How do you fit in snacks???

[Tumtitum]

DD is 8 months and we're doing baby led weaning. She is currently on 3 meals and eats fairly well, obviously won days are better than others! I'm not sure when we should be adding in snacks but I'm wondering where there will be time between meals and milk and naps?? Our current "schedule" (ha!) is roughly:
6.30 milk
7.30 breakfast
9 nap
10 milk
11/11.30 lunch
11/1 nap depending on length of last nap
1 milk
3.30/4 milk
4.30 dinner
6.30 milk and bed

I guess I can squeeze in an afternoon snack but can't really see space in the morning??

[Artandco]

You dont. I have never given snacks unless they needed them.

[Tumtitum]

Ah! And how would you know that they need them? If she's hungry she'll just look for boob but I don't want to offer her food instead of milk at this point...

[BusStopBetty]

No need. If the next meal is a good way off and they're hungry, provide a snack. They don't need to be timetabled.

[welshweasel]

She's having milk as her snack at the moment! Looks fine to me. My DS is a similar age and we do

7am milk
8am breakfast
1130 lunch
2pm milk
3.30pm tea
5pm snack
6.30pm milk and bed

[BusStopBetty]

Well later on if they look for boob between meals offer a snack instead. No need to change it for now. When they get bigger they just get moany when they're hungry - like I do.

[BusStopBetty]

Also, how the hell do people get children to sleep at 6:30?

[DorotheaHomeAlone]

Agree with pp no need for snacks. I never bother with them even now dd is 2 unless a meal is delayed for for some reason or I want to share a treat. Three meals a day is fine.

[welshweasel]

He only has two 30 minute naps during the day so is exhausted by bedtime! I've not been able to keep him up later since about 10 weeks old. It's actually 6.30 in his cot but often takes him half an hour to fall asleep but I leave him to it!

[Tumtitum]

BusStopBetty same with us she's a crap napper! Bedtime was 7 but she's not been sleeping great and very wakeful from 4am onwards so trying an earlier bedtime to see if it helps! Sometimes it's more like 6 if she's had a spectacularly awful nap day and one day 5.45 but I'm pretty sure that was a fluke.

[Gobbolinothewitchscat]

I never give snacks. I have a 3 year old, a 2 year old and an 11 month old. All on the 97th centile or off the scale like my 3 year old DS so need a fair bit of feeding but don't need to snack routinely.

If they are hungry between meals, I offer a drink of milk (to be drunk quickly not nursed on for hours in respect of the baby who still has a bottle) then a bit of cheese if the milk doesn't work.

I have a 6 foot 7 (hence the gigantic children) dentist husband who despairs at this current "advice" of routine snacking. It's a shit habit to get your kids into from a weight and oral health perspective; particularly in respect of the "healthy" snacks recommended - cereal bars and raisins?! Yes, fantastic idea to encourage the general public to give their children sugary foods at various intervals throughout the day that stick to their teeth. Particularly when a large proportion of that said general public apparently struggle to clean said children's teeth properly for whatever reason.

Decay in mostly caused by diet and sugary food and drinks (smoothies, anyone?) (however "healthy" they are) given at regular intervals (rather than at meal times) throughout the day is the number one culprit

[eddiemairswife]

When did the idea that children need snacks come in? When mine were toddlers we would watch Playschool mid-morning, and I would have a coffee while they had a biscuit and orange squash, but I always regarded it as a social thing rather than a need to feed them.

[ButteredToastAndStrawberryJam]

The idea of snacks came from the manufacturers of the snacks to make money.