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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to ask what people WOULD like nurseries to feed your children fgs?

50 replies

whatsallthehullaballoo · 19/10/2011 15:30

Well....? I am not asking what you DO NOT like being fed to your children, but rather what you would like...and I think many of you will see a vast difference of opinion in what some people find acceptable and others not. Nurseries/ childminders take such a bashing for their menu's and I would guess that 90% of what they serve is good.

Maybe it is just that not everyone has the same point of view?

OP posts:
WillbeanChariot · 19/10/2011 16:02

Thanks Peachy, hope your DSs are ok. I was shocked reading a similar thread the other day, people were slating what I thought sounded like a perfect lunch as being too sugary/salty/low energy etc. DS eats about eight things reliably and none of them are fruit and veg. He's underweight and I have to feed him something!

Peachy · 19/10/2011 16:08

They are fine Willbean, thaks for asking.

DS4 will drink a smoothie and maybe have carrots once a week at his CM's house. Whilst I know smoothies are sugary and attract the attention of food snovbs in an over-priced label-sucker way, thank goodness for them is what I say!

starlingsintheslipstream · 19/10/2011 16:12

DS2 is such a fussy bugger I'm chuffed if they can get him to eat anything quite frankly.

dottynosleep · 19/10/2011 16:14

I'm happy with what nursery feeds my kids (well one of them - ds's lunch box is shocking & I'm sure significant numbers of mners would view it as abusive ... gasp ... but since it has taken two years, 2 psychologists, a dietician & 3 therapists to get him to eat I'm ecstatic about it!).

Anyway ... dd2 eats normal food - soups/scones, pizza, risotto, pasta bakes, fish pie, veggie pie etc & a pudding every day (apple crumble, cake, jelly, fruit & chocolate sauce, yoghurt, even trifle) - for lunch. For tea they have sandwiches (cheese/tuna), cheese straws, dips & veggies, soups & scones, fruit/cake/yoghurt, pizza, baked beans on toast, pasties. All home made though & veggies come from the allotment or locally sourced organic so it does get a few ponce points Wink

Bucharest · 19/10/2011 16:14

One of the reasons I handed dd over to nursery was that I knew they would manage to make her eat whereas with me she never did.

Didn't give a toss what they gave her as long as she got fed. But then I'm not clenchy.

Sossiges · 19/10/2011 16:15

Chocolate buttons (but only the giant ones)

Sossiges · 19/10/2011 16:15

Gotta draw the line somewhere

Meita · 19/10/2011 16:15

Hmm, if DS were going to nursery 5 days a week and would have 3 meals/day there, plus snacks in between, I'd like the following:

one hot/cooked meal per day, the other meals/snacks can be cold
some sort of fruit or veg as part of every meal
some sort of carbohydrates as part of every meal (bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, ...)
some source of calcium at least once per day
protein rich stuff (meat, eggs etc.) every other day or so
fish twice per week

on the whole, should be low in salt and sugar, and a meal is complete without a dessert - a dessert is allowed occasionally but NOT as an everyday, essential part of meals. Food should only occasionally be deep fried, and should be prepared in such a manner as to preserve the nutrients.

for snacks: fruit, dried fruit, fruit bars, raw vegetable sticks, cheese, yoghurt/fromage frais, low-sugar cookies/biscuits, slice of bread/toast, occasionally (once a week or so) chocolatey stuff. Snacks such as crisps are allowed once per month or so.

for drinks: Water. I'm happy to drink nearly nothing except water and tea, I don't see why my child should need anything else. Also, it's cheap!

notcitrus · 19/10/2011 16:16

Our nursery actually did a survey about 18 months ago asking what people thought of the food, what they'd like to see on the menu aiming at a 16-day cycle (ie 3 weeks getting staggered a bit), did people want them to go organic, etc.

Results were a more diverse range of dishes on the menu, many with hidden vegetables, no-one cared about organic, they do some savoury as well as sweet things in 'cookery class', and I'm pretty happy - as they ALSO talk to me about my child being a hugely fussy eater and we agree what to do about that. Mainly rationing his breakfast so he might actually try his other meals or at least his snack...

worldgonecrazy · 19/10/2011 16:20

DD has to take her own food in, but the snacks they do have are rice cakes with home made jam, or bread made by the kindergarten children in the previous session. In kindergarten the children get to make and eat vegetable soup once a week and also make home made pizzas too.

She gets foie gras at home Wink

Flisspaps · 19/10/2011 16:25

Woohoo, lots of common sense here.

