Dinner on a school night - help!

[Optimi1st]

We're having trouble getting our DSs (7 and 5) to eat at dinner time on a school night.

Whenever they get out of school at 3.30 they're starving, of course, so they have a sandwich or snack before whatever it is they do next (Scouts, football, playdate etc). If the snack isn't big enough they beg for more.

We usually have dinner around 5.30 and they just don't seem hungry. They nearly always leave full or half-eaten plates on the table and then of course there's a lot of whining after bedtime at 7.30/8 about how hungry they are.

Is this normal? It's driving my wife crazy that they keep rejecting her cooking, and we can't refuse snacks after school without a full hunger meltdown ensuing.

Should we be eating later? Giving smaller snacks? Help!

Eating later seems the obvious solution.

You've just got to try a load of different solutions.

Could they eat their tea at after-school snack time and then have a sandwich at what would.notmally be meal time? Reversing the snack and evening meal effectively.

Or going for protein at snack time? Apple, cheese and a few raisins? Yoghurt?

Can they have their dinner when they get home and a snack at 5.30?

Do they have school dinners? If they are having a main meal at lunch time, then a snack after school, then they could have a lighter evening meal.

Can you not eat at 6.30?

I couldn’t manage a full dinner only 2 hours after eating a sandwich either so I don’t blame them at all! I’d do dinner at more like 6.30 going forwards then bed at 8.

Do you all want to eat a main meal together at 6pm? Is that the most important goal?

Or is the most important goal just getting them to eat healthily and it doesn’t matter when that happens?

We have bed time at 8 and we eat at 6.30 or 7, depending on their activities.

Eat your main meal later

Eat later, its only been 2hours since they last ate

Eat later when there's no activities, when you have activities accept that the whole family eating around the table isn't possible and plan accordingly. That could include reversing snack/dinner so they're having a super-early tea followed by a sandwich supper (using that in the non-posh sense ).

If DW doesn't want to feel like a short order cook, do something like a chilli which can be ready for the kids at 330 and reheated for you later on.

I'd also look at their lunches a bit more carefully - are they eating enough? Very young DCs often ignore their lunch in favour of playing so it might be worth thinking about what's going to give the biggest bang for your buck calorie-wise.

As PP have said, we reverse dinner on nights dc have later clubs - meal after school (as this is when they seem to be STARVING), then a sandwich/toast/snack/porridge for supper afterwards. We don’t eat as a family but it’s too hard in the week, we save that for weekends

Mine have fruit after school and a hot chocolate and then we eat at about 6

How old are they?

We do dinner really early, then snacks after clubs. If me or my husband aren't ready for dinner or is heated up.

Eat later? I understand wanting to eat together, but Ds is 1 year and seems to be fine eating at 6.30pm ( finished by 7/7.15pm). And bed around 8pm

If they are getting home, sandwich, then out to activity it must be a huge rush to eat at 5.30pm anyway

Small snack then eat together is what I would do. As they get older this will be easier.

It's both really. I want them to eat proper food instead of snacks and sandwiches but secondary to that I'd like us all to eat at the same time.

Eat later problem solved. We are around 6.30/7 from toddler years onwards then it's straight into the bedtime routine for little ones, tv/ games for older

Smaller portion of the meal later on. Don’t let it become a battleground.
Or PP’s suggestion of a portion of the dinner straight after school (eg a bowl of chilli and rice) and then a sandwich later on if they want it. However this means making the dinner earlier and probably not all eating it together at the same time.

Smaller portions?

What are they eating at lunchtime?

Try smaller snacks - a couple of crackers and cheese, pitta strips and hummus, make a toastie and half each with cucumber sticks.

Push tea back to 6 and maybe smaller amounts on the plate and then build up to bigger amounts if they are eating it.

@Seeline

How old are they?

It's literally in the first sentence of the OP

I give mine a hot meal after school on the days I collect them and then potato bread or waffle toast about 6.45

Keep the barely touched dinners and reheat when they moan about being hungry? Or just move dinner later