To give my kids their evening meal early

[Differentstarts]

I have 2 kids and my eldest is 6. When she comes in from school she's hungry, she snacks then doesn't eat her tea at 5 when we normally have it. I'm thinking of maybe doing tea for 3.30 when she comes in and then I don't mind her snacking afterwards as at least she's eaten her tea. I was wondering if anyone has done this and if it works

Bizarre. Give her a piece of fruit at 3.30. One piece of fruit will not spoil her dinner 2 hours later.

DSs eat with the childminder and, if they have activities, this can be as early as 4:30. Never been a problem here.

Ah, just seen it’s normal to eat at 5. Even so, same logic applies…eat properly when they’re hungry, don’t worry about norms!

Does the 6 year old have a packed lunch or a school dinner as they probably need a bigger lunch. A 3.30 tea will mean a supper as that's a long time until breakfast. Maybe give a big snack, say a banana, baby bell and cracker, or peanut butter sandwich and a drink. Then to tea maybe at 5.30.

She has a packed lunch. This is where I was unsure whether it's better to try earlier or later as I also have a 3 year old. Il maybe try later first then. Ty

Then after the piece of fruit she's still saying she's hungry

My girls' had a snack when they got home - cheese and fruit, which was about 3.10pm. Their tea was usually 4.30pm, because they were very tired, and we rocked into bath and bed by 6.30-7.00pm. I didn't eat with them, but I did sit with them, talk with them, and read them poetry.

Growing up we always had dinner at 4pm and then tea at 7pm toast, cereal something simple like that.

I don't often eat with them anymore I usually eat after they've gone to bed.

Do whatever is right for you and your kids! Whatever works for your family.

This is kind off what I was thinking as I want them to eat their main meal. And then do supper before bed while their hairs are drying

It’s normal to have a snack in the afternoon, so just give her a bit more to eat then and/or for lunch.

Not giving her a meal at any point later in the day is going to make her very hungry later and is a bit cracked.

I think some healthy snack at 330 is better than setting up a habit which as your child gets older will be difficult to break.

Just do whatever works for you & them & don't worry about anyone else.

I would try having their dinner ready when they get home from school too. I'd far rather they eat a good meal when they're ready for it rather than stringing them along to some arbitrary time by which stage they're full of snacks with the edge gone off the hunger & over tired

We did this when dc was young & it worked v well. We made them lighy supper before bed - toast & hot chocolate or sometimes even a small portion of what we were having if they wanted that.
Scrambled egg, porridge, soup, banana & brown bread, ham & cheese toasties, fruit smoothies, pancakes etc

We found as they got older they naturally needed to eat so early less & less .

Try a glass of milk and a biscuit, and get the dinner cooking for 4.30.?3.30 is very early. But really, whatever works. Dinner at 3.30 will probably mean they'll need supper before bed.

I think give it a go and see what works best. My 5 yo is really hungry when she comes out of school because reception have lunch at like 11:15 at her school! But we don't eat dinner until around 6pm so that we can eat as a family, as DH doesn't get home from work til then and same with DS at nursery on the days he is there. I give her a snack after school but not huge as she's not a big eater, and she usually eats her dinner pretty well that way.

However I do feel it would probably suit her to dinner at like 4pm instead but logistically that would be really difficult for us and also mean we couldn't eat together. The two days a week she goes to her DGPs after school they give her a proper meal 3.30/4pm instead and she eats well then too. But they just give her quick stuff like fried eggs and toast/tinned soup and bread/pizza and oven chips etc. Which is fine but I wouldn't want to do that 5 days a week.

Of. Course it's fine to do It that way round, if it works it works! Then toast or cereal nearer to bedtime

Teenagers are very similar, especially during a growing spurt.

I agree. Growing up we always had tea as soon as we got home from school and I was always starving for it. Maybe a snack later on. I don't think, at primary school, my friends can have had it much later as I never noticed a difference on play dates. My secondary school was much more middle class and friends there did have their meal what I considered to be unacceptably late, and called it supper not tea.

I feed my 5yr old DS at about 3.45 (school finishes 3.30). I work from home so its no bother prepping her meal during my lunch hour or putting something in to slow cook in the oven, then she has it as soon as she gets home and generally wolfs it down because she's so hungry and tired.

Then she has some supper a bit later on when me and her Dad eat about 5pm.

Do what works for your family. My DD could not last until 5pm even with a snack.

Nah it's not as crazy as some of the replies here would have you believe.

Loads of kids don't eat much at lunch and come out of school ravenous.

When we switched to packed lunch tea moved later.

We have our evening meal 6.30-7.00 depending on when we’re home from work. Snacks are available between meals of fruit, cheese and things like celery with peanut butter.

Ds 10.is always hungry after school.i give him a cooked snack then he eats with us properly around 6pm

Then after the piece of fruit she's still saying she's hungry

So? You know she's just had a snack so isn't starving and will survive until dinner.

It's a good thing to feel hungry before a meal, it's normal.

This. There are more ways than one to skin a cat, so to speak. If having her full meal earlier, results in her eating it all, then that is what I would do. Then something like boiled eggs, with toast/ fingers, later if needed before bed. Cuts out eating a lot of unnecessary rubbish.

If she’s hungry, feed her to appetite. It astounds me how many people (mostly on MN) ignore their bodies’ in built signals because they think they should be eating at some prescriptive, ‘acceptable’ time.

If you’ve tried her with snacks and that hasn’t made a difference then do her main meal instead. If she’s hungry again later, she can always have something else for supper.