What does your two year old eat in a day?

[youhadmeatjello]

I’m getting a bit concerned that mine eats way too much! Everyone comments on what a good eater he is and what a big boy he is (he’s very broad), he’s heavy for his age - not fat, he doesn’t have rolls and has slimmed down recently - but he’s heavy to lift.
His dad is 6 foot and the shortest on his side of the family and although DS is only just over average on the height scale (and higher up the weight percentile than the height one) nobody has ever raised it as a concern they’ve just said he’s a healthy, sturdy boy and he’s likely to be tall. I asked the GP when he had a check up for something else but he didn’t have any concerns.

Today he ate:
Porridge with half a banana for breakfast, about 5-6 tablespoons. Then asked for more so had the other half of the banana.

Morning snack was a homemade vegetable muffin

Lunch was half a small jacket potato with cheese and beans at soft play, left the skin and some of the potato, plus he had a bit of pitta and hummus that I was eating and a baby biscuit on the way back in the pushchair

Afternoon snack was a yogurt and blueberries

Dinner meatballs and rice with chopped peppers and sauce about 5-6 tablespoons, left a tiny bit and had some fruit for “pudding”

Day before he had:
Banana oat pancakes with Greek yogurt and raspberries (two and a half pancakes, small tablespoons of mixture so not big ones!)

Morning snack was a pack of baby veggie crisp things in the pushchair

Lunch was half a slice of bread with marmite, some chopped avocado and tomato (left the tomato), cheese cubes, half a banana and two crackers

Afternoon snack was a fruit oat bar (homemade baked oats basically)

Dinner was chicken curry with rice and broccoli on the side - about six tablespoons of curry and then he had seconds as he asked for more

He would eat snacks all day if I let him, I think and definitely eats more in days when I’m relying on packet snacks. He often asks for more when he’s in the pushchair or he’s had something he particularly likes and I struggle to know whether he’s hungry still or he just wants it!

I just wondered how his day to day compares. Lots of my friends with kids have the opposite problem with their children who don’t seem to eat much at all so he always looks like he eats loads in comparison!

Sounds very similar to my 2 year old, who also drinks a shit load of milk as well

So today he has

Porridge for breakfast with about 10 raspberries
Apple and grapes for snack
Croissant for snack
Spag Bol for lunch
Cereal bar
Fish, potatos and broccoli for tea
Yogurt
About 5 breadsticks
About 12oz of milk

That’s good to know @OnceuponaRainbow18 I get so many comments on how enthusiastically he eats that I’m starting to get a complex about it! Obviously making sure I don’t communicate that to him but I don’t really have anyone to compare to that has an eater for a toddler!
I looked online at portion sizes and for the most part he seems on track. Some days he will have more. Some days less but he rarely leaves much food.

I was a very very chubby toddler til I was about 3 and a half when I suddenly became a really skinny little thing, and he has the same face shape (the only area he’s properly chubby) so I wonder if he’s going to be the same.

Sounds fine to me.

Ds 2.5 today ate:
Breakfast- one slice of buttered toast, glad of milk
Snack-banana
Lunch-beans on slice of whole meal toast, apple.
Snack-small bag of chocolate buttons
Dinner-roast chicken, carrots, broccoli, spring greens (ate a tiny bit), mash potato and gravy
Satsuma for pudding
Milk before bed.
Yesterday he ate:
Breakfast- porridge with blueberries ( didn’t eat much)
Snack-pear
Lunch-tuna sandwich thin, babybel, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, cornichons, pot of custard, few grapes
Snack- cracker & cheese
Dinner-homemade veg soup & croutons with apple crumble and cream for pudding.
Milk at bed.

He is skinny and tall. Very active, walks, scoots or cycle twice a day on the school run, park etc. just better from Covid and lost his appetite so he is only just getting back into his food which he loves and eats a lot. His siblings vary, db and Ds’s eat a lot but all skinny and tall. His other sister eats very little and is tiny.

I have an 18mo and he eats what I think is a lot, sounds like it would be similar if not more than your son.

When he is poorly he goes off his food and we worry but he is soon back into it after a few days.

I think he goes through growth spurts and he eats more. I offer him 1/3rd of a banana with his milk before bath/bedtime each night and for a few weeks he was eating it and asking for more but this week he hasn't wanted much at all.

He is constantly 'busy', running around everywhere, climbing up and down off things and is getting taller and putting on weight growing out of his clothes every couple of months so I guess he uses up a lot of energy. He was a chubby baby but has really slimmed down since he started crawling and walking, just has a little pot belly now 😀

There are plenty of kids who are really fussy eaters or who barely eat anything so I'm glad we are not dealing with that... touch wood!

