AIBU to stop DD (12) snacking just before bed.

[McGingery]

So my DD likes to go to bed with a snack. I have always said no but DH is weaker than me and says yes. She eats a healthy dinner at about 5pm, then pudding and has fruit to eat whenever she wants.

My arguments are that she should have eaten something earlier (I say an hour bed bedtime so 8pm) and she is only eating as a delay tactic or out of habit. I doubt it is doing her any good to eat late and is only forming a bad habit for the future.

The snack in question is usually a large chunk of cucumber but sometimes it is cheese or chorizo!

Am I being unreasonable saying no to bedtime snacks?

See, when we were growing up we had breakfast: Cereal
Lunch - school meal
Tea - family sit down meal,
meat n veg etc
Supper - toast and milk

Anybody who skips on supper is mad, bordering on torture

13+ hours to wait for the next meal is a long time for a young person who is growing.

But thats just my opinion.

If you insist on having dinner at 5 in the afternoon it is perfectly natural for her to want a snack before bed. And she is choosing good snacks too!

You would be unreasonable, yes.
She's choosing healthy snacks.
It's a long time from 5pm to breakfast.
It's honestly doing her no harm at all.

Also - cucumber!?? WTF? She is a saint!

YABU. Cucumber!

She can't have fruit to eat whenever if she cant eat at bedtime can she?

Also cucumber aids with insomnia as does dairy before bed so these are sensible choices

A few things.

5pm is very early for a 12 year old to eat their dinner.

Those snacks are perfectly healthy.

She is practically a teenager, she can have a little more freedom over what she eats and when she goes to bed, especially if she’s making basically healthy choices.

I'd be having the cucumber, the cheese AND the chorizo if my dinner was at 5pm. In fact I'd probably start on the furniture by 9 o'clock.

I’ve googled Fly Cup and it’s either a type of menstrual cup or a cup of tea 😅

You and me both!!

5pm is insanely early to be eating dinner. I would also be hungry by bedtime!

hahahahahahhahaha

Can you make dinner any later? 5pm is very early for a 12 year old to be eating - no wonder she is hungry before bed. I'd be starving!

I'd be encouraging her to have something more substantial than a piece of cucumber rather than refusing her.

Totally understand the delaying tactic side of things, but how long does it take to make and eat a piece of toast or a bowl of cereal?

DD (11) usually comes mooching for food once she's showered and in pjs, she'll have cereal, toast, pancakes or a few biscuits usually. I'd wonder what was wrong if she didn't! She's not overweight and has a generally healthy diet but she knows not to start asking for food once I say lights off, she's tried that before and got told.

YABU. I got out of bed at about 3am to eat a massive chunk of cucumber with red pepper hummus.

YABU - because I’ve now lost count of how many slices of toast I’ve eaten, having read this snacky bloody thread 😁.

Poor girl, if she wants something to eat before bed then she should be allowed to eat!!

At 12yo they need a massive amount of food to kickstart puberty. Their brain is also going through massive changes.

Let her eat what she wants.

Fruit is not filling, she needs carbs and fats like cheese or full fat milk.

I'm hungry just reading this! Does anybody want a ?

My kids always snack before bed. Cereals, toast etc. I've just had a small bowl of cereal too as dinner was hours ago and I had small portion. Sometimes I wake in the night hungry and so does my teen. We often meet for a snack 🤣 We are healthy weight and the snacks are rarely chocolate or biscuits. Last night dh and myself were craving sausage rolls gone midnight but neither of us could be bothered to go downstairs to get them 🤣 Homemade gluten free sausage rolls I may add 🤣

Nothing from 5pm until breakfast? Good grief. And what makes 8pm the acceptable cut off time? It's still a long time before the next food. It's not as if she's downing Red Bull & kebabs.

I can’t imagine getting worked up over a piece of cucumber 😂

I think people have miss read my post. This is not about her having a snack at all, it’s the time of that snack. I’m happy her eating at 8pm an hour before bed but not as she is literally about to get into bed.

You begrudge a child a piece of cucumber?

What does she say when you offer/ask if she'd like something at 8?