I am going to make myself lot a cake for tomorrow then Grin

dottynosleep · 19/10/2011 16:27

have actually dug out the menu and one day for tea they offer ... sausage rolls (or veggie sausage rolls) & fruit smoothies ice lollies! Fabulous.

ChippingInToThePumpkinLantern · 19/10/2011 16:32

Nestle cereal for breakfast
Jam sandwich for morning tea (cheap white bread & asda jam)
Spagetti Hoops on cheap white bread for lunch
Nestle KitKat for afternoon tea

dottynosleep · 19/10/2011 16:35

cup of tea & a Mr Whippy ice cream?

ILoveFrogs · 19/10/2011 16:41

I'm happy with what my DS eats at nursery, examples -

Breakfast - choice of Weetabix, Rice Krispie's, Cheerios.

AM snack - Is always assorted fresh fruit.

Lunch - Veggie chilli and rice, Tuna pasta, Sausage hotpot and potatoes, fish pie. They also get a pudding at lunch time - Jelly, apple crumble and custard, fruit fondue, ice lolly etc

PM snack - Usually carrot sticks, cucumber, breadsticks and dip.

High tea - Ham sandwich, slice of pizza, rice cakes with cheese spread.

Drinks - Water or Milk

Plus if its one of the kids birthdays they have a wee party and each child gets a slice of cake.

Everything is made fresh on the premises, I've never had any issues with his nursery meals.

exaspomum · 19/10/2011 16:45

soup

RedHotPokers · 19/10/2011 16:45

As long as they get DS to eat SOMETHING (a challenge in itself), I'm happy.

Tbh, DSs nursery meals are 100x healthier than DDs school dinners. The fact that apparently school dinners have been revolutionised and made healthy seems to have escaped DDs school Hmm.

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 19/10/2011 16:52

Beef Wellington.

MrBloomsNursery · 19/10/2011 16:55

Sugar sprinkled on buttered toast,
Deep fried Mars Bar followed by pudding which consists of a handfull of haribo sweets (non-gelatine please),
Lard cake,
Fatchops with baked potatoes fried in chicken fat,
Butter sticks rolled in hundreds and thousands,
Broccolli. Fried in butter.

Drinks: Coke and coffee ofcourse!

RitaMorgan · 19/10/2011 17:15

I'm more than happy with ds's nursery.

Snack - they have toast, fruit and milk
Lunch - last week's menu was something like:

Chilli con carne with rice
Chicken mince patties, cous cous and mango salsa
Roast beef, roast potatoes and veg
Pasta with sauce, salad and garlic bread
Battered fish, potato wedges and beans

Puddings they sometimes have yoghurt, sometimes fruit jelly, sometimes flapjacks, rice pudding, sometimes crumble or sponge cake with custard. Sometimes even ice cream Shock

They have a kitchen and make almost everything themselves (eg batter the fish themselves, make wedges out of actual potatoes), ds enjoys the food and eats well. I have no problems.

somewherewest · 19/10/2011 17:26

"Nestle cereal for breakfast
Jam sandwich for morning tea (cheap white bread & asda jam)
Spagetti Hoops on cheap white bread for lunch
Nestle KitKat for afternoon tea"

Through in twenty cans of Lidl own-brand lager and you've got the average undergrad diet at my old uni.

ChippingInToThePumpkinLantern · 19/10/2011 17:28
Grin
Maisiethemorningsidecat · 19/10/2011 17:32

Something sugary and full of additives. I've just sent DC3 into nursery today for a dolls tea pary (don't ask!) with a box full of (ready made) fairy cakes that the DCs iced and decorated with all sorts of sugary goodness last night. I feel someone has to Grin

As long as it's a balanced diet which adheres to the Scottish Government guidelines, then a few crappy treats thrown in is fine by me.

LaWeasel · 19/10/2011 17:44

As long as every day contained:

Vegetables, Protein, Carbs and 35% of calories from fat and a maximum of say, 20% of meals/snacks were heavily processed, I don't really care.

minervaitalica · 19/10/2011 17:50

Basically what my DD's nursery offers:

  • menu designed in collaboration with a professional dietician; ours includes plenty of treats including ice cream, choc cake or jam tart (baked on the premises), although not every day
  • Variety of foods: "veggie days", curry, pasta, soup, risotto, savoury crepes, stir fry, salads, grilled or roasted meat or fish, grilled vegetables... The sky's the limit here really.
  • Food made of the premises (good quality basic ingredients but I am really not fussed about organics)
  • Drinks limited to water or milk for those who like it. Diluted jiuce or lemonade is fine, but really not necessary.

Selected parents in my school regularly visit the school to check out the food - apparently this really helped the school improve the food when they started doing it a few years ago.

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