My little people seem to always be hungry...I call them my hungry, hungry hippos. Over the last couple of months they had started complaining of being hungry right before bedtime. At first I was of the mindset that they weren't eating enough at dinner and that they would have to eat more at mealtimes. However, they always seemed to be reaching comfortable fullness at mealtimes, so, I soon decided that I didn't want them to be trying to go to sleep with hunger pangs. My kiddies are pretty active, so I am not at all worried about adding unneeded/unhealthy calories. They are growing so much these days, so I figure their bodies must be needing just a little something. I'm not talking a full meal here, maybe not even a full snack, just a couple of nibbles to quiet their stomachs and help them sleep well. I know that eating a full meal before bed can be unhealthy and keep them awake, so I keep that in mind when choosing our selections. I also have them eat the little somethings while I read during our nightly story time. I read, they chew, which keeps them calm and quiet...it seems to be a good arrangement.
Right after deciding to do this, a local grocery store put out an article and recipes on this very topic. This was so timely because I was on the hunt for ideas of healthy little bites to feed them. I have found two of the snacks in the article to be popular with the kids:
Individual Baked Oatmeal (I made these in a mini muffin tin and adjusted the baking time down), and
Dark Chocolate Cherry No-Bake Bites. We have also tried the
Coconut Safari Snack Mix recipe from a Sprout show, which is tasty. Also cheese and crackers, and lightly salted popcorn have seemed fine as well.
The kids are sleeping better and longer with fewer middle of the night wake ups. These results could be attributed to tiredness from going to school, to having the small snack or both. I just like to keep them full and focused, so a little nibble before bed seems to be working for us.
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