What age to switch from a Happy Meal?

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My DS is 6 (7 in March) and went with a school friend swimming, and went for McDonald's after and the other boy (was 7 in October) was bought an adults medium meal.

Is 7ish the age? I was thinking maybe 11/12??

If you don’t want to pay for an adult meal then wait until ds asks for an adult meal 🤷‍♀️

My 11 year old will still order a happy meal although for the last year has wanted some extra chicken nuggets. It is entirely dependent on appetite.

My eldest was about 7 when he switched to adult meals. My middle has just turned 8 and my youngest is 7 and neither of them would eat an adult meal.

Mine was 7 when he started wanting stuff from the regular menu. Still has a happy meal sometimes though, as do I.

We’ve never had McDonalds as a main type meal. It’s more a lunch option if we are in town or on a car journey. DD12 likes a cheeseburger and chocolate milkshake HM, DD15 likes a chicken nugget HM but that’s because she likes to also have whatever cheesy bite option is on the menu. If we had a Greggs they’d have a sausage roll or a pizza slice each. If it was their tea they’d have a bigger meal but they don’t each a lot at lunch.

My DS is just turned 5 and a Happy Meal is too small for him, it was gone in almost one bite. Now he has 6 nuggets and a medium fries!

My son has just changed at 12 but he doesn't have a huge appetite

Is this thread even real?! 😆

why not, if they were hungry?
My 3 year old nephew eats more than me at some meals - he's also a lot more active and growing at a fast rate. Why would I begrudge him more food if he was hungry? A slightly larger burger and a few more fries,or 6 chicken nuggests instead of 4, is probably as/more healthy as still being hungry so having a mcflurry or milkshake, or even cereal when they get home.

It's not like the happy meal is made out of vitamins and rainbows and the adults meal is crack cocaine and gristle.
They are exactly the same food, just in slightly bigger portions.

McDonalds isn't healthy anyway, if you're going to give it to your child on an odd occasion you may as well give the amount that is needed to satiate their hunger, which will be individually specific to the child and dependent on a number of factors like their size, energy levels, fussiness, what activity they've been doing, what else they have eaten that day, how hungry they are, rather than being directly linked to their age.

Just ask yourself how much he eats at home surely? If he'd eat more than 4 nuggets/small burger and a small portion of chips regularly, buy him more.

Let's look at logic here as well...
4 chicken nuggets won't be as filling as a cheeseburger with the bread roll.

I can’t believe people are giving their 3 year olds adult sized meals 🤦‍♀️

It's appetite dependant My DS2 was like a bottomless pit and would eat an adult meal at about 6 I think
More so for a bigger burger than more chips.
He had a 1/4 pounder and regular chips
Ask him what he would like

My 5 year old could eat more after a happy meal however that’s all I’ll be getting her for now (plus she always wants the toy).

Depends on the child. I have 11 year old with small appetite, they still choose the happy meal, when they know they could have more. But they have friends who have had medium meal from age 6 or 7.

My Mother was eating them in her eighties....

To add to the controversy DS1 would have just the burger at about 18 months and learnt to recognise the M from learning the alphabet
Moderation is the key and as adults none of them eat it now

Could he have finished the meal as a toddler? Have you factored in that his appetite in general has probably grown by now?
My child has finished a happy meal reliably since 3ish, she's now 5, so it's not too much to expect that by 7/8, a happy meal wouldn't fill her and we would need a bigger meal or something else with it. However, she's all about the meat and not the fries, so I imagine at a certain point we'll move on to a double cheeseburger or 6 nugget meal, rather than going for a medium cheese burger meal. Or maybe a happy meal but switch out the meat for what size she needs, and I get the happy meal nuggets.

Mine was 7. We recently had the £5 meal deal with a few nuggets and a happy meal size burger and that was perfect for him.

We had a stage when DS was on a Happy Meal and a 99p burger.

I frequently buy a Happy Meal for myself (age 49) because it's the only way I can get fish fingers.
I think my daughter was about 5 when she started wanting a medium meal but she never eats the actual bun - just the burger, salad and the fries.
I usually eat her bun with some fries in - or as I call it the "McButty" (name ©to me....😂).
I wish they would bring back proper toys. The UK ones are just crap now.

I am almost 50 and occasionally buy a happy meal (cos I don’t like spending good money on bad food)

Seriously though, it’s completely individual to the child and your budget. One of mine stopped having them abruptly as they thought it was embarrassing to order and be seen with (probably aged about 10). He chose from adult menu and used to order too much, spend too much and waste too much so I had to step in and make sure that he ordered less from adult menu.
My other DC still asks for Happy meals (nearly 12). They usually have a thick milkshake and a dessert with the meal so it is plenty filling enough (and likely far too many calories actually 😬)

It also depends how many snacks you offer as a family and what time the next meal is because I know families who eat dinner as early as 5:30 and late as 8

Mine were 8 and 9

I have a 12 year old who still has one he loves them but his appetite isn't huge so struggles to finish it sometimes his big brother stopped before he was 12 unless they are doing pokemon merch