To ask what you feed your child in a day?

[Tryingtowait]

Posting for traffic really. My son is 3 and a half years old, he was 2 months prem and IUGR, weighed 2lbs at birth so don't know if that plays a part. He is still smaller than other children and super skinny but he is a very active little boy and eats like a horse. Nursery are always shocked how much he eats with them and at home in comparison to his size.

So a typical day would be:

Breakfast - cereal and fruit
Snack at about 10am at nursery fruit rice cakes breadsticks etc
Lunch: main meal cottage pie/curry/ roast and pudding (they say he has seconds and thirds!)
2:30pm biscuit and milk
Tea time: beans on toast/pasta bakes and pudding (again seconds and thirds)

Comes home at 5:30pm claiming to be starving so he then has more snacks mostly fruit if I can but sometimes chocolate! And he goes on about food until he's had his milk at 7/7:30 and goes to bed!

Does your kids eat more/less? Would you feed him more snacks or increase his meals or do you think he has enough? I worry he would eat until he's sick.

My boys are big eaters but dd not so much, she's more of a grazer. They are 8, 6 and 2. All slightly smaller than average and healthy weights.

Breakfast : 2 weetabix with milk or toast with peanut butter or eggs and toast.

Snack: fruit

Lunch: wrap/pitta/sandwich with tuna/ham/salami/cheese. Carrots/cucumber, strawberries, yoghurt.

After school snack: biscuit/small cake/brioche/oatcakes with cheese/Apple with peanut butter.

Dinner: pasta and meatballs/roast/sausage and mash/salmon...all with veg. Followed by tinned peaches/mango/yoghurt sometimes ice lolly.

Often complain of hunger so get fruit/crackers/cheese/cereal before bed.

My dd is nearly 3 and usually has

Breakfast - cereal/toast
10am - snack usually fruit or toast if at playgroup
Lunch - sandwich, few crisps, yoghurt or fruit
Snack - dairylea dipper/fruit
Tea - whatever I can force persuade her to eat but usually sausages/ chicken/ pizza or cereal if she is in a stroppy mood followed by yoghurt/fruit

She has been going through a nightmare period with food but will always eat fruit

DD eats like a horse but I try to get more protein into her than carbs. Carb heavy stuff she seems to get hungry very quickly. She's really active so burns a lot of energy.

i would be feeding him more protein.
He is only having protein at lunch time and a snack type evening meal.
I would be giving him a more substantial evening meal and perhaps eggs or cheese at breakfast time.
Filling up on protein decreases hunger and is far more nutritious than eating fruit/chocolate in the evening.

He is really having only one substantial meal a day, my kids enjoyed supper at this age too.

Dd16, Ds16, Ds14 and Dd12 usually have:

B - 4 Weetabix / porridge etc with a banana, raisins, mixed nuts, berries
S - Banana, apple, grapes, flapjack, carrot sticks, hummus
L - 1-2 sandwiches, crisps, yogurt, orange, veg sticks etc
S - 1-3 pieces toast with PB/jam etc, cup of milk
T - whatever we are having, a huge portion
S - Fruit, sweets, choc, biscuits, cereal etc

But they're extremely active and super skinny growing teenagers, so probably not what you were after. But, ds9 (also super skinny) has a much smaller appetite and has:

B - 2 Weetabix, milk, berries, grapes
S - Banana, yogurt
L - Sandwich, apple, fridge raiders/babybel
S - Milk, fruit, toast etc
T - whatever we are having
S - same as others

My toddlers have two weektabix and blueberries or kiwi and cup of milk

Then no morning snack as it ruined their dinner appetite

Cottage pie or fish and mash or pasta

Evening banana on toast or scrambled egg

Some days rice cakes or something

Good amount of milk

Today mine has eaten beans on toast twice, museli, 7 peaches they were mine and I'm pissed off , 3 apples, 3 oranges a pint of milk, 2 more pieces of toast for a snack. A cup full of carrot sticks and is about to eat a chicken and veg curry with bread roll.

Its like this most days. Super skinny and very very active.

I could see when I read it back about the lack of protein.

pearlylum the things he eats for lunch/tea are provided by nursery as he's there until 5:30pm when he's there. At home the lunch/tea is normally reversed as we have our main meal in the evening. But could he really still be hungry when he's having seconds/thirds?!

