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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this is an appropriate after school snack for a 4 year old

100 replies

Twolittlebears · 22/09/2018 13:24

My DD is 4 and has just started school. She has to take a snack for afterschool club which lasts until 5.30pm. I've been sending snacks like:

  • a piece of fruit and 1/2 pitta and hummus;
  • fruit and 2 x rice cakes with peanut butter;
  • cut veggies and hummus and 2 x oat cakes types things.

AIBU to think this is about right or too much for a 4 year old.

For background: we have been working to make sure DD eats appropriate portions. She was previously 99th centile for weight and after careful management is now 75th.

OP posts:
InstagramPork · 22/09/2018 13:25

That’s a lot imo. My 8yr old has just a piece of fruit or a granola bar

Hmmalittlefishy · 22/09/2018 13:27

That does seem alot and as if you are doubling up on snacks. So a piece of fruit or pita

If she is attending an after school club would she have time to take part in the activity if she has all that to eat?

Hmmalittlefishy · 22/09/2018 13:28

I also wouldn't send peanut butter into school / clubs incase of peanut allergies

Mammaof · 22/09/2018 13:28

Jeez does she still eat her main meal after all the food!

Thehop · 22/09/2018 13:30

I don’t think that’s a lot at all my children are ravenous after school

Goldenbear · 22/09/2018 13:33

Seems fine that's hardly anything - you don't mean all of them at once do you? How can anyone think that's a lot- bizarre.

BarbarianMum · 22/09/2018 13:35

I think that's 2 snacks in one and would say either the fruit or the pita/rice cakes etc. And I say this as the mother of tall, ravenous boys.

bridgetreilly · 22/09/2018 13:35

I think you could halve what you send, tbh, and see how that goes.

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 22/09/2018 13:36

Depends on what she’s eating for lunch and dinner. If she’s having school dinners and leaving bits of it, she might be genuinely hungry by 3.30 and those portions would be fine.

If you’re carefully managing her weight anyway, then just keep an eye on it. If it starts to go up, then you can just cut back on the snack.

Sleephead1 · 22/09/2018 13:38

totally fine I mean if you don't pick her up till 5.30 then by the time you get in and make tea it must be 6 or after so it's along time to go from lunchtime which is 12. I honestly can't see how half a pitta and a Apple is a lot

Celebelly · 22/09/2018 13:38

I don't think she's sending them all at once! It's a list of the type of things she sends... Sounds fine. I don't think veggies and hummus and a couple of oat cakes are outrageous!

Goldenbear · 22/09/2018 13:38

My youngest is 7 and would be very hungry on just a granola bar until 5.30. When I see these threads I am in disbelief at how little children are given to eat, I would be embarrassed to actually list my Dcs intake from afterschool until bed! They are both whippets though so I would worry about them eating 'Mumsnet' potions.

NutElla5x · 22/09/2018 13:39

Seems ok to me op.Then again I suppose it depends on what she's eating for lunch and dinner.

PeterPiperPickedSeaShells · 22/09/2018 13:40

Yep, I've also got a child who could eat all that & then a full dinner

BikeRunSki · 22/09/2018 13:41

That's a list of three snacks isn't it?

I think they are fine*, presumably she's not getting her main meal until 6pm or later? 12 noon-6pm is a long time to go on a school dinner.

*although none would be allowed at our ASC due to nuts and seeds (sesame in hummus, before anyone starts about chickpeas being a legume).

BitOutOfPractice · 22/09/2018 13:41

That list is “or” not “and” isn’t it?

MyDcAreMarvel · 22/09/2018 13:41

It’s easy to see why your dd is over weight. One snack is fine she doesn’t need two.

RandomMess · 22/09/2018 13:42

Assuming that is 3 separate evenings worth in list that is fine so long as the tea at Home was fairly small?

DolorestheNewt · 22/09/2018 13:42

If she's on the 75th centile for weight, what centile is she on for height?

Shednik · 22/09/2018 13:42

I don't think too much at all if she's not getting her main meal until 6pm or so. She won't have eaten since school Lunch at 12.

My children eat more than this and are 25th centile for weight or thereabouts.

RedSkyLastNight · 22/09/2018 13:43

I don't think that's a lot ... assuming you pick up on the way home from work, she can't be having tea until well after 6 so it needs to be enough to keep her going. Actually I'd be tempted to pack more of a packed tea (most ASC clubs provide tea).

What percentile was her height? The key thing about weight percentiles is that they are in line with height ones.

thereallifesaffy · 22/09/2018 13:43

No empty calories there. Not like granola bars which (can be) stuffed with sugar.

giggleshizz · 22/09/2018 13:45

My 5 yr old DD would easily eat that as an after school snack plus then dinner and a fruit before bedtime. She's tall, slim and active. If she's hungry I feed her. She'd never survive on just a fruit from lunch until dinner.

BarbarianMum · 22/09/2018 13:46

Oh my kids eat a lot goldenbear but at mealtimes, not in between. Ds2 would eat an enormous snack then exactly the same amount of dinner 2 hours later as he would if he'd had an apple - which is where weight problems start.

Goldenbear · 22/09/2018 13:46

MyDcAreMarvel, what a helpful thing to say, particularly as it is not true. You have a distorted view of food if you think those type of snacks make children overweight--again, only on Mumsnet!