so hungry after daycare

The last few days when I picked up the children from daycare they were so hungry they were crying. I always have a drink and an apple or a banana ready for them when I pick them up which they eat during the 10 minute stroller walk to the car. This no longer seems to be enough, they are actually crying for more food.

Their schedule on daycare days is:
7am - small breakfast at home: usually milk, yoghurt and fruit
9am - breakfast at daycare: sandwhich or cereal
11.30am - lunch at daycare: full home-cooked meal with veggies, potatoes ar pasta, fish or meat
14.30pm - wake-up snack at daycare: fruit, sometimes yoghurt and very rarely a cookie as an extra treat afterwards
15.30pm - pick-up snack in the stroller: fruit
18.00pm - dinner: veggies, sandwhich or leftovers
19.00pm - bedtime snack; milk

The food at daycare is provided at daycare, is home-cooked, fresh and healthy and pretty close to the choices we have at home. They only have water to drink and may ask for extra fruit at any time if they are really hungry (not 10 minutes before lunch obviously, but they don't). I talked to the teachers at the daycare and they said that the children were eating ok. For now in desparation, I have taken to cooking a second full meal for dinner at home.

Can they really need so much more food than on their days at home? Could they be confusing tired and hungry or needing cuddles and hungry? Or is it the age for a growth spurt (they are nearly 27 months) and I am missing it at home? Any ideas?

 

I started to carry granola bars or cliff z bars in my purse for instances just like this. My girls can get really hungry sometimes and these seem to help. I make sure they don't see them though because I don't want them to expect it. But it saves them from melting down. I also noticed that after daycare my girls need to "decompress" from all the playing- quiet time at home which I find is part of the hungry part too.

 

Or they might be like mine and say that they are hungry when they just really want another snack, lol. My kids are hungry all the time if you listen to them, and then won't eat the meat and veggie we give them for lunch or dinner.

So I just wouldn't sweat it, although I'd increase the pick up snack a bit if they eat everything at dinner... but if my kids ate everything you listed, they would never eat dinner.

 

That is A TON of eating during the day! Like 6 times more than mine ate! They might be stress eating or something? But I doubt they're starving if they're eating that many times a day!! Then again, mine can go all day w/o eating GL! I hope you figure it out!

 

They could be going through a growth spurt or it could just be a change right now. For now, I would increase snack and if it ruins their dinner, back off of it slowly. Also, not having milk during the day could also be making them hungry. Is there a reason she won't give them milk? If she is doing the USDA program, it allows for 8-16oz of milk a day.

 

Could you just add a cup of milk with their afternoon snack?

 

Is anything about the situation new, other than them being more hungry than usual? Is it the same daycare/class they've been going to? Or were they off for the summer and they just started up again?

I ask because my kids just started preschool and they are a little on the crabby side when we first get home. They walk in the house and lay all over the floor by the door, whining and acting like they can't do anything themselves. All the sudden they need my help with everything. I know they really like school, but they've reached their limit and it's a combination of being hungry, tired, and over-stimulated from school.

My kids get up around 8 and we leave by 8:45. So I've decided not to stress about breakfast that they don't usually eat anyway. I give them some cereal and a nutri grain bar or some fruit and yogurt, and if they eat it fine, if not I don't push them to eat it. There isn't time to fight with them all morning anyway. I know they'll be starving when they get home at 11:45 because they don't do snack at school. I don't feed them on the way home because I know they'd fill up on the snack and never eat lunch. So they have a big lunch when they get home, and they're fine.

Another note on the over-stimulation. I read in a book that introverted kids sometimes need a little space and wind-down time to reenergize after being in situations with lots of stimulation and other people. I definitely see this with my daughter who is very introverted. She doesn't like to talk too much on the way home, she prefers to open up about it after she's home and had some time and space. This may be an issue for your kids too, if they're like this. Since they're younger, they may not know how to unwind themsevles yet and it may not all be because of hunger.

If everything else is the same, then maybe it's just a growth spurt? It sounds like your kids are being offered enough food often enough during the day, so I wouldn't worry too much.

 

It made our lives a lot easier in the evenings when I finally realized that they needed a snack as soon as we got home. (I didn't want to get in the habit of giving them food in the car -- but I finally started doing that when they were around 4.)

They usually got something small, like a handful of raisins or half a snack bar. They were probably hungry for more, but it had to be something they could eat in front of the TV while I made dinner. :blush:

We actually still do this, even though they get a snack at 5:00 at their YMCA afterschool program. It seems to help them settle down after school.

 

Thank you for all your input. I agree about feeling that they seem to be getting enough food during the day - although they have always been and still are low on the weight curves.

Reading your experiences I get the feeling that problem with winding down and being tired might be what is really going on. After I pick them up at daycare we have a 10 minute stroller ride or walk to the car and 30 minutes in the car before we get home. They get a small snack in the stroller - I don't want them eating in the car (yet). They go to a big daycare that is associated with DH's place if work, so it is a long rush-hour commute home for them. We have a good winding down ritual at home but maybe I need to think of something closer to when I pick them up?

DD is one of the children who starts running around and giggling like crazy when it is all too much or she is too tired, crying for food might be instead of running? She is also in a phase of many crying tantrums, so again this might be general frustration that she feels safe to let out once she is with me and food is as good a reason as any? You know what I mean - after following rules all day she is safe and free with mom and protests just to protest? Frustrating for mom but maybe normal ... DS is more introverted but also better at zoning out when he needs to and is usually pretty silent on the way home. So it is more difficult to figure out what might be the matter with him instead of hunger.