Food at childminder's and the rest of the day

[Serena1977]

The childminder I use for after school says that children only need 1 hot meal a day so if their mindee has a school dinner, the child will get a sandwich for tea.

My children, dd in year 5, 9years old and ds in year 4, 8 years both have school dinners so at the childminder's they get a cheese or ham sandwich made with 1 slice of bread and one piece of fruit of their choice.

Both children are normal weight according to BMI on NHS website.

So today, children had wholegrain cheerios for breakfast, school dinner and the above from childminder's. I don't think this is enough food but my relationship with food is terrible and I am currently obese.

Is this enough food? They say they are hungry when at home in the evening, tonight I gave in and did them beans on toast (1 slice of bread each) at 6.30pm.

They eat like gannets at the weekend.

Can you advise please?

I think ahome cooked meal at dinner time or something with more nutrients

Definitely not enough food for kids. Dd has a big breakfast (toast, cereal and fruit) school lunch, and a decent sized snack (sandwich, toast) and then dinner. She’s underweight though so I need to fill her up with lots of calories.

I think you need to ask her to feed them more, and if she doesn’t then either send them with snacks, or look for someone else.

My 4 year old has a sandwich after school as a snack, and then a cooked lunch

I wouldn’t tell them they have school dinners. Say you get the packed lunch option (from the school) so she won’t be lazy and make a sandwich!

They need an evening meal!!

No wonder they are hungry. A sandwich is an afternoon snack not a dinner.

Yes, school dinners are usually relatively small portions, not always what the child likes and lots of it often gets left as children are busy talking when they eat- or rushing to catch up with their friends and get outside to play.

School days are full on and exhausting. A cooked meal in the evening is definitely needed.

I don't think that's enough food, especially as school lunches are served at about 12pm - my DC are ready to gnaw my arm off by the time I collect them from school.

Our childminder does a full evening meal whether the kids had school dinner or packed lunch. We also feed our eldest a full dinner when we collect her from after school club even though they feed them a 'tea' (crumpets or toast and butter) there.

That is nowhere near enough. Half a sandwich and a piece of fruit is a snack. They need tea after you collect them. School lunches aren’t that big really. My 9 and 6 year olds would be starving too and neither are overweight.

You need to make them a proper dinner when you get them home

Please give them dinner!. My kids have loads of fruit and popcorn and sometimes a sandwich after school. Then a nice big hot dinner. They are always starving but very skinny!. Im size 12/14 now but i was the same as a child.

So, going by what I've said, what ideas can I do for them? bearing in mind that time is limited at night, I pick them up around 5.30pm and am on my own in the evenings every other week due to DH's shifts.

I am so worried about over feeding them because my mother overfed me to cheer me up and once that connection was established, it has never gone and now I'm obese.

Mine would have been starving on that - but he's always eaten loads (and is skinny).

Nevermind the childminder(and her policy is bullshit ) , why don't you feed them if they're hungry?

It sounds like she just gives them a snack until they go home for dinner.

Absolutely not enough. What the childminder is giving them is a snack not a meal.

I think your child needs more food than that.

My DD went to a childminder for 6 years and had tea there 3 nights a week after school. She'd get things like spag bol, jacket potato with beans & cheese, home made veg soup with crusty bread and cheese, all easy stuff but yummy and filling.

Is it a cost thing? I paid extra, for the food, I think £2 per meal from memory, but it was well worth it for the hassle free factor.

Do you cook for yourself when dh is away? If so cook enough so that they have whatever you had the night before.

Feed them... food. Without any emotional resonance to it, teach them to listen to their bodies - they're telling you they're hungry, not that they're sad.

I actually think the most damaging thing I was taught as a child was to try and clear my plate. Don't do that :)

Just seen you request for suggestions.
Omelette? Or any other eggy based something?
Microwave jacket potato with toppings?
Soup?
Stir fry?
Pasta and a quick sauce or a batch cooked sauce from the freezer?
Reheated dinner from the weekend?

I would give them a normal evening meal.

Aren't you having a family meal though? After school snack of a half sandwich seems like the right amount

This is one of the reasons I stopped using after school club. They have something stodgy like toast, crumpets, sandwiches pasta & sauce as a snack after school that wasn’t enough to be an evening meal but also meant they were just picking at their tea.
The childminder we then used as I was home later gave them a full cooked meal, not I finish a bit earlier and they are collected by 4.30 they have something like fruit & yoghurt and have a cooked meal with us.

It’s definitely not enough food for growing children but not all childminders provide evening meals.

If you pick them up at 5:30 I don’t think I’d have expected them to have had their dinner at that time, so what they’re having at the childminders is just a snack, you need to feed them their dinner
Just normal food that you would have for dinner every other night

I think you’re looking at this the wrong way. The childminder is giving them a snack to tide them over til dinner. It’s your job to provide dinner.

I don't understand why you aren't feeding them a meal in the evenings? The food the childminder gives them is the equivalent of an afternoon snack, not a meal. They must be starving by bedtime, DS would be and he's only 3. Easy weekday dinners could be something like:

Soup and bread
Jacket potato and beans/cheese
Pesto pasta
Omelette
Pitta pizzas