meal schedule for 18m

peachypear · January 2011

We've allowed DD to graze all day (yikes, we're *those* parents!) and really want to get her eating real meals. Off the top of our heads, we're thinking three meals and a few organized snacks. Right now, the closest thing we have to a schedule is ROUGHLY:

8:00 am - breakfast

10:00 - snack (finish breakfast)

12:00 noon - snack or lunch before nap

3:00 pm - snack or lunch after nap

5:00 - dinner or snack

7:00 - dinner or snack

When does your 18 month old eat? Is eating every 2 hours normal or insane? Should we set a lunch and dinner slot, or continue leaving up to her appetite and just keep the timing consistent? If we should set a slot, what time?

kellyperk85 · January 2011

::raises hand::

I have a grazer! LOL.

I have tried endlessly to get B on an eating schedule but he just doesn't want breakfast in the morning. He's not really into sitting down and eating a meal so I just give him a breakfast snack and let him walk around and play. He normally has another snack around 9 ot 930 and then another snack around 1030 and then he'll have lunch (meal) around 1200 in which he eats like a bird but I have a really hard time keeping him from snacking from wake up until nap time. Ugggh .. I need help on this too!

peachypear · January 2011

kellyperk85:
::raises hand::

I have a grazer! LOL.

I have tried endlessly to get B on an eating schedule but he just doesn't want breakfast in the morning. He's not really into sitting down and eating a meal so I just give him a breakfast snack and let him walk around and play. He normally has another snack around 9 ot 930 and then another snack around 1030 and then he'll have lunch (meal) around 1200 in which he eats like a bird but I have a really hard time keeping him from snacking from wake up until nap time. Ugggh .. I need help on this too!

LOL, this is us from nap until bedtime!!

deeanneharris · January 2011

DD goes to daycare and they are very structured, so we usually carry that over on the weekend since that is what she is used to.

8:30 am - breakfast

10:00 am - snack if she wants it12:00 noon - lunch3:30 pm - snack6:00 - dinner Sometimes a snack around 7:30 (usually cheese)

Lesley0228 · January 2011

9am breakfast

1130am prenap snack

230pm lunch

6pm dinner

DD eats a late lunch since she takes a long afternoon nap. It works with our late dinner. We don't have official snacks before or after dinner, but she often ends up munching on some crackers or something during that span. Those are just the times that we say "okay, time to eat, get your in highchair."

Geek_Girl · January 2011

We used to let DS graze but it seemed like he wasn't eating much at actual meal times and then he wouldn't sleep well.

I SAH, so my schedule varies a bit but what we normally do is leave DS in his crib for about a half hour or so after he wakes up. By this point, he's wide awake and he's played for a bit, so he's ready to eat. (Trying to feed him when he first wakes up isn't worth it - he pretty much refuses everything because he's not "awake" yet.)

So, breakfast is 7:30-8:00 ish depending on wake up time

9:30 (or 10:0) is snack (usually two hours after breakfast)

12:00 lunch

12:30-3:30 is nap time

3:30 snack

6:00 dinner

Another thing I found is that only giving DS a half hour in his high chair did wonders! Before, when he was grazing, he would take his good ol' time, I'd keep trying to give him something he'd eat and trying to get him to eat it - ugh, we were both a wreck and he'd spend half his day in the high chair! Now he gets a half an hour and is only offered two or three things. If he doesn't eat, that's fine, but he'll be getting the same two or three things offered at the next meal/snack. Keeping the time limited has really helped me pick up on his cues that he's done (I just thought he wasn't eating enough). So, some times he's in his high chair for 20 minutes and other times, he's in his chair for 45 minutes (only if he's still eating, though).

b15chik · January 2011

deeanneharris:
DD goes to daycare and they are very structured, so we usually carry that over on the weekend since that is what she is used to.
8:30 am - breakfast
10:00 am - snack if she wants it
12:00 noon - lunch
3:30 pm - snack
6:00 - dinner

this is what we do, give or take 30 mins or so depending on when he wakes up and naps and stuff. it's very rare i give him food any other time than these or he really doesn't eat as much at meals.