Snacks and preschool

My DD ( 3 1/2) started preschool this year at a parochial school, and
generally is enjoying it. One thing which I'm wondering if I should do
anything about, though, is that they do a mid-morning snack (usually milk
and some form of snack crackers). And apparently, my DD's body considers
that "snack" to be lunch, because it takes her a LONG time to be hungry
again, and usually by the time she is, it's late enough that then she
doesn't want to eat dinner with the rest of the family, which then means
that she's starving close to bedtime, and eating too much before bed time
seems to give her a second wind and make it hard for her to sleep (which
then makes it hard for her to get up for preschool).

Since the school has extended day child care, and the kids who stay for
extended day end up eating lunch fairly late (and, if they come in early for
child care reasons, have breakfast pretty early), I suspect they need the
snack (and I think daycare licensing requires it). I doubt I can request
that they NOT give DD a snack. The snacktime is late enough, and she wakes
up early enough, that not eating breakfast at home really isn't an option.

However, I'm wondering if anyone has a good suggestion to manage the snack
at preschool while not totally throwing off the rest of the meal schedule
for the day.

Donna Metler wrote:
My DD ( 3 1/2) started preschool this year at a parochial school, and
generally is enjoying it. One thing which I'm wondering if I should do
anything about, though, is that they do a mid-morning snack (usually milk
and some form of snack crackers). And apparently, my DD's body considers
that "snack" to be lunch, because it takes her a LONG time to be hungry
again, and usually by the time she is, it's late enough that then she
doesn't want to eat dinner with the rest of the family, which then means
that she's starving close to bedtime, and eating too much before bed time
seems to give her a second wind and make it hard for her to sleep (which
then makes it hard for her to get up for preschool).

Since the school has extended day child care, and the kids who stay for
extended day end up eating lunch fairly late (and, if they come in early for
child care reasons, have breakfast pretty early), I suspect they need the
snack (and I think daycare licensing requires it). I doubt I can request
that they NOT give DD a snack. The snacktime is late enough, and she wakes
up early enough, that not eating breakfast at home really isn't an option.

However, I'm wondering if anyone has a good suggestion to manage the snack
at preschool while not totally throwing off the rest of the meal schedule
for the day.



What times are you talking about? When are breakfast, snack, lunch, and
dinner?

When my kids were in a 1/2 day preschool, the school (really, the
parents, in rotation) provided snacks, and each child brought a lunch.
Through the years (my kids had a total of almost 6 years there), several
teachers found it worked better to have the kids eat their lunches
mid-morning and have the snack later. I don't know if that's an option
in your case. Later, when my daughter was in kindergarten and first
grade, I found it often worked better to feed her dinner as soon as she
got home from school, put away her stuff, etc. - maybe 4 p.m. Then,
when my husband got home for dinner, she'd have a snack while he and I
ate. I don't see any particular reason little kids should be expected
to eat on the same schedule as adults.

Clisby

In article , Clisby says...

Donna Metler wrote:
My DD ( 3 1/2) started preschool this year at a parochial school, and
generally is enjoying it. One thing which I'm wondering if I should do
anything about, though, is that they do a mid-morning snack (usually milk
and some form of snack crackers). And apparently, my DD's body considers
that "snack" to be lunch, because it takes her a LONG time to be hungry
again, and usually by the time she is, it's late enough that then she
doesn't want to eat dinner with the rest of the family, which then means
that she's starving close to bedtime, and eating too much before bed time
seems to give her a second wind and make it hard for her to sleep (which
then makes it hard for her to get up for preschool).

Since the school has extended day child care, and the kids who stay for
extended day end up eating lunch fairly late (and, if they come in early for
child care reasons, have breakfast pretty early), I suspect they need the
snack (and I think daycare licensing requires it). I doubt I can request
that they NOT give DD a snack. The snacktime is late enough, and she wakes
up early enough, that not eating breakfast at home really isn't an option.

However, I'm wondering if anyone has a good suggestion to manage the snack
at preschool while not totally throwing off the rest of the meal schedule
for the day.



What times are you talking about? When are breakfast, snack, lunch, and
dinner?

Good question. And when does she come home from school?

If her body thinks the mid-morning snack is lunch, how does it ruin dinner,
which is well after lunch? Some detail is missing. Does she normally not have
lunch?


When my kids were in a 1/2 day preschool, the school (really, the
parents, in rotation) provided snacks, and each child brought a lunch.
Through the years (my kids had a total of almost 6 years there), several
teachers found it worked better to have the kids eat their lunches
mid-morning and have the snack later. I don't know if that's an option
in your case. Later, when my daughter was in kindergarten and first
grade, I found it often worked better to feed her dinner as soon as she
got home from school, put away her stuff, etc. - maybe 4 p.m. Then,
when my husband got home for dinner, she'd have a snack while he and I
ate. I don't see any particular reason little kids should be expected
to eat on the same schedule as adults.

