Anonymous wrote:He’s eating too early. If he’s eating at 4 and then again at 7 and not sleeping till 930pm, it makes sense he’s hungry. My 9 year old DS eats two dinners — one at 6pm when he gets home from after care followed by a snack and another dinner at 745/8pm — plus has a snack just before bedtime. He eats it all. And drinks a ton of water. Very lean and muscular.

Thanks Pp, what time do you start bedtime routine after the 8pm snack is done? This is helpful

Anonymous wrote:Hot ovaltine with whole milk before bed. If they want a snack in the middle of the night I give a raw, unsliced carrot. Not anything exciting.

Dafuq

He’s eating too early. If he’s eating at 4 and then again at 7 and not sleeping till 930pm, it makes sense he’s hungry. My 9 year old DS eats two dinners — one at 6pm when he gets home from after care followed by a snack and another dinner at 745/8pm — plus has a snack just before bedtime. He eats it all. And drinks a ton of water. Very lean and muscular.

Anonymous wrote:He's not a baby. I can't imagine letting my 9 year old eat in the middle of the night. Sounds like he's in a bad habit now.

Agree. This is now a habit, a bad one. Stop letting him eat in the middle of the night and eventually he will stop waking. It’s disruptive to his sleep and yours. No one needs to eat in the middle of the night except babies

Anonymous wrote:What time is dinner?
We eat dinner early, like 4pm because of activities and my kids are hungry right after school. We do a snack at 730 though. Bowl of oatmeal, PB on toast, PB on banana etc.
I wouldn’t do food in the middle of the night. You may need to change what he eats between school and bedtime though.

I moved it back to 7pm to see if that curbed the late night issue but that did not

Anonymous wrote:Just saw your follow up OP. With a big snack at 4 is he eating a good portion of dinner at 7?

He is! He eats well and will go for seconds often.

Just saw your follow up OP. With a big snack at 4 is he eating a good portion of dinner at 7?

What time is dinner?
We eat dinner early, like 4pm because of activities and my kids are hungry right after school. We do a snack at 730 though. Bowl of oatmeal, PB on toast, PB on banana etc.
I wouldn’t do food in the middle of the night. You may need to change what he eats between school and bedtime though.

I am absolutely fascinated by these parents saying to give a child a snack in the middle of the night.
If my kid were to wake me up with a "mom, I'm hungry" I can't imagine any response other than "go to bed. You'll have breakfast in the morning."

Op here thank you for these ideas. I’ll try to respond to the questions I saw:

I was doing the heavy snack - sandwich and side of fruit/egg/veggie at 4pm but I can try reversing to a light snack at 4 then dinner at 7 and heavy snack later around 9. Bedtime is 9:30 right now. I could do the 500 cal+ around that time then.

He is not fat but very dense and muscular. Male family members built similar are about 6’4/6’7 and heavy but not flabby and not visibly muscular as they do not spend much time in the gym.

I was thinking of a liquid meal like ovaltine but was worried he would wake to use the restroom from drinking a heavy liquid at bedtime. I used to drink carnation as a child in the mornings.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes he should eat!

At 2am?? Sleep is critically important for kids. He can eat a snack before bed and a big breakfast so that he actually gets a good night sleep.

Taking 5 minutes to eat a snack when hungry doesn't impede a good night's sleep.

What? Of course it does. Because if you're awake enough to eat (and in this case, presumably, awake enough to go to your parents bedroom, tell them you're hungry, and wait for them to get you something) your brain has fully engaged and you're awake. Plus now your stomach is digesting food for the next 20 minutes. This is really very different from going to pee in the dark and crawling right back into bed.

Hot ovaltine with whole milk before bed. If they want a snack in the middle of the night I give a raw, unsliced carrot. Not anything exciting.

+1 eat more in early evening.

Late eating disrupts sleep. Food puts energy in body.

Sounds like a growth spurt and that this kid needs a 4th meal. My boys (now older teenagers) went through periods like this. Fit it in either after school or before bedtime . Make sure it includes protein and at least 500 calories. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich was a common one.

I wouldn't allow it. I've never heard of an 8YO getting up in the middle of the night to eat. My 8YO is a big kid with a big appetite but has never done this.