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Do any of you allow bedtime snacks for your older kids? The last couple nights my 10 year old daughter (who has always had a small appetite) has eaten until full at supper (or so she says) and then right before bed (9ish) says she is starving. And then the first words out of her mouth upon waking are "what's for breakfast"...and she has never done that. She must be going through a growth spurt. But I just didn't know if it was a good idea start having bedtime snacks as a routine. What do you guys do??

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Do any of you allow bedtime snacks for your older kids? The last couple nights my 10 year old daughter (who has always had a small appetite) has eaten until full at supper (or so she says) and then right before bed (9ish) says she is starving. And then the first words out of her mouth upon waking are "what's for breakfast"...and she has never done that. She must be going through a growth spurt. But I just didn't know if it was a good idea start having bedtime snacks as a routine. What do you guys do??

 

My kids have bed time snacks as needed. Protein &/or fruit. Older dd dosn't need one much any more (done growing), but 12 yo needs one often.

 

Dinner to breakfast is 12 hours- that's a long time for a growing kid.

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My DD12 doesn't do this, but her best friend does. If she doesn't have a snack at bedtime, she wakes up starving in the middle of the night.

 

Sometimes I wonder if it's just that her body has been trained to eat at that time?? But maybe just metabolism...

 

If your DD hasn't been doing it before, but wants it now, I would say it's metabolism and go with it.

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We do.

Fact of the day--

I recently read not to eat bananas at bedtime b/c they can interfere with sleep.

Who knew? :D

 

Sounds like your child is getting ready to pube out--I'd let her eat if she's hungry!!

I read the complete opposite! That bananas help you sleep. My younger one, now 12 used to eat a banana each night because I told her it was a very good thing to eat before bed when she got hungry. She has always slept like a rock

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Absolutely.

 

My 15yo has been known to get up at 2am and reheat dinner for herself. She is 5' tall and finally hit the 100 pound mark on the scale. She eats at least 3000 calories/day. She actually had problems with passing out first thing in the morning when she was 12yo and the doctor said that she absolutely must have a high-protein snack before she goes to bed to help prevent that from happening. She eats a full meal every 3-4 hours while awake. This started when she was 11yo and still hasn't gone away even though she hasn't grown in the past year.

 

I have my 12yo keep an Os-trim bar in her room so she doesn't have to go all the way downstairs if she wakes up hungry during the night. She's the one who's been having sleep issues, so we've tried to do anything we can to help keep her night wakings at a minimum. If she has a snack available in her room, she doesn't wake up as thoroughly as she would if she had to go downstairs and turn on lights and find something. She ends up eating the bar maybe 1x/week.

http://www.amazon.com/Ostrim-Ostrich-Snack-Pepper-sticks/dp/B00099ZGFG

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I read the complete opposite! That bananas help you sleep. My younger one, now 12 used to eat a banana each night because I told her it was a very good thing to eat before bed when she got hungry. She has always slept like a rock

 

Yes, that's what I heard, too--that's why I was so surprised to read the "no banana at bedtime" article! Hmmm. Wish I could find it--I was at the Dr's office and it was in a mag there (but not an older mag, like you usually find at Dr's offices! LOL).

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I have one who NEEDS a snack before bed. If she doesn't get one she will either have serious trouble staying asleep or will wake up with the "shakes" because she is so hungry. She is stick thin and needs to eat every 3-4 hours. Some kids just need it.

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My kids can have fruit or carrots before bed. They all usually have an apple; sometimes my oldest will eat an apple and two giant carrots :D. I'm not going to complain about that. My rule is that I am all finished preparing and serving food after dinner. I'll cut up an apple; but that's my limit.

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We allow it. We will remind the boys a few minutes before bedtime (say, in the 10 minute warning range) "Time for bed; get your midnight snack, brush your teeth, go potty, get in bed."

 

I started reminding them because I tired of having to go help people get water or fruit after teeth-brushing, then having them brush teeth again, etc. Just easier this way.

 

We allow fruit or cheese only as midnight snack, and water or milk to drink.

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Do any of you allow bedtime snacks for your older kids? The last couple nights my 10 year old daughter (who has always had a small appetite) has eaten until full at supper (or so she says) and then right before bed (9ish) says she is starving. And then the first words out of her mouth upon waking are "what's for breakfast"...and she has never done that. She must be going through a growth spurt. But I just didn't know if it was a good idea start having bedtime snacks as a routine. What do you guys do??

I remember going through the same situation back when I was 10yo.

My parents did let me have a bedtime snack each evening.

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