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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To get cross about snacks after school

116 replies

Effnjeff · 19/04/2015 16:53

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??

OP posts:

PHANTOMnamechanger · 19/04/2015 18:40

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

Gosh that seems late for such little ones. What time do they go to bed, and get up?

DisappointedOne · 19/04/2015 18:44

Fruit before bed is no different to wine gums.

DisappointedOne · 19/04/2015 18:45

We eat at about 7:30-8pm with our DD. She's 4.5 (and at school full time).

Stillwishihadabs · 19/04/2015 18:51

What a good thread. I go through phases with this sometimes I manage to provide healthy, sustaining snacks sometimes less so. Some ideas are :oat cakes and cheese with grapes, oat cakes and peanut butter,dried fruit and nuts (little snack packs from Lidl). If I'm feeling very organised I make healthy muffins (semi-skimmed milk, sunflower oil, flour and fruit) or cheese scones. Sometimes it goes to pot and they get choc chip cookies. We have dinner at 7ish.

bigkidsdidit · 19/04/2015 18:51

I always had a banana and a glass of milk after school then tea at 5.30. I'm going to do the same when my DS starts this year

DilysMoon · 19/04/2015 19:03

I think an after school snack is perfectly normal although I go by appetite, sometimes they're ravenous and sometimes not so much so I cater accordingly. Only on school days though, they don't ask for snacks at weekends so I assume the combination of small portions at school and the actual school day makes them more hungry.

Could you offer a healthy snack on the way home and push dinner back by half hour or make dinner smaller?

Original poster

Effnjeff · 19/04/2015 19:04

Am thinking then to give really small healthy snack (of course they'll eat it if they're truly hungry!) as soon as we get in and bring dinner forward a bit.

Someone made an interesting point that maybe it is ok for them to feel hunger pangs for a while and the world won't end if they don't eat immediately!

OP posts:

comedancing · 19/04/2015 19:09

I think any child coming in needs a snack..a healthy one. lm the teacher and l can't function without one. My kids always had one when came in. Sometimes they went home with a friend and we're nearly in tears because they got no snack and l collected them in time for dinner. They were weak and hated it. All now at college and eat healthy food and have no issues around eating too much or anything. I think food becomes an issue if they are left too long. I'm not talking eating rubbish but something good to keep them going. Also if they have to head into homework hunger will make them cranky. When l arrived off school bus a lot time ago my mom always had something ready and l fell on it. One of my best memories.. Food just being there when l was tired and hungry

WorraLiberty · 19/04/2015 19:11

We eat dinner at 5.30 too.

Mine finish school at 3pm and will come home 'starving' so they get a small snack of either some fruit, or a couple of cookies and milk.

It's worth remembering that most Primary school dinners are just a very light lunch, and of course they'll burn that off quick enough in the playground, or during PE.

SocialMediaAddict · 19/04/2015 19:16

Mine are always starving after school. They have a banana or cereal bar. Sometimes a crumpet as well when we get it. Dinner about 6.

Artandco · 19/04/2015 19:17

Phanto - they sleep 9pm-8am. 11hrs is perfectly average for that age surely. It's what the NHS recommends. Beside none of us are home before 7pm earliest from work etc anyway.

Original poster

Effnjeff · 19/04/2015 19:17

I think part of the problem is that I take snacks to give them in the car on the way home from school. It is always easier and more convenient to given them something pre-prepared/packaged in a car. We only live a 10 min drive from school so am sure they could survive that journey and have a fresh, healthier snack when we get home.

OP posts:

Original poster

Effnjeff · 19/04/2015 19:38

DisappointedOne - "fruit before bed is no different than wine gums". Really??

OP posts:

butterflyballs · 19/04/2015 19:43

8pm for dinner? That's late! My youngest is normally in bed on school nights by then except Mondays when she's out at an activity but we have to be out no later than 6.20pm.

Dd 2 normally snacks on whatever is left in her lunch box on the way home. Dinner is normally 5pm. This gives time for dinner to settle before going out to play when it's nice or to activities.

In the nicer weather in the summer we head out straight from school to the beach so she eats from the picnic when she's hungry.

WindMeUpAndLetMeGo · 19/04/2015 19:46

Over hold is your son? Cutting carbs seems a bit extreme

Nydj · 19/04/2015 19:47

Could you not swap it round so that they have dinner as soon as they get home and then if they are hungry before bed then maybe a small snack before bed? That way, you get them to eat the dinner first and the snacks are only filling smallish gaps as opposed to being the size of dinner!

LunacyPays · 19/04/2015 19:51

We never had snacks when I was growing up and I remember being ravenously hungry a lot of the time. I remember being especially hungry and thirsty when I got in from school. I think it is natural to feel hungry at this time - lunch is a good few hours gone. If you are worried about being unhealthy, there are plenty of healthy options. Cheese and crackers or veg sticks and hoummus maybe? I let mine have a couple of biscuits - I'm a firm believer in everything in moderation. I also think that 5.30 is very early for dinner. I read somewhere that 6.15/6.30 is the best time to eat your evening meal - plenty of time to digest before bed.

I think kids burn a lot of energy and they need to keep it topped up. I have a very fast metabolism myself and I know how it feels!

WindMeUpAndLetMeGo · 19/04/2015 19:51

Over - should have said "how old" not hold

DisappointedOne · 19/04/2015 20:04

As fruit sugar is the fastest to hit the blood and cause spikes, yes. You may as well give them sweets.

DisappointedOne · 19/04/2015 20:06

What's more convenient than an apple or banana?

peggyundercrackers · 19/04/2015 20:19

Can't believe all the people who have their kids eating later - Our dd is in bed for 7.30 absolute latest, most nights it's about 7.15.

4girlsonly · 19/04/2015 20:22

I give my girls 2 cookies and a glass of milk when they get home and they have dinner at about 530/6 and that seems to work.

Original poster

Effnjeff · 19/04/2015 20:24

Disappointed - have just been hoodwinked by DCs constant claims that fruit/anything healthy just isn't satisfying or filling

OP posts:

TalkinPeace · 19/04/2015 20:25

Les Anglais son comme une cloche - ils arrivent at sept heures la minute
les Francais arrivent a 8 heures
les Espagnols at 10 heures - avec leurs enfants

the Maitre'd in Brittany was right
in Spain, kids sat down to supper at 9:30 pm no matter how young
school started at 7:30 am

LunacyPays · 19/04/2015 20:29

Peggy - are your dc quite little? 7.15 is a very early bed time. My ds is 9 and he goes to bed 8.30- 9 which gives him 10 hours sleep. I think op said her children were 7 & 9.

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