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.

YABU. I'm a biologist, and I can tell you that there certainly is 'nutritional value' in jam sandwiches. Food is there to provide them with energy as well as vitamins, and jam sandwiches, regardless of the variety of jam, definitely represent calorific value. Low-calorie/low-fat/low-sugar diets for children under 3 are nonsensical (the NHS agrees on this, btw), and in those terms a jam sandwich has far more 'nutritional value' than a celery stick/similar vegetable matter which is mostly indigestible cellulose and water.

AHH! I am not crazy then for having toast and jam fro breakfast?

Well I don't think yabu at all. You pay good money for nursery and they should provide good nutritional food not jam or shit out of a tin. Yanbu at all

DS2 had a jam sandwich today. Is it ok that it was on 50/50 bread and the posh raspberry conserve stuff?!?!

And DS1 had a dairylea dunker. Hang me now.

OP YABU. Seriously.

My DD is 14 months old and at her Nursery they used to have things like jam sandwiches, chocolate sponge and custard etc - not anymore. It is all 'healthy eating' with the very occasional fruit sponge and custard maybe once every 2 weeks.

You say your DD doesn't know otherwise so you don't want to feed her 'junk' - but I know my DD is extremely switched on and wouldn't be impressed at being offered a piece of fruit if her friends were sat next to her with bowls of cake & custard. I certainly wouldn't begrudge her a little pudding treat...and in regards to jam sandwiches once a week, I think that's fine, assuming she is recieving a well balanced diet with lots of fruit & veg (which you say she is) then I really don't see the harm.

So I think YABabitU and Overreacting.

P.s - I wish my DD got some hoops on toast once in a while at Nursery, the most she gets is a slice of apple and two tiny squares of sandwich, she's starving when she gets home!! Those muffins and bagels/oatcakes sound delicious I might suggest them to my Nursery!

If she is a bad eater she could do with some high calorie food from time.to time

Loveglove "I can't imagine a two year old sitting down to a "nice" snack of mackrel on avocado with goats cheese."

My DS LOVED eating mackerel when he was a tot! it was one of his favourite snacks.

I had a jam sandwich for lunch (albeit after the avocado and the jam was homemade). Should I whip myself with my right hand or my left

Those who keep saying 'there's no nutritional value in a jam sandwich' please read WibblyBibble's post of 19:57. Of course there's 'nutritional value' in a jam sandwich! What do you think food is for?

After reading this today, I had to have jam on toast for tea... [hgrin]

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

I notice the two extremes and I agree that they are both dangerous. If I was going to start again with a career I think that I would do something with nutrition-people seem clueless. They will equate a healthy diet for a DC with an adult woman who wants to lose weight.
You can easily find a balanced diet by googling 'food pyramid' or 'good food plate' or similar. DCs are not supposed to cut out all fat and sugar. There is nothing wrong with a jam sandwich-but you would want it to be bread and jam and not jam and bread.

I'd be happy with it if it was Dalfor jam and wholemeal bread too. Can you clarify what they are eating?

With parents working long hours, nurseries should be providing kids with solid good food. The parents can give treats.

I wouldn't call a jam sandwich a treat!

It was generally the sort of thing that DCs were handed, in the days when they were generally fit and healthy with lots of exercise, to fill them up.

A big contributor to the so- called obesity crisis is not so much the type of food people are eating but the quantity. Portion contr is as important as exercise in maintaining a healthy weight. I am constantly amazed at how much food people put on their plates and how much they get through in a day.

For me to get through the recommended five a day, I'd have to eatabout double the amount of food I am comfortable with, or have meals comprising entirely fruit and veg. Once you add good protein into that, you're looking at very big meals IMO.

I have a 8 month old and she has jam on her bread the odd day, only when we've exhausted the peanut butter, soft cheese options. Only downside I can see is the mess it makes when she upends/throws it at the dog from the highchair.

Agree with a previous poster, can't find them now , I loved jam sandwiches when I was younger but my Mum didn't like me bringing them into school - she thought they were desperately "poor looking"

I'm with you choceyes. 14 months is still really young, I'm not sure what the rush to feed babies lots of sugar etc is.

I do think it's up to the parent in the end though. If you're not happy, you could speak to the nursery to see if they can change what food your DD is offered, or you could provide a healthy snack instead.

Getting worked up about a jam sandwich or spaghetti hoops? Good grief! Have you nothing better to worry about?

Think yourself lucky. One nursery I worked at gave the kids the cheapest, nastiest food you can imagine. Think overcooked smart price quiches...

If on the rare occassion the food was nice, the staff would sit there helping themselves and saying "sorry kids, no seconds today!"

Generally the food they considered good enough for the kids they'd turn their noses up at and order out.

Thats terrible bottleofbeer - the nursery should provide good quality, nutritious snacks not shite! I feel sorry for the kids who go there, I hope they get found out for that.

Sorry, but I am still laughing at the phrase 'spaghetti hoops, now they're worth fighting about'

YABU and massively precious. You need to get a grip, if you hate it that much then why don't you simply request that your PFB's don't have what the other children have?

PMSL at giving her a flapjack instead, though. Pure quality.

I think it's shocking the way that so many people think they know what 'healthy' food is. Op's comparison of jam sandwiches and flapjacks is a case in point. MN is full of posters banging on about oatcakes and flapjacks. Healthy diets include a healthy attitude to food not paranoia about white flour and refined sugar. Try and enjoy food!

This is why I have a problem with mass-produced bread, especially white bread. Bread today is nothing like bread 60 years ago. Its nutritional content is very poor; just like breakfast cereals, it has to have nutrients put back in because it's so bad. I'd happily give my DS white bread that I've made myself but I seriously doubt that the OP's nursery are making their own.

The "haven't you got anything better to worry about" comments are a bit ridiculous really. The OP smiling on her daughter being fed crap processed rubbish isn't going to solve world hunger, the economic crisis or global warming. As a parent, it is her job to look out for all aspects of the welfare of her child, including diet. This is a parenting site. If all you want to talk about is macro-scale crises then don't read these threads

Why would a jam sandwich be a significant proportion of your dd's intake for that day?

Is it supersized, or does she not have anything else?