Best bedtime snacks for kids

Should kids have bedtime snacks?

Does your child ask for a bedtime snack every night? Wondering what snack to offer so it doesn’t affect dinner or sleep? In this post, we’ll talk about why bedtime snacks can be helpful and which snacks are the best for promoting sleep.

Bedtime snacks are beneficial

There are two primary reasons when bedtime snacks are helpful to offer your child:

1. To prevent early wakeups
   If your child isn’t going to bed with a full stomach, there’s an increased chance of waking early in the morning wanting breakfast (or a pre-breakfast snack at 5am!). We don’t want a rumbling tummy waking your little one an hour or two earlier than normal, so offering a bedtime snack can help tide them over until morning.

2. During a growth spurt
   Sometimes your child will eat a great dinner and still be hungry before bed because they’re going through a growth spurt! If your child is still hungry even though they ate well, it’s definitely a good thing to offer a healthy bedtime snack.

What to watch out for with bedtime snacks

When offering bedtime snacks to your child, there are two things to be monitoring:

1. Not eating enough dinner
   Is your child eating less at dinnertime because he knows there’s a snack waiting later - and one that he likes more then the meal served?
   
   Be thoughtful and strategic with what you offer for the bedtime snack and when you offer it. The snack shouldn’t be so exciting that they look forward to it so much that they aren’t interested in dinner. For example, if they always know they get a bowl of their favorite cereal as the bedtime snack, they’ll be less likely to eat a dinner they deem less appetizing!

   Also, don’t offer it immediately after dinner. If they’re still hungry 5 minutes after dinner, it’s still dinner time, not snack time.
   
   In my Early Wakings Guide, I have an entire section on food in the evenings that goes into specifics with tips and timing for dinner and the after-dinner snack so your little one gets full enough from dinner and then “topped-off” with the bedtime snack!
   

2. Using as a stalling technique
   Is your child requesting a bedtime snack to stall starting the bedtime routine? If this is your child, you need to work backwards and look at what time you want your child in bed, how long the bedtime routine is, and then start the bedtime snack 10-15 minutes earlier. For example, if your child goes in bed at 7:30pm and the bedtime routine is 30 minutes and starts at 7pm, then offer the bedtime snack at 6:45/6:50pm.
   
   You may also want to use a visual timer so your child can see how long they have to eat the snack before the bedtime routine starts. When the timer goes off, snack time is over!
   
   Have more issues with stalling than the bedtime snack? Check out these blog posts: How to Stop Your Preschooler’s Bedtime Stalling and 2 year olds that stall at bedtime, climb out of the crib and wake all night!

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What foods make the best bedtime snacks for kids?

There are certain minerals (potassium and magnesium) and amino acids (tryptophan) that can have a calming affect on the body and help to promote sleep. Melatonin is the “sleepy” hormone that is naturally occuring in the body and small amounts can be found in some foods. (Just as an aside, melatonin supplements are not reccommended for children.) As always, consult with your pediatrician if you have questions about your child’s dietary intake!

Magnesium-rich foods:

• Pumpkin seeds

• Chia seeds

• Flax seeds

• Dark chocolates

• Bananas

• Berries

• Papaya

• Cashews

• Almonds

• Whole grains

• Spinach

• Avocado

Potassium-rich foods:

• Bananas

• Sweet potatoes

• Potatoes

• Butternut squash

• Spinach

• Watermelon

• Pomegranates

• Dried apricots

• Hummus

• Peanuts

• Cottage cheese

• Avocado

Coconut water is also rich in both potassium and magnesium.

Foods high in tryptophan:

• Turkey and chicken

• Milk

• Eggs

• Greek yogurt

• Cheese

• Hummus

Foods with higher amounts of melatonin:

• Cherries

• Walnuts

• Milk

• Eggs

• Bananas

So you can see certain foods are in multiple categories, and making bedtime snacks with those foods can help promote sleep for your child.

Bedtime snack ideas for kids

Combining some of the foods above can make for a great bedtime snack for your child.

I would recommend staying away from the dark chocolate since that has some caffeine, and test out how your child does with certain fruits. We don’t want to increase the likelihood of dirty diapers - or trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night! Also, depending on the age of your child, some of these may not be appropriate because of choking hazards.

These aren’t “fun recipes” because the goal of bedtime snacks is to fill your little one up with sleep-promoting, healthy, filling food that won’t be so yummy that they don’t eat all their dinner in anticipation! Here are some bedtime snack examples:

• Turkey and cheese roll-up

• Yogurt parfait with cherries and almonds

• Greek yogurt with banana and a drizzle of honey

• Cherry almond bites - remove the pit and put a dollup of almond butter inside

• Roasted pumpkin seeds

• Cheese and whole grain/nut crackers

• Toast with almond/peanut butter

• Banana sliced with almond/peanut butter (put the bananas in the freezer for a little bit so they aren’t mushy!)

• Hummus with vegetables

• Cottage cheese with berries

• Roasted chickpeas

• Chia pudding with whole milk/almond milk and chia seeds (chill overnight so it can thicken) and add berries right before serving

Most of these are savory, except for the ideas with fruit. The idea of a bedtime snack is to fill them up more right before bedtime, without adding sugar (that can hype them up) or too much salt (that will make them thirsty so they drink more before bed and potentially have more wet diapers/pullups or trips to the bathroom), so steer clear of bedtime snacks that are closer to desserts or too salty.

Also, be careful about offering the classic glass of warmed milk, especially if it was hard for your child to give up the bedtime bottle and you recently transitioned off them! Remember, once your child turns 1 year old, he should transition off the bottle to a sippy cup and milk is then offered with meals, not during the bedtime routine!

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This post is for informational purposes only and may not be the best fit for you, your child and/or your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your child’s physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here.

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