# If your DC naps through lunch....



## EveningGrace (Oct 20, 2004)

Lunch is such a tough one for me -- my DD usually starts her nap around 11:30a or 11:45a, and I give her a snack of yogurt just beforehand so she won't be hungry while she's sleeping.

Sometimes (on good days) she sleeps a long time and doesn't wake up until 1:30p or 2p, and then she doesn't want to eat right away after waking up, so sometimes lunch is delayed quite a bit. I don't want to give her too much for fear of messing up dinner, but I also don't want to not give her enough for fear of the "hungries" for the rest of the afternoon.

So, got any suggestions for a good filling lunch/snack? Add to this, though, the fact that she's VERY PICKY (ugh)......I'm certainly willing to try it, but whether *she* will is a completely different story!


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## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

My dd does this sometimes too. If she is going to go early, I usually give her a big blueberry muffin, she loves them and they seem to keep her filled up. Also, a yogurt smoothie to drink with it. Then she just usually has a medium sized snack when she wakes and then dinner. The big pre-nap snack and the medium after nap snack seem to make-up for lunch.


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## LovemyBoo (Oct 11, 2004)

My dd naps at 11am, too, and she doesn't have "lunch" in the traditional sense. She eats breakfast, then healthy snacks whenever she's hungry, and after her nap she eats more healthy snacks. She's not a big dinner eater, and I concede that this may partly be why, but since she eats healthy it doesn't concern me.

I'd just make sure your dd gets something before she goes down and then has another healthy snack when she gets up.


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## aran (Feb 9, 2005)

When my ds naps through lunch. I just give him normal lunch foods after he wakes up and has a chance to get going... even if it is 3:00. Then at dinner, he sits with us, maybe eats a few bites and then runs off to play. I save his portion and give it to him later in the evening. His schedule is a bit different than ours for now. That's OK with me.







This works for us, but maybe because he's an only, so far.


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## Mere (Oct 1, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LovemyBoo*
My dd naps at 11am, too, and she doesn't have "lunch" in the traditional sense. She eats breakfast, then healthy snacks whenever she's hungry, and after her nap she eats more healthy snacks. She's not a big dinner eater, and I concede that this may partly be why, but since she eats healthy it doesn't concern me.

Ditto. My youngest isn't ready to adhere to any particular mealtimes yet (he's 18 months).


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## AllyRae (Dec 10, 2003)

LOL...my son's sleeping through lunch right now--he's been asleep for the last 2 1/2 hours! Dinner's going to be in 3 hours, so I don't want to fill him up. I'll probably give him some fruit, cheese, and crackers when he wakes up...


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## UrbanPlanter (Nov 14, 2003)

I always let my ds sleep when he wants to sleep, and eat when he wants to eat. Typically he'll wake with the sun, so we are pretty good with a reasonable daytime schedule. But, he has often slept during the typical lunch hours. Since he nurses to sleep and nurses to wake, he's getting some good mama juice







. I offer him food periodically (at least every two hours) and give him food whenever he asks for it - healthy options; no junk. I don't make him eat more than he wants to.

This is very stress-free for me, too, bc I don't have to worry about sticking to an eating/sleeping schedule.


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## celestialdreamer (Nov 18, 2004)

My dd used to do that when she was closer to a year old but I started giving her lunch around the time she had normally been falling asleep. So she would eat lunch a little earlier (but she definitely didn't mind) then would fall asleep in her highchair. I know this sounds awful...but that is where she naps 95% of the time







:







She always used to wake up after about 45 min of naptime (I sometimes wonder if it was because she was hungry) then when I switched to letting her eat lunch a little earlier (and naps in the highchair







) she started sleeping WAY longer. She now eats lunch most days around 11 or 12 then sleeps a good 2 hrs. I really don't think it matters at this age if they aren't eating lunch at 'lunchtime' as long as it doesn't seem to interrupt their naps. I'm just happy that my dd actually takes a regular nap, even if its sitting up in the highchair covered in applesauce


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## nwaddellr (Jan 2, 2005)

When my DS would nap around that time, we'd just have lunch at 11 and then a big snack after he woke up - it seemed the easiest and he wouldn't be waking up starving from his nap. 11 really isn't THAT early for lunch!


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## CountryMom2e (Apr 1, 2005)

We do lunch some days at 1130 so DS can nap at noon. Then when he wakes we have snack - usually milk and crackers and cheese, or apple slices, hummus and crackers or I'll make a cheese dip with crackers. DS doesn't like peanut butter or veggies with dip, and I'm always looking for good snacks for him.


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