“I feed my kids dinner at 3pm every day – here is why”
- 26 days ago
A mum says she feeds her kids dinner at 3pm so they are less "over stimulated" and to "eliminate the chaos".
Aimee Connor, 38, found her four children were always hungry by 3pm when her eldest daughter, Mahli, seven, got home from school.
The family were already having an early dinner around 4.30pm so parents Aimee and Shay, 42, a building designer, could put the kids to sleep by 6pm or 7pm.
But Aimee found her kids – Indi, five, Bili, three, Bodhi, one – were getting irritable and she would give them unhealthy snacks while she was cooking.
Aimee found they then weren’t eating their tea and decided to move dinner forward so her kids eat a full meal - such as pizza or spaghetti bolognaise at 3pm – and healthy snacks just before bed.
Aimee, a part-time nurse, from Wollongong, Australia, said: “I was flustered at pick up.
“When they got home they wanted to snack. I reached for easy and not nutritious snacks, but when I served dinner they weren’t hungry.
“I started to prepare dinner before I picked up the kids. When they all balled through the door it was all there.
“It’s not ideal for most people but it works for us.”
Aimee says the family have always been early eaters because of their young family.
She said: “Because they are little we are quite strict with bed time.”
Aimee is also conscious of her daughter, Mahli, who is autistic, and finds meal time anxious.
She said: “She has a lot of anxiety when it comes to meal time.
“I’ve been through periods when she doesn’t eat at all.”
Because of this Aimee makes four separate meals for her kids – cooking easy food such as chicken schnitzel and chopped potatoes for her youngest and steak and rice for Mahli.
Aimee finds time earlier in her day to prepare the meals before reheating it at 3pm.
Aimee said: “Sometimes I’m cooking as early as 10.30am.
“It’s when I get a minute.”
Aimee Connor, 38, found her four children were always hungry by 3pm when her eldest daughter, Mahli, seven, got home from school.
The family were already having an early dinner around 4.30pm so parents Aimee and Shay, 42, a building designer, could put the kids to sleep by 6pm or 7pm.
But Aimee found her kids – Indi, five, Bili, three, Bodhi, one – were getting irritable and she would give them unhealthy snacks while she was cooking.
Aimee found they then weren’t eating their tea and decided to move dinner forward so her kids eat a full meal - such as pizza or spaghetti bolognaise at 3pm – and healthy snacks just before bed.
Aimee, a part-time nurse, from Wollongong, Australia, said: “I was flustered at pick up.
“When they got home they wanted to snack. I reached for easy and not nutritious snacks, but when I served dinner they weren’t hungry.
“I started to prepare dinner before I picked up the kids. When they all balled through the door it was all there.
“It’s not ideal for most people but it works for us.”
Aimee says the family have always been early eaters because of their young family.
She said: “Because they are little we are quite strict with bed time.”
Aimee is also conscious of her daughter, Mahli, who is autistic, and finds meal time anxious.
She said: “She has a lot of anxiety when it comes to meal time.
“I’ve been through periods when she doesn’t eat at all.”
Because of this Aimee makes four separate meals for her kids – cooking easy food such as chicken schnitzel and chopped potatoes for her youngest and steak and rice for Mahli.
Aimee finds time earlier in her day to prepare the meals before reheating it at 3pm.
Aimee said: “Sometimes I’m cooking as early as 10.30am.
“It’s when I get a minute.”