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?

I would, 3.45 is very early. Mine both had tea at 4.30 and needed a full tea when they got home too, nursery is so full on it always made them hungry. Every child is different but I can’t imagine myself eating sandwiches at 3.45 and then not again properly until the next day.

This is DD’s routine since she started nursery at 10 months. She’d have a piece of toast or a banana or something at about 5:30 as supper, but we never did a second “big” tea. They have a substantial dinner at nursery plus snacks so it’s fine for the tea to be early and light.

If she was hungry I’m sure she would have woken up (or later told us) at some point in the intervening 3 years.

Mine have tea at nursery/after school club at 3.30. When they get home around 5.15 they have a massive snack plate - usually fruit (grapes/melon/banana/strawberries/apple), crackers with cream cheese, cucumber, small cake bar and a yogurt, plus a cup of milk. I’ve never cooked a proper meal in the evening.

Our nursery do dinner at half 3/4 but it's always something substantial like mince and tatties, lasagne, spaghetti etc as they have soup/sandwich type things at lunchtime. At 10 months we always just offered a bottle before bed which was half 6/7 ish and then when DS stopped taking bottles, we offer supper before bed time. Usually toast or cereal etc

Ours always had a small snack around 6:30 before bedtime - usually fruit, yogurt, a couple of crackers, some cheese etc.

It's a routine that's stuck now though and even as teenagers they'll have a glass of milk and a 'snack' before bed - cereal, fruit, yogurt, toast.

My DS has tea at 4ish, then I offer him fruit and a yohurt, or toast, or something light and snack like.

Yes, definitely, I would. Mine almost always had a snack when they came home around 5 and then a full sit down hot dinner before bed around 8 ish. My 3 year old has two rounds of snacks now and then dinner after nursery! I think if nothing else, it gets in the routine of family meal times even if he doesn't need loads of solid food now.

At 10 months maybe offer a little something but mine didn't want anything extra until just after a year really. But LO was starting to eat all of what they offered at nursery rather than play with jt.

We used to do something light, like toast or weetabix before bed.

Our son is nearly 2 and has been eating at the childminders since he was about 15 months.
We always sit him down with us and offer some dinner at 7.30pm, sometimes he is not at all interested, sometimes he scoffs it all, the important thing for us it that is a take it or leave it meal, and if he doesn't want any that's fine.
Often he doesn't eat and we worry he will wake on the night, but he knows when he needs dinner!
A lot of these decisions seem so important but in the end delegating to your child can save you the hassle and stress! Good luck.

My midwife told me that your DC will never starve so long as you are offering food.

If they choose not to like or eat it that's their choice but you should never worry too much so long as you're offering it to them and putting it on the table so they have access to food when hungry.