chick-fil-A just last week. (That was after I had to climb twenty-five feet up inside said playground to convice A. it really, truly was time to leave. But that’s for another post.)

Just the other day, Baby A decided to explore the underside of our table in the food court at the mall. “What’s that, Mommy?,” she asked, picking at a wad of dried-up chewing gum. “Is that a treat?”

Nope, honey. But restaurant chains paying attention to what parents want? That’s a big treat.

It’s been almost a year since my fast-food-slash-parenting epiphany. Maybe you’ve had a similar moment.

Here’s how mine played out: After a morning of Christmas shopping, I was worn out and famished. Baby A was cranky, meaning she felt the same way. We were far from home—and just forty minutes away from A’s naptime. I looked for a solution and saw a Chick-fil-A within walking distance.

And then it hit me: It was time for Baby A’s first fast-food meal. Yikes!

So why would I remember the details of this moment?

Watching the fast-food, or quick-serve, restaurant industry had been my job going back to the early 1990s. Early in my publishing career, I was tapped to launch the editorial side of QSR Magazine. It was great fun, and a big success. Still is.

Now Baby A is almost two and a half, and my writing focuses instead on the intersection of parenting and restaurants. Like Clever Parents everywhere, I constantly look for smart options for kids when we’re eating out. Chances are you do, too.

Here are three new-ish kid-friendly options that are working for us. See if they’re a good fit for your family.

Panera – Panera is the first U.S. chain with a kids’ menu touting organic and all-natural items. Kids’ options at Panera include a grilled cheese sandwich made with organic American cheese, all-natural peanut butter and jelly, and organic American cheese with roast beef, smoked ham, or smoked turkey.

Panera serves the sandwiches on white whole-grain bread that has the soft feel of white bread with the added nutrition of whole grains. And kids can choose other healthy options like Horizon Organic Squeezable Yogurt, a choice of Horizon Organic milk or chocolate milk, or organic apple juice.

Sounds yummy, right? With this option, I like that we adults can eat real adult food while our little ones have their own healthy choices. It’s the best of both worlds.

KFC – Yes, you read that right, and, no, I can’t believe I’m typing that acronym as a clever choice. But KFC has joined the trend against trans fats. By April 2007 its fried foods will be a somewhat better choice. (The biscuits will continue to have some trans fats.)

Wendy’s, too, went trans-fat-free in late August 2006. And for those Clever Parents in Southern California, the Pat & Oscar’s chain has also nearly eliminated trans fats from its menu, too.

Here’s the kicker: Unlike most other quick-serve chains, KFC offers an array of side dishes that make it a smart choice, especially at dinnertime. Kids can eat a little chicken along with veggies like corn on the cob, cole slaw, and green beans, or a side of mashed potatoes.

Chick-fil-A – This growing chain still has the best fresh fruit cup among all quick-serve brands: cut-up strawberries, red grapes, mandarin oranges, and red and green apples. For Baby A, I couple a fruit cup with chicken strips, which aren’t awful on the total fat (about 30 percent of calories from fat) and have zero trans fats. Want to buy the Kid’s Meal, but don’t want yet another toy around the house? Just ask the cashier to substitute a kid-sized serving of the chain’s Ice Dream frozen dessert.

Look for more chains to follow these trends against trans fats, towards fresher and more naturally raised and organic ingredients. Clever consumers like us are pressuring the quick-serve industry to feed us better—and, finally, they’re responding in a big way.

I’d love to hear about your fast-food-and-kids experiences and choices.