S/o meals, how many?

pb_bride

I weaned DS from BFing completely 2 weeks ago.  Everywhere I read, it recommends feeding your toddler 3 meals + 2 snacks a day.  Before I stopped BFing (just a morning session), DS was getting 5 "meals" a day.  Now that we've stopped, we are actually down to 4 a day (B,L,S,D).  Every time I tried to add in an extra snack, DS just doesn't seem to be hungry enough for dinner (read: becomes pickier at dinner).  I feel a bit guilty on one hand (potentially 'starving' DS to get him to eat better at dinner), but OTOH it seems to work better for us.  

DS is still taking 2 naps a day, so in order to get in him 5 meals a day, I'm basically feeding him every 2 hours when he's awake.

Just curious how many meals you/your childcare provider give?

Sillygirl85

Elijah eats three meals a day and 2-3 snacks a day. My little man loves his food.

StefanieM522

Wesley usually has breakfast around 730, snack at 9, lunch between 1130 - 1 depending on if nap was before or after lunch, snack around 330 and then dinner around 6.

CnAnA

Depends on her mood. Some days its B,L,S,D. Some days she snacks aaaalllll freaking day between meals. Some days she doesn't snack at all. But usually there is at least the afternoon snack.

KarenW924

We did B, S, L, S, D but now that he is mostly sleeping one nap, we skip the snack after breakfast and eat an early lunch. He does snack a lot between lunch and dinner, but I noticed that if dinner is something he really wants to eat, he will eat a full meal regardless.

hilsy85

We do 3 meals, 2 snacks. He is also still nursing 2x a day (morning and night). He eats breakfast at 730ish, snack around 930, lunch around 1130/12, snack around 330, dinner around 530. SO he is eating every 2-3 hours, lol. The snacks are usually things like cheerios/dried fruit in a snack trap, or a cheese stick, so nothing heavy duty or big cleanup. 

I do try to stick to snacks/meals at food time though. I personally don't want to get into the habit of him eating whenever, wherever--I think that makes him less hungry at mealtimes and also makes snacking seem like something he can do when he's bored. Just my opinion (although TBH it's probably not really even something I need to worry about til he's much older). 

Wally3

I aim for 3 meals 2 snacks. However it goes more like b s. S lunch or big snack s s then diner which he doesn't usually eat much of then milk before bed. He was I better eater then cut a bunch of teeth and got bad.

pb_bride

RVASC811 said:

I do try to have her eat at the table and not carry food around, so that she is intentionally eating.

This is us too. I read Fearless Feeding and one of their take-home points is to have structured meal time and snack time.  So all meals and snacks are consumed in his highchair, and only at pre-determined time.  I feel that if he gets to snack all day long when he wants, he won't really want to eat at mealtimes 

Our schedule is like this:

8am breakfast

12'ish lunch

2:30p snack

6:30p dinner

We try to stick with this schedule on most days.  But once he goes down to 1 nap, we'll definitely have a different schedule then.

Mrs_Lady

Except for when he is sick he eats 3meals 2snacks now don't worry about snacks offer if he refuses he will not starve himself