I like this suggestion. Fulfills the kid needs but still gets the family
sitting together to dinner. Kid doesn't really need to have a dinner at dinner

Or some thinking like this applied to the situation.

Also, this is the first week or so, right? Maybe this will work itself out
given more time; maybe it's an adjustment thing. I'd just wait a week or two
before making any changes.

Banty

In article , Banty says...

In article , Clisby says...

Donna Metler wrote:
My DD ( 3 1/2) started preschool this year at a parochial school, and
generally is enjoying it. One thing which I'm wondering if I should do
anything about, though, is that they do a mid-morning snack (usually milk
and some form of snack crackers). And apparently, my DD's body considers
that "snack" to be lunch, because it takes her a LONG time to be hungry
again, and usually by the time she is, it's late enough that then she
doesn't want to eat dinner with the rest of the family, which then means
that she's starving close to bedtime, and eating too much before bed time
seems to give her a second wind and make it hard for her to sleep (which
then makes it hard for her to get up for preschool).

Since the school has extended day child care, and the kids who stay for
extended day end up eating lunch fairly late (and, if they come in early for
child care reasons, have breakfast pretty early), I suspect they need the
snack (and I think daycare licensing requires it). I doubt I can request
that they NOT give DD a snack. The snacktime is late enough, and she wakes
up early enough, that not eating breakfast at home really isn't an option.

Is she in the extended day care therefore having her lunch late, and you think
her body is taking it for dinner, "convinced" that the snack is a lunch? If
that's what you meant, how about packing a much smaller lunch?

Banty

She's coming home at 11:30, and that's about lunch time normally. Usually
she'd have a small snack about 3:00, then eat dinner about 6:00, and was
ready for bed at about 8:00.

When she has a snack at school, she won't eat much, if anything, at lunch
time, but be hungry at about 1:30-2:00. If she eats anything close to lunch
then, though, she might nibble a bit at dinner, but be starving at
7:30-8:00, and then have trouble getting to bed and to sleep until 9:30 or
later, which does NOT work for getting to preschool around 8:00 the next
morning.

Effectively, if she eats a snack mid-morning, she then offsets all meals by
about 2 hours-and also wants to offset bedtime by about 2 hours. And it's
that bedtime offset which is the problem.

In article , Donna Metler says...

She's coming home at 11:30, and that's about lunch time normally. Usually
she'd have a small snack about 3:00, then eat dinner about 6:00, and was
ready for bed at about 8:00.

When she has a snack at school, she won't eat much, if anything, at lunch
time, but be hungry at about 1:30-2:00. If she eats anything close to lunch
then, though, she might nibble a bit at dinner, but be starving at
7:30-8:00, and then have trouble getting to bed and to sleep until 9:30 or
later, which does NOT work for getting to preschool around 8:00 the next
morning.

Effectively, if she eats a snack mid-morning, she then offsets all meals by
about 2 hours-and also wants to offset bedtime by about 2 hours. And it's
that bedtime offset which is the problem.

So, feed her what used to be the 3:00 pm snack, instead of the delayed lunch, at
2:00. Then nothing between then and dinner, and nothing between dinner and bed.
Basically, don't shift the main meals, and let hunger work in your favor in the
afternoon. Maybe get her outside doing something the first few afternoons to
get her mind off being hungry from not really having lunch and having only a
small snack. Or take her outside and keep her busy between the lunch that she
mostly didn't eat, and the normal snack at 3:00. She may settle into one of
these patterns, or a slightly different one. But still with school snack and
dinnertime and no close-to bedtime eating.

This is just the beginning of all kinds of school-food-content-timing
adjustments for the next decade or so. In the end, they have to happen without
making the school bend around or the most important meal (dinner) bending around
as far as time.

Banty

Donna Metler wrote:
She's coming home at 11:30, and that's about lunch time normally. Usually
she'd have a small snack about 3:00, then eat dinner about 6:00, and was
ready for bed at about 8:00.

When she has a snack at school, she won't eat much, if anything, at lunch
time, but be hungry at about 1:30-2:00. If she eats anything close to lunch
then, though, she might nibble a bit at dinner, but be starving at
7:30-8:00, and then have trouble getting to bed and to sleep until 9:30 or
later, which does NOT work for getting to preschool around 8:00 the next
morning.

Effectively, if she eats a snack mid-morning, she then offsets all meals by
about 2 hours-and also wants to offset bedtime by about 2 hours. And it's
that bedtime offset which is the problem.

How about eliminating the 3pm snack?

Is she new at preschool? I wonder if it is mostly just adjusting in
general and the meals and bedtime will fall into place in a couple of
weeks.

