Olivia loves breakfast. It’s by far her favorite meal of the day. Her current favorite is Shredded Wheat (of the frosted variety). She will easily put away four bowls of that stuff.
And then she’s not hungry for lunch. So I would wait until she was hungry. We were eating lunch around 2pm. And then getting to naps around 3pm. And waking up grumpy at 5pm because she really only went to sleep at 4pm (and my princess needs a good two hours). And to top it all off, she wouldn’t eat well at 6pm because she was still full from lunch (and grumpy, to boot!).
I traced the problem all the way back to the shredded wheat. I had two options. I could limit her to one bowl each morning, or I could skip lunch. I asked around to see if skipping lunch was a healthy option. I found (via a nutrition expert who spoke at a recent MOPS meeting) that toddlers really only eat 1-2 meals per day .
(I really was hoping I wouldn’t have to cut down on the breakfast eating because 1) It’s her favorite meal of the day and she would NOT LIKE that option 2) Shredded Wheat is so healthy for you! 3) I’m usually doing dishes or laundry while she eats – it’s a very productive time for me.)
So, I put somewhat of a plan into action yesterday. I offered her a snack (fruit, yogurt, granola) for lunch. If she gobbled it down, I would make her a sandwich. She didn’t even finish it. And these are some of her favorite foods, too!
I put her down for a nap at 1pm, and (after playing in her room for an hour) she slept until around 4pm! And the glorious part of it all? BENJAMIN SLEPT AT THE SAME TIME. (Hence the crazy blogging recently. I have FREE TIME.)
The only problem so far is that she still wasn’t hungry for lunch yesterday. She was hungry around 5 (which is an improvement) and I felt bad, since she had so little for lunch. So I gave her crackers. Three times. I don’t think I’ll do that again.
We tried the snack-for-lunch idea again today, and so far it’s the same story. Both babies are SLEEPING.
*Big smiles*
Of course, *ahem*, I did start doing devotions again. And that coincided pretty much EXACTLY with these awesome naptimes. (I had.. *cough*.. started to slack a bit in that department.)
So, I’m not entirely sure how much credit should actually go to me. Maybe… none?
My little one is the same way ! 🙂 His current favorite is plain yogurt with “nola!” We usually add either Os or raisin bran (per his request) to the granola. We joke around here that he has a seven-course breakfast – and he usually takes anywhere from 45 – 90 minutes to eat it all! 🙂 He’s usually hungry for lunch, though — he puts away more food than any almost-two-year-old I’ve seen. I’m a little afraid for our grocery budget in the coming years . . .
i wonder where they put all the food they eat. If your stomach is only the size of your fist that’s a small stomach. I’ve seen my 1 year old eat as much as me, sometimes more.
Although she’s not a breakfast person, it’s supper that can take an hour or more for her to finish. Maybe we just haven’t found the right cereal for her yet.