Not dissimilar from DS, who's just 3. Today he had:

Breakfast: two small blueberry pancakes, small cup of milk

*Snack: Half slice of toast with half a small apple

*Lunch: Small portion of lasagne, single slice of garlic baguette

*Tea: Small turkey sandwich, half a tangerine

Dinner: A single homemade fish finger with 3 large sweet potato wedges and a couple of spoons of peas and sweetcorn

*Nursery meals so we don't control what he has or the portions, but my understanding is they're generally small. Sometimes he has a second breakfast at nursery too

DS is 99th centile for height and 50-75th for weight.

Also very useful thank you!
He’s dropped his milk pretty much at bedtime and barely has 30ml most nights now (more a routine thing than anything else).
He’s pretty active usually, walks quite far when he wants to and runs around the park, hasn’t mastered scooting yet so sits on the seat for that I think I do need to get him more active when we are out and about as he tends to be in the pushchair more than I’d like as he doesn’t walk as well for me as he does for nanny or daddy!
He barely sits still at home though unless he’s colouring or painting

Dd's typical day:
Satsuma and 1 wheetabix for breakfast

Snack: one slice of toast with philadelphia or marmite

Lunch: cheese crumpet or half jacket potato with beans. Cucumber sticks with skin cut off and slice of cheese.

Snack: banana and mini cheddars (yes it is a big snack but at nursery she had tea at 3:30 so is Used to a meal at that time)

Dinner: whatever we have, probably the least well eaten meal of the day because her sister is a fussy bugger and she picks of cues from her. Fruit or yoghurt for dessert.

Depending on how well she's eaten, sometimes a small bowl of porridge before bed.

She was 2 in December and just going into 18-24m clothes and very petite height wise too. She doesn't drink any milk throughout the day

If you want him to walk more, could you get a second hand toy buggy? Dd used to whinge on the walk to school and want to be carried if I forgot the buggy but she loves pushing her own baby and will walk for ages if we let her

Nah mine eats loads:
Bowl Of Cheerios
Some dry Cornflakes
Satsuma
Chocolate
Cheese sandwich
Veggie crisps
Coconut rolls x 2
Pasta and tomato and cheese
Strawberries
Crispy tiddlers

We are also more unhealthy than you guys it seems!

That’s a brilliant idea @findahouse21 I might look into that. He walks beautifully for his Nan and dad, with me he will do 5-10 minutes if I’m lucky then ask for a carry and if I refuse which I do as he’s heavy, he flops around on the floor like a fish refusing to walk/get in the buggy and is annoyingly strong willed and stubborn.
I have to admit to just strapping him in as it means I can get to places quicker (I don’t drive) and I have The Fear of leaving the pushchair behind because I can’t rely on him to walk.

It’s about what mine would have eaten - though they had bigger meals and didn’t really do snacks.

If he’s solid he may need a bit more at meal times. By 2 or even 18 months half a banana or half a piece of bread may be too little.

@Sleepyquest we often have days where he has baby biscuits, veggie crisp things, some of his nan’s teacake and jam etc so I’m no saint by any means! As he’s a good eater I tend to try and keep him on the healthy stuff when I can as I’m well aware the beige phase is probably imminent!

@Luredbyapomegranate that’s really interesting, he is very very solid. I picked up my friends toddler the other day and nearly slung him over my shoulder as he’s so tiny and light in comparison! But as I say, not fat (and I don’t think I’m being blind, I have very candid honest friends!) we’ve actually had to size down in nappies as he’s slimmed down a little and was leaking. Definitely a chunk though.

I wonder if I need to give him a little more at mealtimes and then he won’t be wanting as many snacks as he asks for.

Mine eats little and often. Today as an example

Porridge probably half an adult portion, half a pear chopped up loves pear
Pain au chocolate mid morning

Lunch ham sandwich probably ate 3/4
Yogurt
Few cheese crackers
Mini pack raisins

Afternoon snack 2 of those organic oats bites

Dinner spaghetti and homemade meatballs. had 3 meatballs and a few forkfulls of spaghetti

Supper very small bowl of cereal like a ramekin size

Has milk at breakfast, water in the day. Occasional squash eg at playgroup

I don't think it sounds very much to be honest and some of it isn't very filling (eg those baby crisps are mainly air and DS can eat loads of them)

Today my two year old had:

B: An adult size bowl of porridge (ie 40g of oats) and a yogurt
Snack (at nursery): A banana
L (at nursery): A bowl of soup, two helpings of some sort of salmon and sweet potato thing and some fruit for pudding. He ignored his cauliflower.
Snack (at nursery): Carrot sticks, pitta bread and guacamole
Tea (at home): Four helpings of pasta and one helping of Bolognese sauce.

