Is this too much for a snack?

[SingingOutOfTune]

My 12 years old gets home from school and has 3/4 Krisprolls with lots of honey and peanut butter and 2 small glasses of milk. This is around 4 pm. We have dinner around 8. Is this too much? I know he is growing and his weight is fine but I am a bit concerned. Can mums of teens on Mumsnet give me some perspective? Told him off today for having a second glass of milk and hated myself after. Don't like controlling what he eats but it seems excessive for a snack

My 6 yr old would eat more than that before dinner that's no whare near enough and telling him of for having a second glass of milk

My kids are younger but eat roughly every 4-5 hours, as do DH and I. That doesn't sound at all excessive to me unless he's drinking milk out of a pint glass, but if you think he's actually thirsty rather than hungry, just make it a habit that he has to have a glass of water first before any food (snacks or meal).

No it's fine when you're being starved between 12 and 8 confused poor bugger

'Starved' ??!

I agree that 8pm is too late for dinner for a child.

8pm? i'd be on the floor!!! i'd have a huge snack!!!

Krisproll? Is this a crispbread?

He must be going to bed on a full stomach if dinner is at eight, the snack sounds very small, and much needed.

Why do you eat so late? Fine for adults but not for growing kids

What do you think happens in families where the parents don't get home till 7pm?

In Spain and Portugal they eat at 9pm, and siesta, lovely.

My 12 yr old son has a couple of slices of toast with PB and a couple of pieces of fruit after school before dinner, and we generally eat around 6.30-7pm.

Milk and Krisprolls seems a perfectly fine snack to me.

Omg, weird food thread alert.
Of course milk will quench thirst.
8.00 is relatively late for dinner here in the UK but this is an almost teenager.
We eat dinner anytime between 5 and 9, it's fine, I just let Dd16 know so she can snack appropriately if it's later.

Krisprolls don't look very substantial, he must be starving

Give him fruit as well, or carrots and humus

Krisprolls don't look very substantial, he must be starving

He has honey and peanut butter and milk too.

Why did you tell him off for having an extra glass of milk?

My DS would have eaten several packets of crackers and half a jar of PB at that age, and he would have followed that by two full helpings of dinner, followed by eating any leftover dinner about 10pm. I never had to put any leftovers in the fridge for the six years between 11 and 17.

DS is allergic to dairy so he regularly drained whatever dairy alternative with added calcium/vitamins I had bought (whatever was reduced/on sale was what he drank on any given week). Then he would have put the empty carton back in the fridge but that is another story

In short, you are being VVVVVV Unreasonable, and I urge you to get a grip and also to buy more substantial snacks for your DS. His growth will be stunted unless he is allowed to eat as much healthy food as he wants at this stage.

Suggestions for healthy snacks:
Hard boiled eggs
Deli meats - ham, turkey, pastrami, etc
Whole grain baked goods (rolls, baps, buns, whatever they are known as)
Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, other nut butters
Cheese
Veggies such as tomatoes, cucumber, leaf spinach to put in a sandwich
Good quality hot dogs or other sausages
Tuna salad fixings - mayonnaise, lemon juice, chopped celery, grated carrot
Leftover dinner that he can reheat

He needs lots of protein, calcium and healthy fats at this age.

But we’re not inSpain / Portugal!

Just seen what a krisproll is. They are tiny!

And absolute bollocks about milk not quenching thirst.

2 small glasses of milk and you told him off? Poor kid. That wouldn't touch the sides with my 12-year-old, especially if dinner isn't for another 4 hours.

Krisprolls - are they those small half bread rolls that are re-cooked so that they are like bullets?

Are we talking pint glasses of milk each time?

Would you call a pint glass a small glass then?

(We always ate between 7 and 8 - they had activities and homework to do before then).

I think 12-8 is fine to not eat and I wouldn't need much of a snack in that period, I'm sure at 12 he can cope with dinner at 8.

However that sounds like a perfectly fine size of snack for a growing boy. If he needs a snack when he gets in then that sounds fine. And 2 small glasses of milk has never really been excessive if hes not overweight what hes eating is fine, he doesn't need to cut back. Remember we all have slightly different calories requirements and so if he calories he s eating are right for his body then that's fine.

Is he definitely eating lunch? Lots of the teenage boys when I was that age would skip their lunch because it was either embarrassing or slowed them down etc. And they just wanted to be playing football

I don't get the preoccupation with eating at 5, or 6 or whatever time some people assume is 'normal'. That time doesn't work for many families.

I don't even get home from work till 7 so the earliest we've ever eaten is 8pm (even when the kids were younger!). Don't think the time of dinner is the issue!

the snack is fine!