Or

What if instead of offering the 11:30-noon lunch just not offering
anything until 1pm. That would be later then normal but earlier then
the 1:30-2pm snack. Skip afternoon snack and offer supper at 5-5:30pm.
Then a snack at 7pm and she should be ready for bed at her regular time.
Maybe My little boys have a smoothie for before bed snack. Not
messy, somewhat filling if they didn't eat a good supper.

--

Nikki, mama to 4 boys

No you cannot change the snack schedule at school to fit your needs. Your
daughter will adjust and/or you can adjust lunch, snack, and dinner to fit
her needs better at home. I used to feed the kids dinner at around 4 pm when
they got home from school because they were starving and would eat a bunch
of junk and then not eat good at dinner. Then they would have a small snack
before bed. With soccer practice, track, and piano, they are eating at all
different times now, so it depends. She doesn't have to actually eat a meal
at dinner if she is not hungry, but just have her sit with you and your
husband. You can adjust lunch to a little later. You will find you will need
to be flexible with eating as she gets more into school and bigger. I like
Banty's idea about going to the park and getting some exercise to perhaps
make her more hungry for dinner. There is nothing wrong with eating small
amounts of food throughout the day, it is probably better anyway.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
My DD ( 3 1/2) started preschool this year at a parochial school, and
generally is enjoying it. One thing which I'm wondering if I should do
anything about, though, is that they do a mid-morning snack (usually milk
and some form of snack crackers). And apparently, my DD's body considers
that "snack" to be lunch, because it takes her a LONG time to be hungry
again, and usually by the time she is, it's late enough that then she
doesn't want to eat dinner with the rest of the family, which then means
that she's starving close to bedtime, and eating too much before bed time
seems to give her a second wind and make it hard for her to sleep (which
then makes it hard for her to get up for preschool).

Since the school has extended day child care, and the kids who stay for
extended day end up eating lunch fairly late (and, if they come in early
for child care reasons, have breakfast pretty early), I suspect they need
the snack (and I think daycare licensing requires it). I doubt I can
request that they NOT give DD a snack. The snacktime is late enough, and
she wakes up early enough, that not eating breakfast at home really isn't
an option.

However, I'm wondering if anyone has a good suggestion to manage the snack
at preschool while not totally throwing off the rest of the meal schedule
for the day.

Nikki wrote:
Donna Metler wrote:
She's coming home at 11:30, and that's about lunch time normally.
Usually she'd have a small snack about 3:00, then eat dinner about
6:00, and was ready for bed at about 8:00.

When she has a snack at school, she won't eat much, if anything, at
lunch time, but be hungry at about 1:30-2:00. If she eats anything
close to lunch then, though, she might nibble a bit at dinner, but be
starving at 7:30-8:00, and then have trouble getting to bed and to
sleep until 9:30 or later, which does NOT work for getting to
preschool around 8:00 the next morning.

Effectively, if she eats a snack mid-morning, she then offsets all
meals by about 2 hours-and also wants to offset bedtime by about 2
hours. And it's that bedtime offset which is the problem.

How about eliminating the 3pm snack?


That's what I'd try first - offer her lunch around 1 or 1:30, and then
don't feed her again until dinner. I think most 3-year-olds would be
ready to eat again after a 4-hour-or-more daytime stretch without food.

Clisby


Is she new at preschool? I wonder if it is mostly just adjusting in
general and the meals and bedtime will fall into place in a couple of
weeks.

Or

What if instead of offering the 11:30-noon lunch just not offering
anything until 1pm. That would be later then normal but earlier then
the 1:30-2pm snack. Skip afternoon snack and offer supper at 5-5:30pm.
Then a snack at 7pm and she should be ready for bed at her regular time.
Maybe My little boys have a smoothie for before bed snack. Not
messy, somewhat filling if they didn't eat a good supper.

--

Nikki, mama to 4 boys

"Sue" wrote in message
...
No you cannot change the snack schedule at school to fit your needs. Your
daughter will adjust and/or you can adjust lunch, snack, and dinner to fit
her needs better at home. I used to feed the kids dinner at around 4 pm
when they got home from school because they were starving and would eat a
bunch of junk and then not eat good at dinner. Then they would have a
small snack before bed. With soccer practice, track, and piano, they are
eating at all different times now, so it depends. She doesn't have to
actually eat a meal at dinner if she is not hungry, but just have her sit
with you and your husband. You can adjust lunch to a little later. You
will find you will need to be flexible with eating as she gets more into
school and bigger. I like Banty's idea about going to the park and getting
some exercise to perhaps make her more hungry for dinner. There is nothing
wrong with eating small amounts of food throughout the day, it is probably
better anyway.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

Yes, as children grow, age, and advance through school and various
activities, their eating schedules and habits will change many times and you
will need to adjust and not be rigid about it.