Should I be feeding my baby again after he's had tea at nursery?

[andbreatheeee]

I have a 10 month old. At nursery he has breakfast, snack, lunch, and tea at 3:45pm. Tea is normally light e.g sandwiches/salad etc. He goes to sleep at 7:30pm and has milk before bed. Should be having another meal between 3:45pm and bed? And does it need to be a significant meal?

Is he hungry?

Erm I would. 3.45 is the middle of the afternoon. Won’t he start waking at 4am for breakfast?

Either give him a bit of what your having, or bulk cook some meals and freeze for convenience

345?! I would be STARVING and he will need to eat more often. I think he needs something before bed

Yes

I know a lot of people that do this (3-4 for dinner is standard in Nurseries) but we never have - we have always offered toast, cereal or banana and that seems to have lasted her. It depends how hungry your child is though.

We always offered dinner with us (at 6pm) after nursery, and still do now he's 3. Some days he has very little of it, some days he has the whole portion he'd have on a non-nursery day when he wouldn't have eaten since lunch. Nursery tea is normally light and small portions so I'd always at least offer something else in the evening.

What others said. If you're short of time baked beans, scrambled egg, toast, soup would all work.

DS used to nibble a piece of toast at that age after a nursery day like that.
DD would have knocks back a Christmas dinner and asked for more.

Offer him food. Feed him if he’s hungry!

Depends on your little one's appetite, and whether they still fill up on milk.

My son is a ravenous beast and wouldn't make it to bedtime without a meal.

My DD (almost 3) gets a snack at nursery at that time, but tends not to want much when she gets home. Sometimes she'll eat a meal, sometimes nothing. I always offer what we are having, but don't worry if she doesn't eat it. I also know she eats everything she gets there at lunch and snack time, so sometimes I'll just make a light tea... but again she doesn't always eat it. So id say go with trial and error and see how hungry they are.

It will probably change over the next few months as well, as I assume at 10 months they have still been having a fair amount of Milk which will decrease as they get a bit older

The nurseries we have used have done tea at more like 4-4:30 and our kids, even our 4 year old, are fine without dinner afterwards. They usually have a small snack, like toast or a crumpet or an ice cream in the summer, but aren't always hungry for it. But they do go to bed a bit earlier - 7pm

It depends on the child. Mine have never wanted much after nursery. They'll sometimes have a banana or something. Just go with how hungry they are. Whether it's a significant meal is up to you/ your baby.

We didn’t give them anything other than milk before bed after nursery especially at 10 months they didn’t eat much anyway. Occasionally when they were older if they were hungry I’d give them some toast or a bit of fruit or crackers especially if they didn’t have the last snack (sometimes it was something they didn’t like) in which case I’d give them something a bit more substantial - maybe beans or cheese on toast. I’d say 8 days out of 10 they only needed/wanted milk. Both children normal weight.

We always ate with the children at 5:30pm (I appreciate it’s early for some for an adults evening meal, but as we both work ‘earlies’ it works for us).

We just offered a small portion of our evening meal, they ate if they were hungry, didn’t if they weren’t.

Depends on the child. Mine used to gave breakfast at home, three meals and snacks at nursery, then dinner at home.
Most kids needed less food! I'd offer, and see what he thinks!

Depends on the child and the day!
My daughter is just shy of ten months and she’s in nursery, she usually has a bit of fruit and some cheese, but she’s more interested in having a big breastfeed.

My son has a snack after nursery and the milk before bed.

We offer leftovers or cereal or something light, and a drink a milk. How much is eaten varies massively day to day.

Dsd is nearly 3. After nursery she gets a portion of whatever the others are having for tea. Sometimes she eats nothing, sometimes she eats the lot. And a yogurt. And a cheese and an apple

My two are much older, but after nursery they'd have had maybe a Weetabix and a banana, toast and yogurt etc. But yes, I think you should be offering your ds something.

@Hardbackwriter

We always offered dinner with us (at 6pm) after nursery, and still do now he's 3. Some days he has very little of it, some days he has the whole portion he'd have on a non-nursery day when he wouldn't have eaten since lunch. Nursery tea is normally light and small portions so I'd always at least offer something else in the evening.

Exactly this, we all have dinner together at 6 but don't make the kids eat it. If the three year old is angling for some chocolate or something she has to at least make an attempt at the healthy stuff though. Sometimes she'll just want some fruit instead of dinner which we allow.

Our nursery gave a tea around 4:30pm and we'd always give them a little top up when they got home. Not a full meal, but along the lines of cheese and crackers, cereal, porridge, toast, crumpet or even a little pot of rice pudding or custard.

Most people I know feed their DC soon as they get home from nursery. Incl us. 345 is middle of the afternoon

We only started to give a 2nd tea because our DS was hungry.

Bedtime banana, peanut butter & jam sandwich. Simple stuff.

Sometimes he had fruit in the car on the way home & then sandwich at home.

Yes, would do ‘tea’ in addition to the nursery afternoon food.

We always give DD another tea after her nursery tea. She's 2