After school snacks...

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Do you give your child an after school snack or do they have to wait until dinner?

If you do, what sort of snack do they have and what time do you usually have dinner? Will then then eat all their dinner?

I'm struggling with a balance for my two (6 and 4.5). The youngest doesn't eat a huge amount so comes out of school hungry. But then there is a fine line between what's small enough that she will be hungry for dinner and not eating it!

Mine is starving if I don't, she has a piece of fruit, a couple of crackers or oatcakes and either something sweet or a few pringles then we eat dinner when DH comes in, around 6 usually. I find she gets over hungry and gets a sore stomach if she doesn't eat after school.

Really depends when you have dinner?
My DC have their lunch in school at 12 and dinner isn't until six so I give a snack after school. Usually a few crackers and cheese or some fruit. If I was giving dinner at 4pm though I wouldn't bother with a snack

Yes I do because we don’t eat until 6.30-7ish. I usually give ds a couple of slices of soreen malt loaf buttered, and some fruit.

I struggle to find the balance with my nearly 5 year old. She comes home from school starving but then somtimes doesnt eat her tea because shes had snacks

My 3 year old will eat and eat and eat

For snacks after school mine have, dairy lea on crackers/ jam on crackers / apples/banana's/raisins occasionally toast if we are running low / rice cakes, cheese sticks / cheese strings / occasionally cucumber slices if they fancy them/ boiled eggs ( DD loves them )

Not all at once obviously

We generally have tea at about 6pm/6:30 ( we wait for DP to get home

My 7 year old have a snack everyday after school. It is a cup of redbush tea or hot chocolate with cheese and crackers or humus and cucumber, mini cheddars etc. Dinner is at 6.

Yes got to have a snack or they believe they may starve! Ds 3 has packed lunch so I can see what he eats- sometimes give him something from lunchbox. Or fruit, cheese, crackers, muffin, toast etc. We eat around 5:30/6pm usually (except on Beavers night 🙄)

Mine is only 3.5 so not at school yet but once a week I collect my nephew from school. We get home at 3.10/3.15 and he has an orange.

Mine would have a meal at after school club - something like beans on toast or mini pizza and then eat dinner at home at around 7pm - they were always hungry!

My kids' school day finishes at 5.15pm and the school gives them a piece of fruit, glass of water or juice and some kind of cake or biscuit every day around 3.45pm. Otherwise they'd never make it through to dinner at 6pm.

God help me if I forget their after school snack! "Hello mummy, did you bring a snack? What's for dinner?" Is the greeting from dd11. Sometimes without the hello mummy part 🙄 If I take them an apple I get a disgusted look but dried mango makes me the best mummy ever. The problem is they'll eat the whole packet. An apple takes a while to eat so is what I prefer them to have. Sometimes I take them crisps or a chocolate biscuit or whatever I have in but my aim is fruit. I might start doing them individual pots in the new year and be more organised. I pick them up at 3.15, we get home at 4pm and eat dinner at 5. We walk the mile to school and back so they need the snack.

DS1 is 14 and eats fruit, toast or veg with hummus as soon as he gets in from school. He's always had a big appetite but over the last year or so he's just unfillable. DS2 is 8 and would live on crisps and sweets so I encourage him to have fruit or a bagel. He declines and waits til tea because if it's not coated in sugar he's not interested.

My teenage boys come in from school and eat huge snacks followed by huge dinners! It’s bloody expensive but they hungry and growing rapidly. I controlled snacking more when they were younger but we also ate dinner earlier then too.

I now serve my children's main meal at 4.00pm. It's not helpful to them to wait longer and eat snacks.

So they have whatever their dinner is....spaghetti bolognaise, pasta, curry...whatever. Then they're good for a couple of hours.

At about 6.30 or 7 they will have something else...yogurt and fruit, or some toast...maybe a boiled egg...or crackers and cheese. There's always fruit and crackers if they get hungry.

9 & 10 years old here.

Dinner is 6pm so they have a snack after school. It’s usually one of the following:

Apple slices and peanut butter
Celery and peanut butter
Sliced cheese and tomato with a few crackers
Small bowl of fruit granola with yoghurt
Carrot and capsicum with humous
Small plate of Watermelon and strawberries with cream

Basically, just enough to stop the starved look on their faces but not enough that they don’t eat their dinner.

We don’t eat between meals at all except for the after-school snack. The children are hungry so they might have a pastry or some baguette with chocolate spread, or perhaps some cheese and biscuits. They need a little boost after school to get through to dinner. We usually have 2 courses at dinner and the snack doesn’t put them off.

DS finishes school at 2:30 and we don’t eat until 6pm so yes he has a couple of snacks in the meantime. If it gets to close to dinner time I usually try and bring the meal forward rather than giving him something else to eat.

DCs have lunch at 12-1 and we eat as a family around 8 as there are activities most days. They normally have a light tea at some point before 5 to keep them going. It's easier to give them something fairly substantial than them keep grazing on snack items.

Despite their hearty appetites, DS (9) was whinging yesterday that his age 5 shorts were too big and floppy, so I have no concerns in that department!

We do something like a cream cheese wrap or crackers and cheese, then main meal around 5.30. School lunch is at 11.45 so she is hungry by the time we get back at 3.15.

At that age, when practical, I’d often give them their dinner after school then a snack before bed at 7pm

No for DD age 12 who isn't really bothered, yes to dd6 who will cry the entire mile walk home when I forget to bring one. I almost always bring a piece of fruit. If we only have the fruit she had for morning snack in I'll give her a couple of crackers, cereal bar, babybel, maybe a mini packet of biscuits but I try to stick to the fruit (or veg) plan. Mostly because I don't want to be judged in the playground in all honesty. There is a parent who brings a chocolate bar every single day.

DD (now 15) makes herself a cup of tea and two crumpets with jam every day about 4pm. We then eat a main meal by 7pm.
When she was younger I’d give her a glass of milk and either a slice of toast, a couple of biscuits or a piece of fruit. She’d be pretty hungry by dinner so ate a good meal then.

Mine are in secondary so they’re home alone until DH or I get home to make dinner (6:30-7:30). They just eat whatever we have in, but when they were younger we did try to keep it to 1 cereal bar each. It depends what they eat in school - my eldest never liked eating in school so she ate her packed lunch when she got home, which I’m pretty sure she still does.

Mine come home between 4-5pm and I serve them vegetable sticks first, whilst I prepare dinner and then they have dinner as soon as it is ready. I don’t do complicated dinners though so they eat dinner within half an hour of getting home.

They always have a snack at around 6.30-7pm before getting ready for bed, so they have toast, cereal or yogurt.

I usually give DD dinner about 4.30 on a school night and then a snack at around 6pm. I've found that if I do it the other way around she won't eat her dinner

At that age, after school club gave them a snack after school (fruit and a couple of biscuits), dinner about 5pm (proper hot dinner and pudding) and then she'd eat dinner with us about 7:30/8pm too.