To ask what they feed your child at nursery?

[Amazona24]

My DS is 2.5 and has attended nursery for a year and a half. For the past few months I feel like what they give him doesn't fill him up enough as he comes home and says how hungry he is. He has woke a few times in the night saying he is hungry and can hear his stomach rumbling!
They do breakfast consisting on wheaties, a snack mid morning of fruit. Lunch is a cooked meal normally something like lasagne, not sure if they have a afternoon snack and tea is a bagel or bit of toast.
What do your kids get fed?

why isn't he having a proper dinner at home, or at nursery if he's still there that late?

When DD was 8-6 she had breakfast at home (huge!) and then a proper lunch and dinner at nursery,

The tea or a bagel isn't meant to be their tea, you're supposed to give him tea when you pick him up

Sorry the toast or a bagel I meant

DD is three and seems to get a roughly similar amount of food although she does t get her tea at nursery. She's always really hungry in the mornings so so eats breakfast at home and then again when she gets in to nursery. She has a choice of cereal - I think they can choose from shreddies, Weetabix, cornflakes and Cheerios. They have lunch early (about 11am) so no morning snack - lunch is a hot meal; curry, lasagne, pasta, shepherd's pie etc and a pudding (usually yoghurt or fruit). They get an afternoon snack at about 3pm which is something like crackers, ham and fruit, bagels with cream cheese and cucumber sticks, soup and bread etc. I feed her tea when she gets home and she never complains of being hungry. Are you sure the tea at your nursery isn't meant to be a snack and that they're assuming you'll feed him at home?

Yes you’re supposed to be giving him an evening meal.

At nursery they call it his "dinner" and said they give him a big lunch because if they gave them a big dinner they don't want them running around and being sick. They have a nap after their big lunch. He does have breakfast at home now as he's hungry before. Which I don't mind but for the money I'm paying I'd expect him to have something more filling. I give him 3 meals a day and he doesn't complain being hungry whilst at home.

I work in a nursery. Children have breakfast, snack mid morning and mid afternoon, a two course hot lunch, then a 'high tea'. This is more of a large two course snack. Children should then have a meal at home.

Mine get similar but the toast/bagel etc is an afternoon snack. I give them something to eat when they get home. Usually something like pasta which I've pre-prepared and just heat up so it's quick and easy.

It’s possibly not what they’re feeding him but the times. My ds’s nursery have lunch at 11.30 & tea at 3. He has a full meal with the rest of us at 6! He would never go all night without eating if I didn’t give him dinner at home.
He sometimes has breakfast before he goes too!!

My LO has
breakfast - cereal
Lunch - hot, normally veg casserole or something plus fruit puree pouch
Tea - veg, potato, yoghurt
All at nursery then a big dinner at home. She is 9 months old.

Are you not feeding a dinner at home??

That sounds a normal schedule of food to me - 2 dc, 8 years of nursery across multiple settings. You can give him a packed dinner if you are picking up close to 6? Mine were so tired when I got them home.

Tea at nursery is just a filler to ride them over till they get home and at home
Breakfast will be a very small amount in case children haven't eaten before they come in
The only meal that is substantial will be lunch
I work in a nursery and I expect children to have had breakfast before they come in the morning and to have a family meal after nursery
Unless parents tell me otherwise

My son has cereal, toast, or crumpets, lunch consisting of a hot meal (cottage pie, chicken dinner, curry), snack time (I provide my own) and ‘tea’ which is usually scones or pancakes with fruit and more snack if they want it. Then he has a proper meal when he gets home - usually fish or chicken.

Mine get loads!
Breakfast- toast or cereal
Snack- cheese and biscuits, fruit, Pitts and hummus
Lunch- cooked meal. Eg, frittata, chicken and cous cous, pasta bake...
snack- fruit, cheese and crackers
Dinner- another cooked meal. Eg, lasagne, roast dinner, jacket potato.

Certainly don’t need to feed them again when we get home.

No breakfast is definitely an option. I've seen they give them a choice of wheetabix etc. I don't pick him up until half 5 quarter to 6 so I think they have their "tea" around 4ish. Of course I'm giving him something to eat at home, when he says he's hungry I'm not going to let the poor guy starve.

umbongo this is what i expect! I mean childcare isn't exactly cheap and even when you get your 30 free hours you have a consumable charge too per day so I would assume they would be giving him enough food. I don't know if they limit him by what food he is give as he has a milk and soya allergy.

I am a nursery supervisor and it irritates me that the attitude is "they should have a proper tea at home". Parents pay enough that it should cover two good meals, and what are parents supposed to do if they don't pick their young child up until 6?

An example of the teas DD has at nursery-
pizza, soup, bagels, pasta bake, filled pittas and wraps, beans on toast. One of the reasons I sent her there, they actually give proper teas.

mossy thank you this is exactly it. I don't pick him up till half 5. Don't get home until almost 6. Then he's grumpy and upset because he's hungry and tired and he's Bed time is about 7!

I disagree that you should be feeding him another meal.
That sounds a normal 'tea' to me. But maybe ask how much he is having?

My DD has breakfast at home, has a snack at 10, cooked lunch with pudding at 12 and then tea at 4 - which is usually toast and beans, sandwiches or hummus and pitta bread - then they have some fruit.

Sometimes she does ask for a something at home but that is usually a banana or a little bag of cheese.

We don't feed DS again when he gets home! (Apart from a small snack to entice him into the buggy). He has a proper breakfast there, mid morning snack, hot lunch, afternoon snack, then a hot dinner. I pick him up at 6 and he goes to bed at 7 so can't really fit another meal in.

Tea at my nursery is a snack e.g. half a teacake, or a slice of cheese on toast with a couple of slices of Apple and a few slices of cucumber
But we are very clear with our parents on this and our fees do reflect this

Going back a good few years but at Nursery age DD had:
B - cereal / porridge with fruit in, plus a yogurt if they wanted
S - veg sticks & hummus, crackers with cheese, topped bagel, or similar
L - hot, 2 courses (about 11:30am)
S - as above
T - sandwiches / toasties / crackers and soup, all with crudités and either cous cous, pasta salad or rice salad, plus yogurt and fruit (about 4pm)

She'd also eat a biscuit on waking, usually a cereal bar on the way and then dinner and / or supper when she got home (at nursery 8 til 6)

We used to call her a Hobbit as she had so many meals but in reality they were small. Nursery would offer a portion but if she wanted more that wasn't a problem.

She still eats about 8 times a day and a biscuit as soon as she wakes up and she's 11 now!

DD gets breakfast, mid morning snack, a substantial cooked lunch, afternoon snack and then tea is usually something like sandwiches, beans on toast, wraps, etc. We give her some cereal before drop off, but not a full breakfast.

In theory it's enough food, but because tea is so early she gets a snack with her evening milk on nursery days. Something relatively plain like toast or hummus with veg. Sometimes she wolfs it down, sometimes not.

Too much food at nursery! Had to ask them to feed her less as they just keep giving her more if she asks for it, no matter how much she has already had!

DS is 2 in Jan so still in the baby room. Our nursery has a full time chef that makes everything herself including baking.
B - Weetbix and cup of milk. Once in the over 2s room they get a choice.
S - Toast and fruit with cup of milk
L - Big hot meal e.g. Pie with veg. Cake for pudding.
S - rice cake
T - hot meal again but something easier e.g pizza, fish and chips, spag bol. In the over 2s room they get the choice of hot meal or sandwiches.Yoghurt for pudding.
DS does sometimes come home hungry, I think due to small portions in the baby room. DS is very tall for his age.