"I'm hungry" as a bedtime stall tactic

[djc315]

I can't decide when to put my foot down with this. N says he's hungry, almost every night, approximately 30 seconds after we tuck him in.

I've tried filling him up on snacks after dinner/before bed, with no success. I usually offer him bananas or eggs, once in a while yogurt, or lunch meat.  The other night he ate a banana and then two eggs.

It's been going on for about 3 weeks; is it just a growth spurt?  He's been eating more in general and has gained about 2-2.5 lbs in the past 6 weeks.  He was previously FTT, which is making me give in and feeding him.  But if he eats whatever I give him and goes to bed afterward, then it's not a stall tactic, right?

[countthestars]

Following. My terrible eater has been chowing a cheese stick every night at bedtime. I think she's stalling but sometimes it's like half of what she eats in a day...

[lilac05]

Still a stall tactic, IMO.

I would just start offering a bedtime snack right before bed. If he refuses, remind him that this is the only food he will have before breakfast. No snacks once you go to the room/teeth are brushed.

[Deleted]

My chubby kid did this but I never gave in. It was easy for me because I knew she ate just fine or she would learn to eat better tomorrow.

[meltoine]

"Sorry you didn't eat all your dinner. There will be breakfast in the morning. I love you. Goodnight."

Mean mommy, party of one.

[NandaB]

Yea, sorry. After you brush your teeth you only get water. I'm sure as fuck not letting anyone out of bed so I can cook a fucking egg. Newp.

[dcn]

We offer maybe 15 min before bed and then that's it. If he asks we tell him it is bedtime and he can eat in the morning.

[djc315]

Oct 10, 2015 21:23:37 GMT -5 meltoine said:

"Sorry you didn't eat all your dinner. There will be breakfast in the morning. I love you. Goodnight."

Mean mommy, party of one.

If I take this approach, we have no less than 30 minutes of crying and getting out of bed. So I take the lazy mom approach and feed him and he goes right to sleep lol.

And also, he did (and has been) eating all his dinner, plus a snack before dinner, and a snack after dinner.

I'm going to bring it up to the pedi at his 3 year check in 2 weeks, but I'm 99% sure she's going to tell me to feed him because they obsess over his low weight.

[NandaB]

I think its ok f you want to do "bedtime" snacks. We don't, but I know people who do. BUT that's before jammies and teeth. And I would only off one nutritious filling food, like a banana. If he's really hungry hell eat it. If not, there's always breakfast

[NandaB]

Oct 10, 2015 21:34:13 GMT -5 djc315 said:

Oct 10, 2015 21:23:37 GMT -5 meltoine said:

"Sorry you didn't eat all your dinner. There will be breakfast in the morning. I love you. Goodnight."

Mean mommy, party of one.

If I take this approach, we have no less than 30 minutes of crying and getting out of bed. So I take the lazy mom approach and feed him and he goes right to sleep lol.

And also, he did (and has been) eating all his dinner, plus a snack before dinner, and a snack after dinner.

I'm going to bring it up to the pedi at his 3 year check in 2 weeks, but I'm 99% sure she's going to tell me to feed him because they obsess over his low weight.

Well yea he cries and gets up, because he knows you'll give in. Does he not eat much the rest of the day?because that seems like a lot of food at one time. Snack dinner snack snack seems excessive.

[SpartanGirl]

If I was concerned that they were underweight, I'd offer a bedtime snack before tuck in. Otherwise my go to response to "I'm hungry." is "Great, you'll eat a big breakfast in the morning. Good night."

[Deleted]

Ben did this tonight too. We had pizza in the TV room so it was still out when it was bedtime and all of a sudden he needed to eat more. It took forever but he hadn't had much dinner so I didn't want to cut him off. Kids

[mlt]

I fell for this one a few times and my kid realized that crying "I'm hungry" was a great stall tactic because it made me cave. Ha! Child-1, MLT-0. I no longer fall for it. Dinner is close to bed time and he has plenty of opportunity to eat that. If he doesn't, he has a water bottle in his room and can drink as much of that all night as he wants.

[monsterz]

We offer Jr a bedtime snack about 30 minutes before bed and let him know it is his last chance. He also keeps a water bottle next to his bed to elimate the I am thirsty ploy.

If we eat dinner later we let him know there won't be a bedtime snack. It is typically a healthy snack - fruit, veggies, cereal, etc.

[gibbinator]

Around here you only get water after brushing your teeth.
In your case if you believe he's having a growth spurt, I'd probably make snack time part of bedtime for awhile. So like bath, pjs, books, snack, brush teeth, bed, or whatever

[karinothing]

My kid uses this as a stall tactic. He will eat if I give him food, but he eats slow to stall more. I just tell him the kitchen is closed

[irish]

Oct 10, 2015 21:34:13 GMT -5 djc315 said:

Oct 10, 2015 21:23:37 GMT -5 meltoine said:

"Sorry you didn't eat all your dinner. There will be breakfast in the morning. I love you. Goodnight."

Mean mommy, party of one.

If I take this approach, we have no less than 30 minutes of crying and getting out of bed. So I take the lazy mom approach and feed him and he goes right to sleep lol.

And also, he did (and has been) eating all his dinner, plus a snack before dinner, and a snack after dinner.

I'm going to bring it up to the pedi at his 3 year check in 2 weeks, but I'm 99% sure she's going to tell me to feed him because they obsess over his low weight.

If this is the case, try preempting this. Ask at the end of dinner if he has had enough. If he says yes, remind him that that is the end of food for the day. There will be no more food given. At least this way, if he tries for a later snack/delaying tactic you can refer back to the earlier convo and decision HE made. There might be tears or a sulk for a couple of days but stay strong and it should stop. He is making a decision so it is on him...

My dd1 tried this for a while and we stayed strong, esp as she wasn't finishing her dinner and saying she was full.