"Is there any dinner left?" -- An hour after dinner - Page 2

[lolar2]

The little bunny in Goodnight Moon gets a bowlful of mush for a bedtime snack.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

You all are probably right -- I don't doubt that she is genuinely hungry, I want her to listen to her body, and she could be eating worse things for sure. So I should probably just accept and plan on it and go from there. I love being able to get an outside perspective on things.

[A&A]

I think it helps to keep in mind that this is really a first-world, modern-day problem.

So many people throughout history and throughout the world today would love to have enough food on hand to give a child a little extra when he/she asks for it.

What do we do with it? ("We" being people in general.) We take it for granted. We complain that oh, we have to walk to the fridge and run the microwave again.

Every time I feed my children, even if it's not a scheduled mealtime and it might be "inconvenient" for me, I thank God I have the opportunity to do so.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Originally Posted by A&A

Every time I feed my children, even if it's not a scheduled mealtime and it might be "inconvenient" for me, I thank God I have the opportunity to do so.

True, though please realize I am more concerned about late bedtime/not enough sleep rather than inconvenience to me.

[Trinitty]

I would just set aside an extra corning ware container of dinner as I was making it, that way, she could heat it in the toaster oven when she wanted it.

I think it is healthier to graze through the day on healthy things, something good for you every two hours, rather than stuffing it all in at once in the evenings.

Although, I totally see how suppertime is special, and it is good that you do have a sit-down together. That is very important.

Trin.

[Trinitty]

Every time I feed my children, even if it's not a scheduled mealtime and it might be "inconvenient" for me, I thank God I have the opportunity to do so.

It is interesting. Since becoming a mother, I cannot bear the thought of hungry children... reading folktales makes me tear-up because I know that they are based on true stories of famine.

Trin.

[sapphire_chan]

Hors d'oeuvers?

Either try giving her part of dinner early or seeing if moving dinner back an hour helps?

Recognize that kids, particularly thin ones, are frequently grazers by nature and try to regularly have meals that are okay cold?

Ah, it's the late bedtime. Could you see if she'd more food at breakfast and lunch? Perhaps bump up the protein levels at those meals?

[meemee]

Originally Posted by Evan&Anna's_Mom

.... I am more concerned about late bedtime/not enough sleep ....

do you think she still needs that much sleep?

is her need for that much sleep going down?

[velochic]

Originally Posted by Evan&Anna's_Mom

True, though please realize I am more concerned about late bedtime/not enough sleep rather than inconvenience to me.

When I replied, I was thinking more along the lines that it's not healthy to go to sleep on a full stomach. Your body is going into rest mode and it's not good for your digestive system to go into overdrive when it's trying to rest. Even going to bed on time, the body isn't able to rest as well when it's full, so the sleep is probably of less quality.

A&A, I agree that this is a first-world issue and we are fortunate to have plenty of food, but so too is obesity, diabetes and heart disease now first-world issues because of an abundance of cheap food. While it's a good thing that we have plenty of food, unfortunately it has created a bad problem. I think most people are grateful that they can feed their children, but prosperity brings its own set of problems, as we're finding out with the next generation the first time ever growing up with a shorter estimated life-span than their parents due to poor eating habits. Being able to eat when you "want" doesn't necessarily mean that it's the healthiest way to fuel your body, even for children. (I am coming at this with the perspective of the aunt of two nieces (30's), two grand-nieces (9 and 10), and a grand-nephew (9) who are all morbidly obese, the 10yo already with Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.)

[TinkerBelle]

Originally Posted by A&A

I think it helps to keep in mind that this is really a first-world, modern-day problem.

So many people throughout history and throughout the world today would love to have enough food on hand to give a child a little extra when he/she asks for it.

What do we do with it? ("We" being people in general.) We take it for granted. We complain that oh, we have to walk to the fridge and run the microwave again.

Every time I feed my children, even if it's not a scheduled mealtime and it might be "inconvenient" for me, I thank God I have the opportunity to do so.

You are right. But it doesn't mean that we can never be annoyed by such things. That is like saying that we can never be annoyed by our kids in any way, because there are some people who can never have children. Or that we cannot be annoyed by our jobs, because there are people who are laid off.

But, it is something to think about.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Re: sleep. I'm pretty aware that I am cutting it close in getting the kids enough sleep. They have to be up and moving by 6:30 to get to school on time and bedtime for DD (7) is currently 8:30 and DS (10) is 9. Both kids need to be woken up most mornings, so I figure that they probably really aren't getting as much sleep as would be optimal. Right now its almost always closer to 9 by the time DD lays down, which of course also delays bedtime for DS as well.

Dinner is based on when everyone does/can get home from work, activities etc. and not very easy to change the schedule on. I am pretty good at quick dinners and/or crockpot options, so its not a matter of lots of cooking making dinner later than it has to be.

She's never been much of a breakfast eater, has morning snack and lunch at school, and they are welcome to snack on whatever when they are home -- mostly I keep pretty healthy stuff around. Since starting medication more and more of her lunch is coming home uneaten, unfortunately. Generally by 6-ish I request that snacks be things I would put on the dinner table and she tends towards veggies at that point.

She is definitely a grazer and always has been. I know this is healthier than big meals, I just wish that when I asked her to take her shower I didn't always hear "But I'm still eating". Sigh. I guess I should probably just keep repeating "This too shall pass". I'm not sure why I thought we'd be past "challenges" once they moved to school age.

Hm... I wonder if the answer isn't to move shower up so at least that is done when she goes into snack mode? Though that would take away the time she and DS tend to play together... How is it that the schedule for 2 kids can be so complex?

[One_Girl]

Can you have her shower while you are making dinner? Stopping snacks two hours before dinner may help also because she won't be as full from grazing.

[a-sorta-fairytale]

My dd is a grazer and a slow eater and IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. We have just given up and figure she needs to eat a bit every few hours. In kindergarten she has the smallest lunch of any kid there and she still usually brings some home and eats a bit in the car. In the mornings it takes her a full hour to eat a container of yogurt.

Right now i am pg and sometimes we go out to dinner and i eat 3 bites of food and then am full feeling and then eat 1/2 my dinner at home later and more before bed. I figure it is better to follow the body signals then force food at specified times.

With dd and ds we do a bedtime snack but it is a choice of something quick and easy - a cheese stick, a cup of milk, a banana etc. My only "rules" are no junk before bed and i am not cooking anything (she would request a steamed artichoke or some roasted broccoli or a steak at 9pm) With me being pg dh is often bringing up 3 cheese sticks for me and the kdis to munch before bed. This only takes a few minutes and no one is going to bed hungry.