I’ve been watching his appetite escalate from two eggs, banana and a protein shake for breakfast to one bite of chicken nuggets for lunch. After we figured out how to deal with the asocial phase, he’s been spending a lot of quality time with children similar to his age. And the flu season caught him only twice! I suppose my methods in keeping it stay that way are not at all bad for a first-time mom.

Anyways, hot weather messes up with children’s appetite. Not taking enough of needed nutrition and fluids may bring children to feeling cranky and their immune system low. Therefore, to keep them adapted to the hot weather, we must think twice before serving fried potatoes or spaghetti bolognese. We must make sure to fill their stomachs and keep them hydrated all day long.

Choose meals wisely

I mean, of course, it’s better to serve light lunch during summer. But it’s definitely not suitable to serve the “fit and slim” lunch to a kid that’s in a growing stage. Protein-rich and not spicy food that hydrate the body is the best combination. A lot of fruits and vegetables instead of junk food and sweets and tons of water or sugar-free juices. Avoid fried meals (except for if you use organic coconut oil) and too much salt!

To keep it short and to make a point, here is the usual menu of all meals my three-year-old takes on a regular summer day.

Breakfast: squeezed orange juice + 2 egg whites + fitness bread (two slices) with peanut butter, honey and cinnamon on top

Snack: any fruit or a protein smoothie (if he wasted too much energy)

Lunch: beef and peas soup + salad + baked vegetables

Snack: banana or avocado (or any other fruit or vegetable that’s either rich in protein, healthy fats or fluids)

Dinner: oatmeal + a glass of warm milk

Meal-routined

Is this too much and too hard for you to follow along? Then I bet you never meal-routined previously! I must admit I wasn’t like this too, all scheduled and organized. But this kid really got me in a route and it feels fantastic to be here and to live it this way! Routines and to make them is a stressful process when you’ve never done it before. But, after some time, you realize you can’t normally breathe without having that special “mom and kid routine” to keep the life busy in a good way.

My mom told me that my baby will ALWAYS ask for food after two hours if I set his timer. She told me that I should sleep and get up every two hours to offer food to him. Around two weeks after he was born, his brain figured out that every “after two hours” period is the feeding period. That was the time I first found out about the routines. From then on, having a routine pushed every journey we’ve been on with the little guy. It even sped up the learning processes!

We learn English vocabulary first thing in the morning along with having fruit or breakfast, depending on the free play slash go outside activity. If the weather is nice, we usually go outside and have a snack somewhere in nature, so we learn English with breakfast that way. He loves both situations and gets along with English pretty well (for the records, his native is Serbian). He also plays the drums at 4 PM, after the lunchtime. Of course, if he doesn’t feel like visiting music room at that special time, he goes there at any other hour determined for a “free play”.

Having his day meal-routined (because routines are so important) is the safest way for him to get the right nutrition flow. Breakfast is around 6 AM, snack around 9.30 AM. Lunch is around 13.30-14 AM, depending on his daily naptime. The second snack he gets at 16.30 PM and dinner is between 18-18-30 PM. No in-between-meals! Cause their stomachs are SO SMALL. And in-between-meals mess up with their appetites.

Hydrate the whole day through

We always start our day with a glass of water and I always bring his water everywhere (even to his play and drums areas or to the garden). That way, he never gets to forget and he doesn’t need to stop the play (or whatever he’s doing). It’s also nice to look at it as a healthy habit and to let a child accept it without any obligations that water is a must. I know I am doing him a favour by implementing healthy habits now so he won’t have to fight with himself or break the bad habits later! Children sweat even more than we do while doing our HIIT workouts! If you feel like they’ve not taken enough water throughout a specific day, I suggest you offer a water-rich fruit or vegetable as a snack. Luckily, plenty of them at this time of the year: cucumber, watermelon, grapes.

Skip the sweets + a lot of physical activity

Or replace them. Or offer them after.

I seriously never offer candy or chocolate as a snack. Because it’s junk food. When junk food fills that place in the stomach that should be filled with something nutritious, it’s a game over. Because of that, I go through my son’s meal routines and occasionally offer chocolate after the nutritious meal.

This rule gave him an opportunity to express love towards fruits as “something sweet after lunch”. He told me yesterday “I want something sweet now” after he finished his lunch. Even though we had “paw patrol cookies”, I offered strawberries and he said yes! Because he’s not used to sweets! And all the vitamin C boost in his body keeps him healthy throughout the year.