Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

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

Original poster

How many meals do you/your DC eat a day?

49 replies

BlowDryRat · 03/03/2021 19:13

My cousin is a Dutch school teacher and her class are learning about English culture. I said it might be fun to have a clock with the different English meal times:

  • breakfast
  • elevenses
  • lunch
  • afternoon tea
  • dinner
  • supper
  • cocoa
  • (kids at sleepovers of peckish adults before bed) midnight snack

...like hobbits. She can't get her head around how much food that is.

Which got me wondering... How many of these meals do you and your kids have on a regular basis? My DC would normally have a snack at school mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Maybe cocoa sometimes but 'high tea' rather than dinner and supper.

OP posts:
lljkk · 03/03/2021 20:32

I graze all day.
DC wait until 2pm for breakfast. Lunch about 4pm & supper at 7pm. Teenagers.

LindaEllen · 03/03/2021 20:34

I have breakfast, dinner and then a snack in the evening.

DP does the same unless he's in work really early, then he'll have lunch as well.

DSS has one meal (doesn't get up in time for any others) and then 30,000 snacks in the evening.

Literally as I type this I heard him coming downstairs for a snack even though we've not long had dinner. Cannot wait for school to start again to get into a normal routine again.

ColdTattyWaitingForSummer · 03/03/2021 20:40

Breakfast mid morning, lunch around half one, snack at some point mid afternoon, dinner around half seven, then usually either a dessert or a snack before bed. Ds(14) probably grabs an extra couple of snacks somewhere in there as well! But he’s going through a real growth spurt just now.

When the dc were small it was more like breakfast before school run, snack at toddler group or before nursery pick up, lunch around 12.30, after school snack, dinner around 5.30, then often a supper before bed.

Mylittlesandwich · 03/03/2021 20:43

Me and DH have 3 meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are also snacks thrown in there but I'm trying to cut down on those.

DS is 15 months, he has the same 3 meals as us with 2 snacks and then a small amount of milk at bedtime.

CMOTDibbler · 03/03/2021 20:43

I have lunch and dinner. Ds(14) has breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. No food after dinner

BogRollBOGOF · 03/03/2021 20:49

DCs have in term time,
Breakfast
Lunch
Afternoon Tea
Dinner

Fruit for snack at school is getting close to elevenses.

I like brunch at the weekends.

reluctantbrit · 03/03/2021 21:29

2 adults and 1 teen

Breakfast
Snack around 10am - not at the weekend when we do breakfast late
Lunch
Small snack around 4pm
Family Dinner at 7.30pm

Similar to what I ate in Germany where I grew up

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 03/03/2021 21:37

2-3 meals, 1-2 snacks.
Normally it's 3 meals, with a biscuit/fruit mid morning and afternoon. But sometimes at weekends we have a big brunch and a big early dinner.

LittleOverwhelmed · 03/03/2021 21:40

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

PandoraP · 03/03/2021 21:42

Kids (teens) 2 or 3 meals a day. I eat a late breakfast and dinner. I never have lunch.

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 03/03/2021 21:44

Ever since I was a small child, many years ago, I’ve always had lunch & dinner. Both quite large portions

CoodleMoodle · 03/03/2021 21:49

Mine are nearly 7 and 2.5. Both were total routine babies and we've just carried on mealtimes in the same way. We have:

8ish Breakfast

10:30 Small snack (DS has this at preschool, DD sometimes has one at school when she's there, they both have it when they're at home.)

12ish Lunch

3:30 Small snack (in normal times this is when we get in from school, DD is always hungry and DS couldn't bear her to have a snack without him! Now it's just stuck.)

5:30 Dinner

7ish Milk before bed

(Snack is usually some crackers/breadsticks/cheese twists, fruit for DS, and a biscuit or a small chocolate (eg a Munchie).)

merryhouse · 03/03/2021 22:00

Three meals, one or two snacks

(though when I'm in the Sod It stage I will also eat sweets half the evening)

RampantIvy · 03/03/2021 22:12
  • breakfast yes
  • elevenses never
  • lunch yes
  • afternoon tea rarely. If I do I won't have an evening meal
  • dinner yes
  • supper never
  • cocoa very occasionally

Today I had a small bowl of granola for breakfast, a cheese and chilli jam sandwich for lunch and a Spanish omelette and a huge salad for tea. I also had two glasses of wine with some pretzels before tea.

badlydrawnbear · 03/03/2021 22:16

Breakfast, lunch and dinner, sometimes snacks but not at set times.

Except on work days I work a 13hr shift and have breakfast at about 7am, then have dinner some time between 12 and 5 and don't usually have another meal because it is after 9.30pm when I get home (I am right now eating some cold chips leftover from DC's dinner, but I don't call it a meal). Or night shifts when I eat breakfast when I get home from work, dinner at dinner time and a random meal of crisps and sandwich or soup or something between 1 and 5am.

LalalalalalaLand123 · 03/03/2021 22:47

We have 3 meals! With random, untimed, unnamed snacks in between. I cant relate to your clock OP, sorry!

LalalalalalaLand123 · 03/03/2021 22:50

Tea: crackers and a banana
Confused
I eat like a horse compared to all the meals listed on this thread! And my young DC eat even more than me!

MuckyPlucky · 03/03/2021 22:56

Usually it’s:
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

But at the mo I’m having horrendous MH issues so it’s:

Zero.

Impatientwino · 03/03/2021 23:16

Feels like a billion currently but usually

DH and I have lunch and dinner. Maybe the occasional biscuit or yoghurt for DH. I try to do without We always have a cappuccino about 10am which always feels substantial to me!

Kids have breakfast, lunch and dinner. They take fruit and veg snacks to school with them and one has packed lunch while the other prefers school dinners.

They both eat a snack after school maybe toast or an apple/banana and then pester me about when dinner is ready most nights! They usually have dessert after dinner which is normally fruit or yoghurt or ice cream or a small chocolate fun size thing.

If I won the lottery I'd love a chef even a few nights a week so I didn't have to cook and clear up all the time! I do love cooking but I'm so over it currently!

ConkerBonkers · 03/03/2021 23:17

Me, lunch, dinner and sometimes cocoa, and an occasional small snack later. My ds, just breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rarely a snack, usually just the tide him over if we are running late for lunch or dinner. I think if people are the amount of food you mention there they would be enormous.

Also to mention, whenever I have had afternoon tea, I have had it instead of lunch and dinner. It's a really big meal.

BackforGood · 03/03/2021 23:25

'Meals' ? 3 - Breakfast, dinner and tea.

Do I ever eat anything between meals ? Yes, but I wouldn't say that was a meal, if I have a biscuit in the afternoon or some chocolate when I sit down in the evening.

Lyricallie · 03/03/2021 23:28

We have coffee then lunch, after work snack (like a babybel) then dinner. Then depending on calories might have a wee something whilst watching TV in the evening. Like a yoghurt or some crackers.

ColinKnocksTwoPence · 03/03/2021 23:36

For me and teenage DD just lunch and dinner, (then I have a square of chocolate with my evening decaf coffee.)
DH will have breakfast, lunch, afternoon scone and dinner.

Original poster
BlowDryRat · 04/03/2021 11:14

@LalalalalalaLand123

Tea: crackers and a banana Confused I eat like a horse compared to all the meals listed on this thread! And my young DC eat even more than me!
Crackers and a banana for tea was me being very lazy, not an example of a normal dinner in this house.
OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page