If your child wakes up in the middle of night and asks for a snack, Do you...?

I don't think it's a big deal. There have been times when my kids were extra-hungry right before bed or after being asleep an hour or two, and we gave them a banana or string cheese or something small.

Like others said, we did have times where one of the kids would start using a bedtime snack as a way to just stall going to sleep or as a way to make up for not eating much at dinner, and I did have to discourage that. It's a fine line, though -- trying to distinguish between a manipulation technique (or bad habit) and a genuine need for a little more food.

I remember waking up sometimes as a kid and not being able to fall back to sleep. My dad would let me sit on the couch with him and have a banana or some milk while we watched a bit of Johnny Carson or something, and then I'd head back to bed. I thought it was sweet and comforting, and it didn't turn into an every night thing for me, so it was nice, and that's how I'd like my kids to remember those occasional late night wakings.

Send them back to bed. If I can wait until morning (and I'm 7 months pregnant), I know they can.

My kids don't have any medical conditions that require them to eat snacks every 2 hours.

I think if your child gets used to getting a snack in the middle of the night, you are starting a problem of overeating and emotional manipulation using food as a pacifier. The issue can easily escalate to your child next sneaking out of bed and eating snacks at night. Better to just say no.

Your 3 year old (in my opinion) doesn't need a snack at 11 pm. She can wait until morning for breakfast. No one ever died of hunger from bedtime to breakfast time.

If they had all their meals during the day and weren't ill, I would send my children back to bed and ask them wait for breakfast. I would offer them a glass of water at the most. To be perfectly honest, I would do it mostly because at midnight I do not want to fix my children a snack or pull out food from the fridge. We all need our sleep and I know very well that my children will not starve or suffer if they wait until the morning to have breakfast. I would actually assume that they aren't truly hungry, they are just awake and bored, trying to come up with something to do and their minds would naturally lead them to food. This happens with adults all the time. I would imagine that after groing through the motions of eating a light snack, leaving their bedroom and climbing back on bed would make going back to sleep difficult.

Still, I agree that it isn't a big deal to do one thing or the other.

My kids do this to try to get out of going to bed. Most of the time I tell them no, go to bed. If they were sick earlier in the day and haven't eaten much during the day then I allow them a snack.

I don't necessarily think it's wrong to give them something to eat if they are truly hungry, but my kids are just looking for an excuse to stay up 90% of the time.

If this is only an occasional thing and she goes straight back to bed, it doesn't sound like an attention ploy. I think she was just genuinely hungry. If it starts to become a daily thing or she is not going back to bed, then maybe it has become one.

You might try keeping a few healthy snacks in her reach and showing her where they are. Tell her if she is hungry she does not have to wake you, she can just have a snack. Tell her she must eat it in the kitchen and then go straight to bed. This should curb her waking you up, but allow her to get a snack if she needs it.

Hope I helped at least a little.

For a while my 2 year old told me he was hungry when I put him in bed. Every single night. I finally realized he was just trying to find a way out of going to bed. I quit giving him a snack, he quit asking for it. If you think your daughter really is hungry, sure give her a snack. I know I'm always hungry around 11 and I eat dinner at 8.

Oh heck no! I am a mother of 4 ages ranging form 6 months to 6 years and I can tell you that is just an excuse to get you to take time out of your sleep and spend time with your kid. Night time is for sleeping only. If she really is as hungry as she says then breakfast will be all gone in the morning :). I would never jump out of bed and get my 3 year old daughter something to eat...and I actually have a 3 year old daughter LOL.

I don't think it's a big deal, if the child is willing to go back to bed. I gave my kids a bedtime snack, then brushed their teeth, took a bath and read a book before bed. I made the snack part of the routine, so they wouldn't wake up hungry.

They develop by potential of "starting to be spurts" the position they are going to eat an negative lot, and infrequently it type of sounds like they don't eat some thing in any respect. I under no circumstances had a baby awaken at 2 am to eat a sandwich, perhaps a drink, if it concerns you, you could all call the pediatrician.

I give them a few celery sticks and send them back to bed, that is unless they didn't finish their dinner, then they have to wait until morning. My four year old doesn't say that hes hungry unless hes actually hungry, and as long as he ate his dinner, Im not going to send him back to bed with a hungry stomach, how is he supposed to sleep like that. I wouldn't give them a full on snack of pretzels or anything, just a couple vegetable sticks which aren't going to keep him up, but no fruits as they have sugars that rot their teeth if they sit on them while they are sleeping.