to question nursery as to why they are serving jam sandwiches to babies?

[choceyes]

My DD is 14 months old and goes to nursery 3 days a week.

I won't know whether I am being precious or not, but it annoys me that occassionally she gets given jam sandwiches and also tinned spaghetti hoops on toast for her afternoon snack. I would never give these things to her at home. She always has healthy stuff, no treats at all, cos she is not a big eater, so I don't want to fill her up with junk.

My DS, 3yrs, is also at the same nursery, but there's nothing much I can do to stop him eating jam sarnies, as he would want to eat what his friends eat. and as he eats fairly well most of the time he can afford to have the occassional junk.

The nursery lunches are fine, and they also do fruit, chesse, crackers, tuna sandwiches for afternoon snack , so this probably happens about once a week I guess (i mean she gets either jam sarnies or hoops on toast maybe once a week, the rest of the meals are fine).

I dunno really. I was talking to a friend about it at the weekend and she was appalled at the jam sarnies, so got me thinking maybe I should say something to the manager.

I'm not in anyway a health freak, and against giving kids sugar, but not at 14 months, it's too young for me. And the nursery serves them to kids above 12 months I think.

It's just there is NO nutritional value in jam sarnies. I@d rather they gave her a flapjack or something (and they sometimes for the older ones dessert), which although has sugar, has got good things in it too.

SQUEAKY have you not seen the skull and crossbones on packs of sugar?

And I don't see why people are pushing their views on others about sugar not killing them etc
I don't yell at people in the street who are feeding their toddler monster munch, so why do people feel it is their right to make comments such as 'give that poor child a biscuit for gods sake' when mine are happy eating an apple?

When Armageddon comes (this weekend apparently), me and my poor deprived jam and spaghetti hoop eating DS will be sure to point and laugh while your avocados and goats cheese go off and you starve

loveglove... give it time.. and anything containing a grain of salt or sugar will be more decorated than a cig packet soon..

All this fretting and policing will have the effect of turning the next generation into teens who, the minute they are unwrapped from cotton wool and let off the leash with their pocket money will be straight to the shops to stuff their faces with anything that they have been denied, and before you know it, you will have a "Think 21" sign above the cake counter and a miserable cashier asking for ID.

I think you should remove your child from nursery and never allow them near a school dinner if the occasional jam sarnie and spag hoops upset you.

I think that people have very little grasp of nutrition-I can't see why flapjack is better than bread and jam.

Surely this type of attitude in a parent can affect a child's perception of food and cause psychological problems in the future.

I bet you wouldn't want a diet with no treats choceyes. Eating is supposed to be sociable and pleasurable-not just refuelling.

Of course it can MrBloomsNursery-a sure way to give a craving for 'naughty' foods.

I like jam.

Exactly exotic. I can imagine OP sitting down with a calculator and assessing how many calories each child ate in a day - brilliant role model for (especially) a daughter in this day and age

Yabu you have to pick your battles. It's occasionalal not every day.

Just provide a balanced diet and the odd jam sandwich doesn't matter.
I get the distinct impression that some people keep their DCs on a diet they wouldn't have the will power for themselves.
You should all be eating the same in a family-more or less, with different portion sizes.

Yanbu, I would not feed my daughter either of those things and would (and have) complain if that was what was being served.

I think that part of the problem is that low nutritional value foods are cheap and particularly in a private nursery directly affect the bottom line. If you choose to serve your child spag hoops and jam sandwiches that is your prerogative. You are free to make adjustments to your child diet accordingly - or not as the case may be. A nursery is meant to be a professional Environment (IMO). They have no idea what the rest of a child's diet consists of and to my mind they have an obligation to ensure that what they serve is of good nutritional value.

Each to their own but I would be unhappy with this.

Fwiw, this sort of thing was one of the reasons I moved my daughter. She is now somewhere where the food provision is fabulous, - the children and staff all sit down to eat together and all of the food provided is both delicious and of fantastic quality. Personally I am glad to have left the tesco value bread and jam behind.

sevenbubbles - did you read that it's either a jam sandwich or hoops once a week - for a snack, not even for lunch. Given that they feed this child about the same amount of meals as her parents do, I think they have a fair idea what her diet is like.

My dd has toast and jam before school every morning- didn't realize it was so evil?! Doesn't anyone here eat toast as a snack then?? I thought it was pretty standard for kids and adults alike.

Exoticfruits- completely agree about people keeping their kids on a diet they wouldn't have the willpower for themselves. I know someone who only gives her kids fruit between meals, absolutely nothing else, and meals are very strictly regimented too. Yet she hides biscuits in the cupboard and eats massive ben and jerrys tubs at night despite being told by the gp she needs to lose weight (she told me all this!). My DD innocently gave her 3yo DD a rice crispie cake she had made once, the mum was not impressed!

Exoticfruits- completely agree about people keeping their kids on a diet they wouldn't have the willpower for themselves. I know someone who only gives her kids fruit between meals, absolutely nothing else, and meals are very strictly regimented too. Yet she hides biscuits in the cupboard and eats massive ben and jerrys tubs at night despite being told by the gp she needs to lose weight (she told me all this!). My DD innocently gave her 3yo DD a rice crispie cake she had made once, the mum was not impressed!

Its a Jam sarny not a shit sarny.

Although my mum wouldnt allow me to take jam sandwiches to school in my packed lunch as it made us look poor apparently

It wont kill her. My DS goes to a private nursery for his free 15hr week funding and gets beans on toast, spaghetti on toast, im not bothered as i know for the main dinner they get a home cooked meal, whether that be roast dinners, homecooked curries etc etc

Anyone who has a different diet to their DC is onto a loser from the start. DCs never do what you say- they do what you do. It is quite simple-everyone in the family eats a balanced, healthy diet and then you don't have to get in a state about a jam sandwich or a DC giving a bar of chocolate on a birthday. Everything in moderation.

I agree exotic. I have actually noticed in the time DS has been eating I have eaten healthier as I generally hide my chocolate eating til he is in bed and eat more fruit during the day ;)

He is nearly 2 and currently loves fruit and all things healthy. But last week he asked for a bag of chocolate buttons when out - he had them and loved them, no harm done!! I wouldn't have an issue with the odd jam sandwich or tin of hoops either.

There seem to be the two extremes out there - the "they a mcdonalds every day won't harm them" parents and the "oh no they couldn't possibly eat any sugar/processed fats etc etc etc" parents. Both of those approaches are IMO as dangerous as each other.

Thankfully most parents fall somewhere in the middle and realise that everything in moderation won't do anyone any harm!

I want a jam sandwich now.
with lots of butter on soft white bread...

I used to eat mcds three times a day and I was a size 8 (healthy too btw, not just thin) [hwink]
Couldnt afford for DS to eat it every day though [hgrin]

OMG seriously this is all you have to worry about I envy you

This cannot be real can it? In the scheme of things to worry about this does not even register. Get a grip.