Should i Allow Baby to Sleep without Dinner
If your baby falls asleep in the evening without taking dinner, do not wake them up to eat. It is totally fine for your toddler to sleep at night without taking their meal. You do not have to panic or wake them up. I always let by babies continue sleeping until they wake up.
Kids will wake up by themselves to eat when they get hungry, even at night. Most often than not, if your toddler sleeps without their dinner, they will wake up to feed at some point. So go on and let them continue sleeping.
What Happens if Baby Sleeps without Taking Dinner
If baby sleeps without taking dinner, there are two options;
- The baby can sleep throughout the dinner without the need to wake up to feed. Your toddler has the ability to sleep even after missing their dinner, especially if they were not really hungry or had a heavy snack just before falling asleep.
- On the other hand the baby may wake up to feed at some point during the night. When the baby is too hungry to sleep, they will wake up, feed then go back to sleep.
Studies have proven that a hungry baby won’t sleep well. My toddler would wake during the night whenever he fell asleep without taking his dinner. Therefore not getting a meal before sleeping may affect he quality of sleep for your child. chances are the baby will wake up at night for sleeping hungry.
Simple Tips on How to Always Feed Baby Dinner in Time
Getting adequate sleep is important even for kids as well. It is recommended that kids get at least 8 hours of sleep. However if they miss dinner before they sleep, their sleep may be negatively affected.
For your child to go to bed early and have quality sleep, they need to eat their dinner in time. You can ensure your baby takes dinner in time before sleeping by;
1. Prep Baby Food during Weekends
Preparing meals including prepping the food and cooking takes a considerably long time. Cut out this by prepping the food in advance during the weekend when you have adequate time. On other days, you just need to makes a quick meal in time for your baby before they sleep.
Food prepping includes cutting vegetables, shelling, and marinating among other food preparation needed. It saves you a lot of time when cooking so that you have your baby meal in time. Also do grocery shopping during the weekend.
2. Order In Dinner for Baby
If you cannot manage to have dinner ready in time for your child, make an order out instead. It is normal to be too tired some days or be too late to possibly get the dinner ready in time. It is very reasonable given the time and energy contains working moms have.
Make a quick order so that you make dinner time for your child. There are many services here but choose one that delivers ready meals just for heating. Also, be mindful of the nutritional content and chose a variety of healthy options in the meals that you order.
You can alternatively delegate cooking dinner for baby to your partner or even a friend. It is a good situation where a support system can come in to ease your strain as a working mom.
Read: Why Working Moms Need Meal Delivery Services
Ready: Getting your Spouse to Help in House Chores
3. Create a Weekly Meal Plan
Create a meal plan detailing what are your child’s meals for breakfast, dinner, and probably lunch. Make it a weekly meal plan and you will manage to always have meals ready for baby by dinner time.
With a plan you can quickly do grocery shopping, meal prepping and cooking. When you already know what your baby will have for dinner, it saves precious time. You may fail to have ready ready in time when you are undecided.
4. Cook Meals in Bulk for Multiple Days
Cook big meals that your baby can eat for dinner for two days. It ensures there is ready dinner for most of the days. You just need to heat the meals and your baby does not need to sleep hungry.
5. Use Leftovers to Fix a Quick Meal
If you have leftovers in your home, it is okay to let your baby have leftovers for dinner if dinner wont be ready in time. It is better than letting your baby sleep hungry. Check what food leftovers you have and make a quick meal from it.
6. Go for Simple Meals
When you are pressed for time choose meals that are simple, quick and easy to make. Avoid meals that take an hour to prepare. Instead, choose simple meals that take 20-30 minutes to be ready as dinner for the baby.
However, ensure that they are healthy options. Examples include easy pasta and meatballs, veggie soup/sandwich/meatballs, dino nuggets or chicken quesadilla and a veggie on the side or fruit for dessert, etc.
Also let the baby eat whichever food gets ready first. Hand out food whenever they are ready. Everything does not need to go out at the same time. You can get your baby started on things like waffles and cook /heat up the rest. By doing so, you can have your baby have quick dinner.
Further always have washed and cut fruit available for the baby to get them started before dinner is ready.
How Late should Baby take Dinner
Pushing out toddler to late bedtime is not recommended and not worth the crankiness that follows. As such the early your baby eats dinner and sleeps, the better. If you delay their meal time your child will unfortunately have a late bed time.
Also your baby’s age may determine how late is too late for your child’s meal time. For babies under 6 months, their need to feed within minimum 4 hours. Hence they need a feeding preferably by 5pm before they fall asleep. Also they will need to wake up during the night for more feedings.
For 6 months and older, 5pm-6 pm is an ideal time for them to take their dinner. Older toddlers can stretch it up to 7 am but going too far to 8pm is not recommended. Therefore feeding your baby dinner at 8pm is too late for them.
Adjust in way that you have ample time to feed your baby dinner before they need to fall asleep. Further you need to consider that your baby should not go bed immediately after taking dinner. It is recommended at least have 1 hour after dinner before they can sleep.
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