Getting afternoon snack & tea time right

[LovelyLilyandJack]

JNot overly concerned about this one but would be interested in any ideas anyone has about balancing snacks and tea in the afternoon.

My 18 month old generally has the following food at fairly set times in the day:

7.30/ 8ish - breakfast (1 small banana mashed into about 6-8 tablespoons porridge I think, with about 1/3 pint milk, plus most of a slice of toast - so a lot!)

9-10.30ish - sometimes a snack  if she asks.  If she doesn't ask for one, then nothing til lunch.

11.45ish - lunch.  Quantity variable - usually about half a sausage and a tablespoon of mash, plus a few bits of veg and a yoghurt.

She sleeps from 12.30 - 2.45ish.  I would then like her to snack at 3.30ish ideally, so she's hungry again for tea at 5.30ish, but she's never hungry that early.  She refuses anything til about 4.30ish, then seems really hungry and eats a couple of biscuits, and then has hardly any tea at 5.30.  She refuses milk now, so the end result is not having much food before bed.

Like I say, I'm not overly worried as she does sleep well, but occasionally will wake early and is ravenous in the morning before breakfast (again, refuses milk so getting breakfast ready while she's starving is always a bit stressful!).  Ideally I'd like a little bit more structure around food in the afternoon as it often feels like she's continually grazing from 4.30 til 6pm on tiny amounts of food but if that's just the way it is then that's fine too!  If anyone has any ideas on how to get a bit more food in closer to bed time though I'd be interested to hear them....  Would a different snack in the afternoon help do you think?  Or moving tea time around?  We start her bath / wind down at about 6.30ish for a 7.30 bedtime.

[Ryan&HollysMom]

hi there!
we give holly a small snack, like a cereal bar, or some fruit (like applesauce, strips of cutup pear, banana, that sort of thing), sometimes some crackers and cheese, or veggies like cucumber, peppers or celery. usually not much at all. if we're running late or "forget" snack then i give her only milk, usually 8 oz, which is the most milk on one go that she takes.
could you consistently at that time offer her a small somethign she likes, and some milk or water if she doesn't want milk? then put it away if it's not eaten in the next 30 min. then be flexible about tea and have it a bit earlier if she didn't snack, or a bit later (closer to 6) if she did? i'd offer the snack but not make a big deal out of her not wanting it, but then stick to your guns about snacking at 4:30 or later. maybe give her a glass of water when she does ask. you could also be happy with her not having too much food at tea and offer another small snack later just before bed, though that's never worked for us...
good luck!

[Lolly]

Could you do tea earlier at 4.30 if she is hungry then and offer supper like some cereal  just before sleep? I try not to give snacks after 3 in the afternoon or we have the same problem - tea not eaten, it is hard to say no when you know they are hungry though!

Laura

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Yeah, it's much harder to say no now she's actually asking for food, rather than me just assuming she's fussy for another reason other than hunger!  I think I do need to be a bit more strict about snack times for a bit and see how that goes, and if it doesn't work then I'll move tea forward and offer a snack later.  We're often out and about in the afternoon so tea could be tricky too early, but I guess having it later means I need to be more organised about snacks!