Feeding schedule for 5 years old -So, our food charts for babies are very, very popular and thousands of parents access and use them everyday. I have been getting requests to give sample schedules for older children too. Now, I do believe that most children find their own schedule and regulate their appetite according to the needs of their bodies.
However, after repeated requests I decided to share the schedule of my own daughter who is 5 years old and is in preschool at the moment. Hopefully, this will give some idea to all the anxious parents.
Daily Routine/Â Eating/Feeding schedule for 5 years old
I am just giving her daily schedule that we follow mostly. Of course there are days when we do not follow this schedule, but we do most days and it works for both of us. Her school starts at 9:15 and is quite close to our house. My husband drops her so we have a little more relaxed morning routine than if she had to go by bus.
7 -7:30 am : Get up
My daughter gets up between 7- 7:30 am. I usually do not have to push her too much as she has always been a morning person. I try not to disturb her bedtime too much as that affects her in the morning. After getting up she freshens up, brushes her teeth and we get ready for breakfast.
7:30- 8:00 am : Breakfast
We usually keep minimum 15-20 minutes for breakfast, because my daughter takes that much time to eat. I try to give her something filling along with fruit. I also try and give her milk in some form as she does not like to drink milk.
She usually has some sort of porridge in the morning, mostly oatmeal with nuts and raisins or suji porridge again with nuts and raisins. Along with them I sometimes give her a small banana if she feels like it. There are days when she wants sandwiches which are again very easy to make. Her favourite is tomato and cheese sandwich.
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8:15 – 8:45 am : Bath & getting ready for school
Her father helps her with bath and getting ready for school. She is 5 and half now, so she can dress herself up with very little help from us. I usually lay her clothes out for her, but there are times when she overrules and decides to wear something completely different. Her school does not have a uniform yet, so she can wear what she likes. We normally stick to t-shirts and leggings or dresses with leggings. I always go for leggings or jeans, as she is in a Montessori school and they sit on floor so they protect her legs.
Snacks & Lunchbox
In the meantime, I prepare her tiffins for school. She has two breaks in school so I send a snack for for snack break and then a lunchbox with something heavier. I try and pack things which she will actually eat and not just bring back.
Snack options:
I usually give some cut fruits in a box along with some snacks which she can eat easily. Her favourite fruits are apples, papaya, watermelon, strawberry, chikoo & kiwi, which are easily available.
My go to snacks for her along with fruits are:
- A slice of cake if we have baked that weekend.
- Roasted foxnuts
- Mathri
- Besan laddu
- Peanut butter and jam sandwich
- Glucose biscuits if I am in a real hurry
- Corn with butter
- Veggie sticks
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Lunchbox options that I give to my 5 years old
I try and pack something more filling in her lunchbox. She still does not like to take rice items in her lunch, so those are not an option for me. Hopefully, by next year she will start liking them too. She also does not like to take curries, so i usually give her fruits in this dabba too and sometimes some curry which she loves like chhole or paneer. Â I also pack veggies sticks or boiled corn for her sometimes as she love them.
Along with fruits, I pack some kind of parantha, puri, dosa etc,
- Ajwain parantha
- Palak parantha
- Aloo paratha
- Paneer parantha
- Ajwain puri
- Puri with chhole
- Sandwich
- Dosa with sambhar/ honey
- Idlis with sambhar/ dal
- Veg pasta
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3: 00 pm
Her school gets over at 2:45 pm and we are usually home by 3:00 – 3:15 pm. Then her normal routine of changing, freshening up etc which can take as long as she likes.
3:30 pm
I give her something to eat at this time, whatever we have had for lunch, normally a small chapati with dal and vegetable curry and some rice, salad and curd if she wants. I also feed her this meal at times because she needs that bit of pampering.
4:00 – 5:30 pm
She does not get any homework, so she does whatever she likes. We sometimes like to snuggle and rest while she tells me what happened in school and then she goes on to do her drawing, writing or playing with her grandmother.
5:30 – 6:00 pm
1 small cup of milk with some light snack.
6:00-7:30 pm Park time
She goes down to park to play with her friends. On days that she cannot go to park if she is sick or if it is raining, we watch half an hour of TV or sometimes visit a friend in the apartment or she does whatever she likes. She is good at finding ways to entertain herself.
She has water/ juice once she is back from park as she  does not drink a lot of water by herself, so I flavour it a little and then she has it.
8:00-8:30 pm Dinner Time
She has her dinner which is normally one egg, 1 chapati and whichever vegetable we are having.
9:00 pm Bedtime
After dinner we change, visit the bathroom, brush teeth and go to bed. We, either I or her father, read at least 2-3 books at bed time and then she sleeps by herself, in her own bed in her own room. We recently did her room for her and she took to it like a fish to water. So proud of her for that!
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So that’s it! This is the daily routine of my 5 years old. Of course, we do not follow it like clockwork but it remains so on most days.
What we do follow diligently, however, are:
- Do not delay bed time on school nights.
- TV not more than one hour in a day. We do not have any fights about it, since she knows it is bad for her.
- No gadgets are allowed – she still might get an occasional peak into our mobiles or tab but she knows it is bad for children.
- We have regular talks about junk food and healthy food.
- I do not ban all junk food and she has her occasional donuts and mango shots, but she knows they are only for occasions.
- We do not have colas or soft drinks. She knows they are bad for her and has no inclination towards them.
- She does not like too many chocolates/ candies, so I do not have to control her there. I guess the delay in giving her sweet stuff helped in this case. I did not add any sugar in her food till she was over a year. If you want to know sugar-less recipes for babies, you may check out the recipes and our youtube channel.
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This routine might make her appear to be a perfect angel and me to be the luckiest mom in the world. While I do consider myself to be the luckiest mother in this world, it is not because my child is perfect, it is because she is who she is. We have our tough days, when she does not want to eat anything, when she is irritable and drives us up the wall and throws things and tantrums, when she only wants  that one thing which is not available. But, all of that is part of growing up and every child goes through those days trying to figure themselves out.
If you like this article, do leave a comment to let us know and share it in your circle.
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Related:
Vegetarian Meal Plan for 2 years old
Non-vegetarian Meal Plan for 2 years old
Food Chart for 1 year old baby
18 Healthy Recipes for picky kids
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This is really nice write-up, Even I also follow most of the routine which you mentioned.My son has completed his 4 years now. And he is very comfortable with fruits, nuts diet too.
It’s really nice and we follow same though my daughter is 2.5 years. It’s not lucky or unlucky but it’s about how you and when you can involve the right steps in your life and kid’s life that makes everything look so perfect. A huge round of applause for you. ?
Thank you Ananya for your kind words! Means a lot! <3
its nice , good information Thank you
Too good ..
Very well written… Again this all required patient to deal with kids… My daughter is all best at her age 4 but the issue is not b feeling like to eat…. N that Brings down her looks n weight…. But yea this write up may help