Hungry EVERY night at bedtime!

carmenlarue

Ladies how do I break this? She gets a couple of crackers, but Im not sure if she's actually not hungry and i dont want to ignore that. She eats a full meal at 5:30-6. Bedtime is 8:15. She will stall me out as long as she can to not go to sleep. What to do???

monica3245

We will give our dd a bowl of oatmeal about a half an hour to an hour before bedtime because she was doing the same thing as your lo. It's filling and it is just enough where she doesn't ask for anything else. HTH.

LoveEeyore

I would just fit it into her bedtime routine.  If every night she has a snack and it is finite, then it's no longer a bargaining chip or tactic, it just is.  My kids are all tall and skinny (my 4 yr old is the tallest in her class and weighs in at 31.5 lbs) sso it's good for us.  But I am obsessive to a fault  about not allowing food to be anything other than food.  Not comfort, not power. But I overthink everything.

 

Littlejen22

That is a long time for a growing kid, give her food before bedtime so that she is not hungry.

rsd12

I agree that it is normal, we have included a snack time before bed too!

brewcitybride

There is nothing wrong with a healthy nighttime snack!  My DD gets a nighttime snack, usually some cheese and a cracker, or a graham cracker, or a piece of fruit with a little peanut butter. I swear it helps her sleep better.

JCM

DD was doing this too, I feed her at 5:30 pm and her bedtime is 7:30 pm.  I wasn't really sure if she was hungry or making this one of her attempts as a stall tactic.  The 1st night I gave in and gave her some yogurt.  The 2nd night I had given her a snack about half an hour before bedtime so I was certain it was a stalling tactic so I didn't give in.  Now, I just make sure she has a little something between dinnertime and bedtime and haven't had any issues with her telling me she's hungry at bedtime since.

VTbride05

DS goes through this in phases. I give him cottage cheese or a few nuts.

jlw2505

To me going from dinner at 5:30 or 6 and bedtime at 8:15 is long enough that I would add in a small snack at say 7:30, before you start your bedtime routine.  We have dinner at about the same time but my girls are in bed between 7 and 7:30 so no snack for the most part but on nights we are up later, my girls will sometimes have something small before we get ready for bed.  I often end up hungry after dinner before I go to bed and typically have a big glass of water or something small to eat or fruit (something healthy is what I aim for) but I try not to.  Eating every 2-3 hours when awake is normal and healthy if you keep portions small and the item healthy.

vanessaNOV2

Oh ds does this too. He says "me so hungry right" while he holds his belly. Sometimes he fools dh into it but i know he just doesnt want to sleep.

He eats dinner at 530. He is not excused from table until he eats all the meat from his plate. Around 7 we give him a peanutbutter snack like toast or crackers with milk. Then at 730 we do bedtime routine. No way by 8 in bed is he hungry.

After he says he is hungry he will say he has to poop. Sorry! We put him on the potty right before walking to room so poop in your pullups if you really "need" to. Which he never has.

They will try everything to not go to sleep. Testing you.

GL!