Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 17:19     Subject: Snacks before bed
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Op here- growing up I was always told to not eat right before bed because food can’t be digested. I am new to this!

I know he is hungry so that’s why I am looking for something healthy and fills him up.

Love all of these ideas! Thank you.


PP with the carrots... one of my strategies with veggies and fruit (and I know this is not unique) is basically to have a bottomless veggie and fruit option. So, I may say, well, you can have two girl scout cookies, OR as many carrots as you can carry to your room (so long as you don't leave them in there for weeks). And being a dumb (but beloved) boy, he always goes for the bottomless carrots. Now he loves carrots. With my daughter it's cherries. She whines for candy and as she starts to get very upset, I say, "Well, don't tell mom, but you can have as many cherries as you want, but just today." Both kids have sweet tooths but both eat insane amounts of fruits and vegetables.


This sounds like one big eating disorder waiting to happen.


Only on DCUM would children loving to eat fruits and vegetables be considered an eating disorder.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 16:59     Subject: Snacks before bed
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Op here- growing up I was always told to not eat right before bed because food can’t be digested. I am new to this!

I know he is hungry so that’s why I am looking for something healthy and fills him up.

Love all of these ideas! Thank you.


PP with the carrots... one of my strategies with veggies and fruit (and I know this is not unique) is basically to have a bottomless veggie and fruit option. So, I may say, well, you can have two girl scout cookies, OR as many carrots as you can carry to your room (so long as you don't leave them in there for weeks). And being a dumb (but beloved) boy, he always goes for the bottomless carrots. Now he loves carrots. With my daughter it's cherries. She whines for candy and as she starts to get very upset, I say, "Well, don't tell mom, but you can have as many cherries as you want, but just today." Both kids have sweet tooths but both eat insane amounts of fruits and vegetables.


This sounds like one big eating disorder waiting to happen.


Uh, yeah. We know these aren’t teens. These are very young kids whose mom is posting on the teen forum. No teen is getting the choice of two cookies or carrots to eat in their bedroom. Unless they are complying and then going to eat the entire box of GS cookies after mom goes to bed because it’s easier than the argument.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 15:03     Subject: Re:Snacks before bed
I am fascinated by parents of teens and tweens who still control what their kid eats. Your kid has to sneak food when he is hungry?!
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 15:00     Subject: Snacks before bed
Apple slices and PB
Fruit, yogurt and chopped nuts
Veggies and hummus
Cereal and milk
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 14:56     Subject: Snacks before bed
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Op here- growing up I was always told to not eat right before bed because food can’t be digested. I am new to this!

I know he is hungry so that’s why I am looking for something healthy and fills him up.

Love all of these ideas! Thank you.


PP with the carrots... one of my strategies with veggies and fruit (and I know this is not unique) is basically to have a bottomless veggie and fruit option. So, I may say, well, you can have two girl scout cookies, OR as many carrots as you can carry to your room (so long as you don't leave them in there for weeks). And being a dumb (but beloved) boy, he always goes for the bottomless carrots. Now he loves carrots. With my daughter it's cherries. She whines for candy and as she starts to get very upset, I say, "Well, don't tell mom, but you can have as many cherries as you want, but just today." Both kids have sweet tooths but both eat insane amounts of fruits and vegetables.


This sounds like one big eating disorder waiting to happen.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 10:39     Subject: Snacks before bed
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My boys eat a 4th meal. They warm up leftovers from dinner, make an egg sandwich, or make ramen (my least favorite choice). They’re getting bolder cooking and I love it.


Same. I just brace for "second dinner". 8:30 is horribly late for me for a full meal but not for teens since they'll be up for a few more hours.
Love the idea of egg sandwich. I also try to make (or have them make) a PBJ, a turkey burger. One will go for lox and cream cheese if we have it.

The only thing you shouldn't back down on is brushing those teeth before crashing!

Agree on brushing teeth. It’s the last thing my kid does.
I think for 40+ year olds it’s good to avoid eating late for digestion (I get heartburn if I eat late) but young people’s bodies are more efficient and resilient
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 10:29     Subject: Snacks before bed
Anonymous wrote:My boys eat a 4th meal. They warm up leftovers from dinner, make an egg sandwich, or make ramen (my least favorite choice). They’re getting bolder cooking and I love it.


Same. I just brace for "second dinner". 8:30 is horribly late for me for a full meal but not for teens since they'll be up for a few more hours.
Love the idea of egg sandwich. I also try to make (or have them make) a PBJ, a turkey burger. One will go for lox and cream cheese if we have it.

The only thing you shouldn't back down on is brushing those teeth before crashing!
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 10:23     Subject: Snacks before bed
Anonymous wrote:Are the people giving their sons popcorn and water when they are hungry the same people posting about how their 16 year old is 5’2 and they can’t figure out why?

