To get cross about snacks after school

[Effnjeff]

My DCs finish school at 4pm and despite having had a hot lunch insist they are starving the moment they get in the car. I am then pestered with snack requests.

They normally have dinner around 5.30 but if they've stuffed
themselves with snacks never finish their meal. Hence then hungry again before bed.
I'm sick of waste, constant snacking
and being a 24/7 cafe.

I really don't know what the answer is - should I have dinner ready as soon as we get back? Is - 4.30 dinner too early?
Should I only let them have fruit and put up with constant whinging until dinner?

What do you give your DCs to eat and when, after school??

I was always starving after school. I used to have a cup of tea and some biscuits and was still hungry for dinner. Dd is the same but as she's at high school now and mid growth spurt I let her sort out own snacks, toast, some crisps, a kit Kat or something like that.

Do they have school dinners or sandwiches OP?

And I agree they may be thirsty. When my DD complains of being hungry I offer her milk or a smoothie first. She only snacks after school 2 days a week when she has activities straight away afterwards.

I only give fruit/veg, cheese or plainish crackers (or all three if really hungry) after school. There is just nothing else on offer. If DD is hungry she will eat it. Sometimes she would rather wait for dinner. Up to her. She's 8.

Here it's milk maybe a hot chocolate and fruit or yoghurt until dinner. That's it. You don't want the fruit well your not really hungry are you?

There is not constant grazing either.

I am probably harsh, but if I let them graze meals wouldn't get eaten.

Mine have dinner as soon as they get home...they are starving after school...I remember being the same when I was a child.

They then have a small snack at around 6.30pm if they are hungry..usually toast, crackers, banana or yoghurt.

I think waiting till 5.30 for tea is too long for most children.

Hi there, infant teacher here. I am always hungry at the end of the school day at 3.00pm! Need a snack with my cup of tea before I can do anything else.
It is a long time for little tummies from 12 lunch til even 3.00pm. When mine were little we had a small snack walking home from school and dinner anytime after 4.30! Then a drink of milk or biscuit before bedtime. I too got fed up of "I'm hungry" "When is it dinner time?" from about 4.00pm onwards.

By the way, in reception, children start asking me when is lunchtime from about 10.30 am onwards! Even those who have had a substantial breakfast.

Dd just has her dinner early.

She doesn't have a huge appetite so if she snacks at 4 she won't be hungry for dinner.

But it's not every day. It depends on what's she thought of that day's school dinner!

Can you give them more to eat at lunch?

Mine are like this too and sometimes moan at the offer of fruit or crudities but if they're not hungry enough to eat those then they're not genuinely hungry and if it's not their first choice of snack they tend to eat less so eat their tea when offered. I find prepared snacks like carrot batons or sliced melon chilled in the fridge tends to get a better reception than stuff out of the fruit bowl.

School lunch portions are tiny! Have you seen them?

I try to keep after school snacks healthy - so cheese and crackers/fruit/ breadsticks/rice cakes/cereal bar - always with a drink of water.

If dinner is going to be later than usual they might be allowed crisps/biscuit as well, but this is rare. They only get crisps in their packed lunch a few times a term.

Dinner is usually at 5.30, and "afters" is sometimes a cookie/slice of cake/malt loaf or a pudding, but more often it is fruit/fruit salad or a pot of yogurt/rice pudding/custard. Again they drink water with this. The older 2 are teens and might have some crackers or nuts/apricots mid evening if they need a boost while doing homework.

mine have a drink and a biscuit when they get in, to tide them over until dinner. We normally then have dinner around 6:30.

Mine have a snack at 4pm (plain Greek yoghurt, some fruit, some nuts, and perhaps a dark chocolate rice cake or a plain biscuit) then we eat dinner at 7pm. Bed at 8.30pm. Mine are younger than yours.

I remember being very hungry after school (and am still a 3 meals + 2 snacks a day person). If the snack is low in sugar it will sustain them without causing sugar crash. My two go crazy on sugar so I'm pretty strict about it. Protein at every meal or snack keeps the blood sugar more constant.

Would they eat:
rye cracker with cream cheese
peanut butter on wholemeal bagel
olives
cube of cheese
wholemeal breadsticks dipped in hummus
natural yoghurt (full fat)
chorizo
mixed nuts with a few sultanas?

