No food

Well going against the grain a bit @cherrychapstickk I think it’s weird not to offer a snack across 4-5 hours. I would have eaten in that time and if I’d eaten I’d be offering a child in my care food.

Also for future reference I always put food in my son’s bag when he’s going places that he can ask for / help himself to.

Where would be the fun in that?! 😅

If they had been hungry they would have asked for food, u r over thinking it.

Honestly, 1.45 - 5.45 I would have assumed they'd already had lunch. A snack would have been nice but it would have been up to you to ask them / pack something imo.

@Penaeus

What nonsense
NHS guidelines state that young children like that should have three meals and two snacks a day. They are supposed to be at set times evenly spaced out so not “constant grazing”. Once kids are used to have lunch at 12 and snack at 3 of course they get hungry when a meal/snack is skipped. These are the meal schedules at nurseries and childminders now.

moreover in terms of obesity, it is BETTER to have smaller meals more often than 3 large meals. So five meals (three proper meals + 2 smaller snacks) roughly every 2.5-3 hours which is how kids at nurseries are fed is much more healthy.

of course meals and snacks should also be nutritious and healthy, not sugary.

@bellac11

no, not from my own head. That’s mealtimes in all nurseries and childminders. NHS guidelines also say three meals a day and two snacks (and they are evenly spaced out)

Yeah that's bad but once is just a mistake and I'd gently tell them about it and remind them tiny tummies need regular snacks. Poor little butter ball out of their routine, I know my babies hate that.

Well, yes. I’ve always been a snacker (fast metabolism I think) and we do love our food. We’re very active. I would find it hard to go from 12:30 to 5 without eating.

I'd have expected them to have been taken somewhere for a drink and a snack to be honest. I went out that long today and my DH was desperate for a sit down and a drink! I think something about 3pm to 3.30pm is quite usual, especially for small children.

but it’s hardly a hanging offence

Has someone suggested it was?

@housethatbuiltme you are supposed to be hungry before a meal. The idea that there is something wrong with being hungry is itself wrong.

I suspect there’s more to this than we’re being told. It’s certainly not brilliant that someone went hungry, but it’s hardly a hanging offence

Not really I had 24/7 access to snacks as a kid of the 80s.

We also attracted hungry kids from all over who would beg for snacks, their parents may not have given them snacks but the kids WHERE hungry and looking for them.

I think it literally just doesn’t occur to some ppl to feed kids if they r not used to having them. Some kids r too shy to say anything. In that amount of time I’d have offered them something to eat and drink or asked if they were hungry. Altho if I was sending my two out with my brother I’d have packed snacks n told him to offer them as he is the type it wouldn’t occur to

Outrageous behavior. I wouldn't let them go again.

Even if you'd eaten lunch at 12.30?

An afternoon out without some kind of food would be very unusual for us, even if we were without the kids! So yes I find it unusual that they didn’t have a snack.

Whether you get carried away or not you still think i need to feed the kids now. They’re out of order I'm sorry i would be fuming if that was my kids.

Poor kids that’s ridiculous. You always feed and water little ones. Whether you have your own children or not. Common sense to give them some sort off snacks.

Reading lots of messages on here. Skipping after lots of valid for and against. I gave 4 grown daughters. Personally had no support, when divorced living in France. I do think, lack of communication here. I would have been thrilled to have someone take my kids out (if had a family member) but also would be freaking and sending messages if supposed to be home 2 hours earlier. Not sure what you said to them (no snacks? Or no meals) confusing. You should have been more clear. And did you text to say, when will they be home, as getting worried, they will be hungry. Understand your concern. But not a big issue, for you just to have said, ‘I appreciate you taking them, your Nieces, but was worried when you took for a lot longer. As they will be hungry also. Did they text to say will be bringing home later? If so why didn’t ‘you’ say well in that case they will need a snack

Hi @cherrychapstickk I don't get how MNrs are saying 4 hours isn't unreasonable, it is. Your DCs are young, so they should have had a snack, poor things.

I do hope they had drinks.

If it happens again, pack snacks for your kids and tell your relatives what time they should
stop for snacks and drinks. Some people are clueless.

Who is talking about constant snacks? And why do you assume that everyone processes food and feels hunger the same way? There's growing scientific evidence that some people experience hunger very differently from others. We wouldn't accept a one-size-fits everyone solution to anything else in life, surely? So why would you think that the way that suits you is right for everyone else?

I guess the concepts of snacks has changed over time for adults and kids. At one time, you never saw people walking along the street with cups of coffee, but now people seemingly can’t pass a Costa or Starbucks without purchasing a hot drink.