Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

My 5 year old doesn’t eat much after school, normal or not?

4 replies

OhYum · 21/10/2019 00:03

Literally the above. On 3 nights we get in from at 3.45ish, I do a light tea for around 4.30pm; sandwiches, or crackers with cheese and cucumber, toast etc. She rarely if ever finishes what I give her (Sandwiches will be 1 slice of bread with a filling folded over cut in half, she’ll eat about half, crackers will be 2 buttered with spreadable cheese and about a ¼ of a cucumber, again only eats half) the less food I give her the more likely she is to leave half.

She goes to bed at 6.30pm Sunday – Tuesday and 7.30pm on Friday and EO Saturday (the other Saturday she’s with her dad and I have no idea what time her puts her to bed). Wednesday she goes to After School Club until 5pm and is in bed by 7pm, Thursday she’s with her dad until 6.30pm and is usually pretty wired after that so isn’t usually in bed until closer to 8pm.

She has access to fruit and vegetables at all times (I keep Apples, Bananas, Pears and Oranges on the dining table, and theres always cucumber, tomatos and those big bell peppers in the fridge) she never wants it. At ASC I’m told sometimes she doesn’t eat at all, I always offer food when she gets home but she never has it, so sometimes on a Wednesday she goes from 12.30pm until 6.30am Thursday morning with nothing to eat.

She’s a healthy weight, a little small height wise but nothing overly worrying. She is learning well at school and her teacher has no concerns regarding her. No known medical conditions but she does wear glasses to correct a minor issue with her eyes which affected her ability to focus but she’s doing well and has had them since aged 2 so is used to them, they’re checked and changed regularly.

The lunchtime supervisors say she eats all her lunch at lunchtime as she has the hot meal, she was originally having a packed lunch I provided but she still didn’t eat after school so I wanted to ensure she got something into her. If I offer a hot meal after school she just picks at it and then leaves it after a few mouthfuls.

She was the same in Reception, I suppose she must be ok? But I worry after seeing how many kids on here seem to eat a snack at 4pm then a main meal at 5.30pm. She eats a good breakfast, usually porridge or wheetabix followed by toast and then she takes a banana or apple for breaktime snack (she prefers my fruit as she says it’s less bruised/more fresh than school) which her teacher says she eats.

Weekends she eats a normal 3 meals with me and her dad hasn’t reported any problems with feeding her there so assuming she’s similar there.

Is she normal? Or should I be worried?

OP posts:
nanbread · 21/10/2019 00:11

Sounds quite normal to me, keep offering a variety of food in a non pressured way though, and listen to your instinct on her overall health. You say she's short, so maybe she just needs less food? And she's eating two good size meals plus a snack. That's decent.

If it's any consolation, the parents of the DC who didn't eat much age 4/5 generally eat quite a bit more age 6/7.

OhYum · 21/10/2019 20:12

If it's any consolation, the parents of the DC who didn't eat much age 4/5 generally eat quite a bit more age 6/7.

Thank you for your comment, makes sense she's still so little. I hope she'll eat a bit more as she gets older even if was just the lighter meal in the evening alongside the main meal at lunchtime.

OP posts:
SoyDora · 21/10/2019 20:16

If she’s a healthy weight, happy and alert then I wouldn’t worry.
Mine are 5 and 4, today they had a cracker and some cheese when they got home from school then sausages (two each), mash, carrots, broccoli and gravy for dinner at 5pm. However I’m not sure how much they eat at lunchtime (both have hot dinners but not sure they’re all that keen on them!).
Some children eat more earlier in the day, some later. If she was hungry she’d tell you!

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

SoyDora · 21/10/2019 20:17

Oh and my 5 year old eats all that despite being the smallest in her class (9th centile).

New posts on this thread. Refresh page