What do I do about lunch?

[mharling]

Lane moved to one nap a day and goes down around 11:45. This used to be his lunchtime and lunch is now around 11:15-11:30. He is eating noticeably less than he did when he was napping twice a day. I think he's just too tired to eat! He sleeps a long time, so if I waited for lunch until he woke up, he wouldn't eat until 2:30 or 3:00. Any suggestions?

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
[link:www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b370a2992536|Birthday Pics!!]

[Andrea S]

No advise here we are going through the same thing. If I feed him before nap he just picks at it. I have been trying both ways and neither seems to work real well.

Andrea
mom to Andrew 8/14/02

[ralu]

We have the same problem. I am trying to move lunch after the nap and give him a snack (milk plus cheerios or some crackers or perhaps a yogurt or fruit) just before the nap. Usually it helps if he's not in the highchair for the snack -- we read a book or I let him continue whatever he's been doing.

HTH,

Raluca

[caleymama]

Caley's naps are often around then (she varies the time depending on when she woke up in the AM and what our plans are that day). If she goes to sleep around then she usually has 2 light lunches, one before and one after. Like Lane, she's often too tired to sit and eat a whole meal prior to the nap but she's not really interested in a regular lunch when she wakes up either. We'll have a yogurt or something before her nap (the 6oz size, or a generous helping from the big container). Sometimes with a rice cake, raisins, crackers, or something else. Then after her nap she eats again, but it's another big snack rather than a meal. I do give her the cup of milk she would typically have with lunch before her nap in these instances and then water or her water/juice mix that she gets 1X a day (max) after her nap.

[Momof3Labs]

We had that problem for a little while as Colin was shifting his one nap later and later in the day, and we just fed him before his nap and after his nap. If Lane is too tired at 11:15, then feed him a half hour earlier.

[JElaineB]

We had this problem too when Jacob first moved to one nap. He fell asleep in his high chair while eating a couple of times! I would agree to try and feed him a little earlier for now, maybe 10:45 to 11. And plan on a good snack when he wakes up. Eventually his nap should move a little later in the day. Jacob used to be around 11:30, then noon. Now it is more like 12:30 and moving towards 1:00.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[jen72]

Jennifer-

DS typically goes down for his nap between 11 and 11:30 and sleeps for 2-3 hours. What has worked for us is a good sized morning snack and then lunch after the nap. He normally eats cereal and milk when first getting up (7ish) and then oatmeal/fruit or granola/yogurt with milk around 9:30/10ish. After his nap, we have a decent sized lunch and a small snack before dinner. The funny thing is that when he's at daycare (3 days a week), he eats with the other kids at noon and then doesn't nap until 1:00!

Jen
mom to Matthew 11-11-02