Bedtime Snacks?

I've never been a fan of bedtime snacks.  In fact, I hate eating after 7:30 p.m. because I find I don't sleep as well as when I eat earlier.  So, when kiddos moved in, they had been used to eating a bedtime snack.  This led us to one issue of adjustment.

I promptly ended that little bedtime ritual.  Now snacks only happen at night when someone is taking medication that needs food to be eaten with it. 

Occasionally, I read other blogs and news stories that expound on how wonderful it is to feed kids before bedtime.  I'm not fully convinced.  It seems like a bad habit to start, when eating before bed is adding calories when metabolism and calorie burning is at its slowest.  If I'm feeding them plenty at dinner, why do I need to add more food a couple hours later before they sleep?

What I've noticed is that once in a while, the kids ask for a snack before bed.  Most of the time, this is after we've discussed food or watched an ad on TV for the latest snack item.  If I ignore it, they forget about the snack and go to bed.  No one has yet woken up in the middle of the night complaining of being hungry.  In fact, I sometimes have to threaten them to eat breakfast because they are not hungry.

The other thing I've noticed is that the snacks they ask for at bedtime are sugar snacks, not healthy ones.  To the extent that they get one, I've made it be carrot sticks, apple slices or  a glass of milk.  Once, when given these choices, the kid decided to not eat anything (I think the hope was for a chocolate chip cookie).

I still wonder if this is the right approach or not, but since the kids seem to be growing at a healthy rate, I'll assume it is.