All of the above are relatively unprocessed and they probably won't fill themselves to bursting on them and thereby ruin their appetite for their evening meal.

If mine are hungry after a snack I tell them the snack wasn't to fill them up it was to tide them over till their dinner.

My 3 have a really early dinner now, at 4pm. The constant cupboard raiding was pissing me off. So dinner at 4pm, then supper at 7ish.

make dinner later

then the after school snack (in French gouter ) comprises

cheese ~ milk ~ fruit ~ nuts ~ raw vegetables ~ water

and with a good hit of protein and micronutrients - but no carbs or crap,
they should last through to be having their supper at 7:30 while you and DH are getting ready for yours

remember - things will change - my kids go to bed later than I do - set the habits now to last for ever

Mine have veg sticks with houmous/ tzaziki/ baba ganosh or a fruit salad or similar at 4pm.

We eat dinner together at 8pm. They are 4 and 5

They only have small tummies so if they eat at 12.00 they will be hungry at 4.00. I know I am!

What kinds of snacks do they get?

Why not give them snacks that are nutritional and so you don't feel that snack food is bad food. Then give a slightly smaller meal when you feel them later. Give them filling stuff that will keep them fuller longer, such as protein rather than carbs. It will take time to get them to like and eat stuff that is healthier or more filling but in the long run it is worth it.

Snacks are usually cold but most things can be eaten cold quite healthily if refrigerated, slices of hard boiled egg, pieces of cheese, slices of cooked cold chicken, etc plus slices of cucumber, pieces of tomato, carrot batons, as well as regular fruit and yoghurt etc are all fairly nutritions and can all be snacks.

I almost always offer both healthy and 'unhealthy' snacks to my very slim and active kids (I myself am neither slim nor active so that is a different matter), e.g. fruit and a biscuit, fruit and veg and a small sandwich etc.

If the snack is all that is on offer and they are hungry they will eat it. I usually put a plate out and let them share, dd likes tomatoes and carrots more, ds is OK with carrots but prefers cucumber and grapes or blueberries for both etc etc. Sometimes we have hunous and pitta bread etc. They eat at 12.00 and we have our main evening meal at 6.00. They would not make it from 12.00 to 6.00 without food and a drink.

Good luck, kids are bloody hard to satisfy and it is type rope at times, but if they are healthy and not overweight you are doing a good job.

It depends how organised we are as to what happens. Sometimes dd gets a snack other times she gets tea at the back of 4. I couldn't wait until 8 to eat, that's far too late for me, we always eat at 5.30, 6 at the latest, anything later and I want to chew my arm off.

Oopse... Then give a slightly smaller meal when you feed them later.

I read some of the posts but not all, hope I did not miss too much or repeat too much!

I have just started reading a very interesting book called 'Kids, carrots and Candy' which examines children's eating habits, with the ultimate goal of them becoming an adult with a healthy relationship with food (in a world where obesity and eating disorders are increasing dramatically).

I'd recommend it

Surely all children are hungry after school? I remember that from when I was a kid.

My dc have a small snack at 3.30ish then tea early, usually by 5, sometimes earlier if I have prepared something in advance.

If they are hungry at bedtime then it's fruit only.

MistletoeBUTNOwine what is the bottom line of the book, please? I am dyslexic, skint and rarely read books, but would love to know in a nutshell what it says!

Thanks!

www.amazon.co.uk/Kids-Carrots-Candy-Practical-Positive/dp/1479381950

I mean I could order it from the library!......

This is brilliant, you are all so wise!!

I accept I have clearly made a rod for my own back by giving in on snacks for an easy life. I clearly remember it all started when they were at nursery a good few miles away and I would share runs with a friend. Unbeknown to me she would give them all crisps and sweets on the run home which started the bad habits and the pestering for snacks regardless of whether they were actually even hungry.

Over time I have unintentionally given in to the fussiness with snacking - their refusal to eat bananas, nuts, cheese (although they do eat healthy meals), so cupboards are stuffed with crisps, biscuits etc. Anything to stop the pestering.
Realise this is pure laziness on my part and I need to be more imaginative with snacks.

Mine are allowed snacks until 4:30pm. then no food until tea (usually 6pm). Works for us.

How old are they?

Mine have a snack after school and then dinner as a family at 6.45-7pm (and we have been doing this since they were quite small).