He doesn't always eat that much but he's still making up for Christmas where he had a virus and was off his food for a few weeks. He's average height and pretty skinny - he's nearly 2.5 but is still mainly in 18m-24m clothes.

@mynameiscalypso yes he definitely eats more on the days he has stuff like the crisps and things.
He won’t eat raw veg sticks with is frustrating, but I’m trying to come up with things that are more filling at mealtimes (so I made the banana oat pancakes to have with yogurt as I figured that was a good serving of carbs and protein)

I really struggle on days we are out and he will be eating on the go

This is all making me feel loads better by the way!

2yo DS has a really variable appetite, but on a good day:

Breakfast: porridge with blueberries, or 2x weetabix, or 1 scrambled egg with toast fingers

Snack: oat bar, or banana, and cup of milk

Lunch: pasta with cream cheese and broccoli, or chicken & rice (with peas, pepper and broccoli), or some finger sandwiches

Snack: pancake or a baby biscuit or a yoghurt

Dinner: scrambled eggs on toast, or peanut butter and banana on toast, or beans on toast, followed by fruit or yoghurt or a pot of custard

Milk before bed

I wish he ate more, and a more varied diet! We’re kind of stuck with toast at dinner time because DH and I eat later, and when he first started nursery he was so tired it was a struggle to get anything down him before he crashed out, so toast+protein became the default. I do want us to all eat dinner together, hopefully that will happen soon.

[quote youhadmeatjello]@mynameiscalypso yes he definitely eats more on the days he has stuff like the crisps and things.
He won’t eat raw veg sticks with is frustrating, but I’m trying to come up with things that are more filling at mealtimes (so I made the banana oat pancakes to have with yogurt as I figured that was a good serving of carbs and protein)

I really struggle on days we are out and he will be eating on the go[/quote]
It sounds more like portion size than anything else? I tend to think that two year olds are good at self-regulating so if DS is wanting a snack not long after a meal, I don't think I served him enough. Sometimes that's inevitable because there wasn't any more food, sometimes it's his own fault for not eating at the meal time.

Yeah I think you could be right. I think I’ve possibly been giving him meals that aren’t filling him up - he never asks for a snack after dinner for example but after lunch it’s constant. And lunch is the one I think I’m worst at.

What kind of packed lunches do you all put together if you’re going to be out all day?

My 12 month old eats tons, four meals when at nursery & breastfeeds 3-4 times a day still.

A menu this week (when with us):

150g of porridge oats with cinnamon and 10 blueberries. Made into porridge fingers with whole milk.

100g of whole milk with a croissant and 5 pieces melon for mid morning snack.

Egg fried rice - one egg scrambled with 7-8 tablespoons of rice, handful of peas.

2 inch chunk of cucumber cut into sticks with a couple of tablespoons of butter bean hummus.

Breastfeed

6 tablespoons of lamb and lentil stew, half a roasted sweet potato, 3 broccoli florets and fistful of green beans, half a yoghurt pot size of custard with 5 raspberries, a little animal biscuit and a banana!

2 more breastfeeds at bedtime/overnight

He doesn’t stop moving from the moment he wakes up, so he must need the calories, but it seems so much compared to other kids his age.

He’s 91st centile for height and 75th for weight & his grandfathers are 6ft 6 and 6ft 4 respectively so I’m not expecting him to be small! He just constantly walks around with this huge pot belly like Kermit the Frog!

@youhadmeatjello

Yeah I think you could be right. I think I’ve possibly been giving him meals that aren’t filling him up - he never asks for a snack after dinner for example but after lunch it’s constant. And lunch is the one I think I’m worst at.

What kind of packed lunches do you all put together if you’re going to be out all day?

I would do a sandwich - one slice of bread with nut butter (cashew or almond), some chopped cup cheese, couple of baby cucumbers and a piece of fruit. But I wouldn't necessarily expect him to finish it

With the snacks being crisps I can understand why he might be getting hungry as some of them are like eating air. I bake big batches of mini muffins (usually banana, spinich & oat flavour) and pop them in the freezer. I'll give him two of these with a few grapes or satsuma and a few kiddie crisps for a snack when we are out and about.

I'm not sure we've had a packed lunch for ages and ages. If I was making one now, I'd probably put some cold pizza or quiche in there, breadsticks and a dip or some cheese (or both!) and a yoghurt or smoothie. In the past I've also done pasta salads (normally just pasta + pesto but it can be messy!). Quesadillas are popular too.

I think with DS there was a point at which he could suddenly eat a much larger quantity in one sitting and I didn't catch up for a while. So I was making, eg, a sandwich with one slice of bread folded over when he could happily polish off a sandwich made with two slices of bread.