You might be on to something there.
My son usually eats a banana right before bed. After school he has a big snack, dinner, usually dessert. He’s much hungrier in the evening than daytime.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 10:23     Subject: Snacks before bed
Anonymous wrote:Are the people giving their sons popcorn and water when they are hungry the same people posting about how their 16 year old is 5’2 and they can’t figure out why?


PP and I don’t know but my late night taco eating son is 6’1. I doubt very much he’s going right to bed after eating all of that and likely online for a while.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 10:20     Subject: Snacks before bed
Anonymous wrote:Op here- my son is 10.


Teach him to grab something himself and not to make a mess. That’s more important because his appetite could explode in the next few years. My 16 yo has eaten tacos around 11pm the last two nights. My sister has been saying her 14 yo son had been making some type of pasta dish (Mac and cheese, spaghetti etc) around 1am many nights in the summer. We are sleeping when all this is going on. We don’t want to wake up to a trashed kitchen. They eat a lot.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 09:46     Subject: Snacks before bed
I always double my dinner recipes, then my teens can come back for seconds before bed, and just microwave it. I don’t keep cookies, chips, or snacks in the house. I do keep unsalted nuts, smoothies, and dried fruit on hand for the teens. I don’t really like them cooking or dirtying kitchen late at night.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 09:30     Subject: Snacks before bed
Let your kid eat whatever in the heck they want when they are hungry. I mean, if you want to say “hey, how about you go for some fruit and peanut butter instead of the gummy worms” then go right ahead. But assuming you have a kitchen full of a mix of healthy and some treat foods, let them figure it out. Tweens and teens need a heck of a lot more food than a mom in their late thirties to fifties.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 09:16     Subject: Snacks before bed
Are the people giving their sons popcorn and water when they are hungry the same people posting about how their 16 year old is 5’2 and they can’t figure out why?
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 09:01     Subject: Snacks before bed
Oatmeal. Make it with milk and nuts, maybe an egg whipped in while cooking.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2024 09:00     Subject: Snacks before bed
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Op here- growing up I was always told to not eat right before bed because food can’t be digested. I am new to this!

I know he is hungry so that’s why I am looking for something healthy and fills him up.

Love all of these ideas! Thank you.


PP with the carrots... one of my strategies with veggies and fruit (and I know this is not unique) is basically to have a bottomless veggie and fruit option. So, I may say, well, you can have two girl scout cookies, OR as many carrots as you can carry to your room (so long as you don't leave them in there for weeks). And being a dumb (but beloved) boy, he always goes for the bottomless carrots. Now he loves carrots. With my daughter it's cherries. She whines for candy and as she starts to get very upset, I say, "Well, don't tell mom, but you can have as many cherries as you want, but just today." Both kids have sweet tooths but both eat insane amounts of fruits and vegetables.


You want your almost teenage son to eat nothing but carrots when he is hungry after dinner? That’s cool for a 5yo who is stalling bedtime, but it’s bot nearly enough calories for a teenager who is about to shoot up in height! How about carrots and pita and hummus or something?


I don't want my teenage son to eat anything! He helps himself to it!

And it's not his only meal of the day! With his sports schedule, he'll typically have a hearty snack, go to practice, come home, shower, have dinner, watch some TV, eat a dessert, chug some glasses of milk, and then fix himself his bedtime snack and head upstairs to read.

I tell him he can't have candy, cookies or cake, but he can have anything fruit, vegetable or nuts (so long as he pays attention to the serving size) he wants. He sometimes will create a fruit bowl or maybe celery and peanut butter. But carrots are his favorite. We buy baby carrots in bulk. If I buy whole carrots, he'll eat them, skin on, before I can clean them up for him. He wouldn't eat hummus if you held a gun to his head.

My biggest concern is nothing that leaves crumbs everywhere in his room and I don't love the peanut butter because he finds a way to smear it everywhere.


Okay. OP, firstly, just make a rule that there's no food allowed in kids bedrooms, ever. They can have water overnight and that's it. The produce or nuts he's eating after dessert is not going to fill him up. He needs heartier food than that. Or, try giving him a heartier dessert- chocolate ice cream, but add peanut butter, banana and nuts to it. See if that helps.


No, everything is going great. He’s happy, we’re happy and his doctor is very happy and encouraged us. Doesn’t love all the milk but it’s skim.


Am I in cuckoo land? Whole milk is bad for a growing boy?


It’s very bad for your teeth; according to our dentist.

Doctor prefers he drinks water, but if he’s going to drink milk, recommends skim because of the fat content. DS drinks skim anyway because both my wife and I grew up on it and it’s what has always been in the fridge.

He drinks at least half a gallon a day, so at that rate I don’t think the doctor is wrong.


Actually your dr is wrong. And your son would benefit from whole milk, especially if he isn’t feeling full at night. Whole milk is far more satiating that skim, the vitamins in the milk absorb much better, and the impact on tooth decay is no different that skim. They both have the same amount of natural sugars, it’s the fat content that differs. Fat does not contribute to tooth decay.