bedtime snack

[{{{Angela}}}]

Hi all.  I noticed in some threads, some of you were saying that you give your lo a bedtime snack.  When is the best time for a bedtime snack - i.e. before or after bath and/or story?  I'd like to give ds a bedtime snack, since sometimes he doesn't eat much supper, but he takes so long to eat that time-wise, it would be very close.  Does that matter?  This is what our evening looks like:

5:30 pm - supper (can take anywhere from 1/2 hour to 1 hour)
7:15 pm - bath, story, BF
7:45 pm - in bed
most of the time, asleep by 8:15 pm

Should I give him a snack before BF?  And what kind of snacks do you give?
Thanks so much for your help.

[tylersmommy]

I wouldn't worry about doing a bedtime snack as long as you're still bfing him before bed. If you decide to eliminate the bedtime bf, you might consider it, but it's totally up to you. I tried to do it for awhile, since Tyler isn't a big dinner eater either, but he rarely ate anything. After keeping an eye on his eating patterns, I figured out that he always eats a TON early in the day, and doesn't eat much as the day goes on. If your little guy isn't waking up hungry during the night, I think you're okay to skip the snack!

[SandyGal]

I agree... if he isn't seeming hungry and you aren't being encouraged to offer extra calories by the pediatrician, don't worry about it. On nights when Kyra doesn't eat much of anything I might offer her some unsweetened cereal (like cheerios or wheat chex) with her sippy of milk before I take her upstairs for books, teeth (brushing) and bed. I figure on most nights if she is hungry, she'll drink a lot of milk. Typically she only drinks an ounce or two, so I'm pretty sure she normally isn't hungry at that time. Isn't it hard to trust them to eat when they are hungry?

[carasmom]

I started offering dd some cheese, after her bedtime bottle, with a sippy of water - she LOVES cheese- hoping that in a month or so, I'll replace the bottle with that snack.  So, maybe when you are getting close to eliminating the bfeed, you can introduce something small that he really likes.  Oh, and we do it after the bath and stories.
HTH
Trish

[{{{Angela}}}]

Hmmm..sounds like a good plan.  Thanks for all the replies.  I'm *still* BFing, even though I told myself I'd stop at a year.  Well, I don't want to stop anymore.  :oops:   I think I will introduce the snack when I decide to stop that before bed feeding.

[Stacie:Emma&Josh Mom]

I too wouldn't introduce a snack unless you need to, even after you drop the breastfeeding at bedtime.  My dd's not a huge eater and wouldn't take a bedtime snack due to the fact that she's got a schedule just like yours.  We dropped her bedtime bottle at 11 months and never looked back.  I partly think it just gets too complicated with trying to be sure to fit it in and get teeth brushed after they eat before going to bed and it'll make potty training at night harder the later you give them food / drink.  HTH