He's always been awkward for the lighter meal too as he doesn't like sandwiches/wraps so I do the beans on toast,cheese on toast, sausage roll(not the healthiest I know).

He doesn't like eggs unfortunately and only likes melted cheese. I'm not arguing the points I can see the lack of protein there and from trying to lose weight many a time I know it fills you up more.

Thanks for the replies so far

My 4yo DD eats way less than that.

twat you must spend a fortune on fruit! I know it's cause they're active but I begrudge my ds doesn't put on weight and I struggle to get it off and eat lots less than him

DD is almost 3 and a good eater.

Standard day would be Weetabix with whole milk and a banana for breakfast
Maybe a piece of fruit as a snack
Lunch might be soup or scrambled egg and baked beans, usually followed by more fruit or a yoghurt
She'll often have a bit of a treat in the afternoon (today's was ice cream)
Then typical dinners are pasta with tomato, veg and cheese or fish fingers and mashed potato, maybe with yet more fruit afterwards
Also, chuck in a few sweets during the day as toilet training bribery and maybe one glass of juice plus bedtime milk

When DD was having dinner at 4.30pm at nursery she often would have a substantial snack when she got home - toast of fruit and yoghurt. Nursery tires them out.

yep! but I can get 15 apples for £1 in farmfoods atm and lidl often does very good deals on fruit. I switch it around. Sometimes DC gets a bag of carrots in his snack bowl along with apples and oranges.

Peaches are 70p for 7 in tesco and a punnet of plums is only £1.

I think I spend around £5-7 per week on snack fruit and veg. It's not too bad because I know that could easily go on crisps and biscuits that wouldn't last the week.

I have DD 8 and DS 4.

Breakfast: cereal

Snack at school: fruit

School lunch eg: sweetcorn and pepper pizza, pear sponge and vanilla sauce

Snack: Chedds

Supper: tomato and basil chicken pasta salad, fruit, 5 chocolates

Ds is 3 and has a good appetite, on an average day:

Breakfast - An adult size bowl of porridge (if I give him a smaller portion he just has seconds anyway)

Mid Morning - a piece of fruit, bread sticks or a piece of toast with Marmite

Lunch - Packed lunch at nursery - ham sandwich, piece of fruit, yogurt, raisins or crisps. At home beans on toast or 2 eggs and soldiers followed by fruit and yogurt.

Mid Afternoon - Usually a treat, a piece of homemade cake, or chocolate buttons if we're out.

Dinner - Yesterday had 3 fish fingers, oven chips and peas, tonight had 2 sausages, mashed potato, sweet corn and carrots and gravy. Followed by yogurt or ice cream, maybe some fruit too if he's still hungry.

Dd (4.5) has the same but in smaller amounts.

I would raise two points.

First - we found that nursery would always tell us DS was eating loads and coming back for more, but he was frequently hungry. I don't think he ate as much as they made out.

Secondly, how are his BMs? As his mum you can probably tell when he's been eating well or if he's been eating rubbish, I know I normally can !

I would be giving him more protein and less sugars too. Try to get some scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, tuna / smoked mackerel sandwiches etc into him in the evening.

Less today, we have 4 dc. Youngest is 3 and half, then 6, 7 and 9

Today was porridge with marshmallows and roasted hazlenuts he ate two serving spoonfuls and 4 glasses of cows milk

Soda scone buttered with a glass of cows milk

Some apple and a glass of soya milk

Raw brocolli 4 florets, 2 whole raw carrots, a little bit of celery and salad served with pasta with brocolli, walnut, tomato, garlic and cheese pesto - homemade. One small pasta bowl full and a glass of orange juice.

Oh and a small toddler size handful of Cheerios and cherries.

B - brioche, toast, waffles, wheetabix or porridge and some fruit, milk to drink

L - usually a picnic type lunch, some meat, breadsticks or crackers or sandwich or wrap, veg sticks, more fruit, chunk of cheese, little cake or biscuit, water
Ds1 has school lunches

D - hot dinner of some kind, today was pizza and salad
Choc ice after

Before bed - cup of milk and vitamin

Today my nearly 2 yr old has eaten,

1 weetabix with full fat milk plus 2 small fromage frais

Bag of toddler snack crisps

Lunch was crackers and marmite, cheese, cocktail sausages, dairylea dunker and mixed fruit pot

Couple of chocolate buttons

Dinner at the Toby carvery. Mash, cauliflower cheese, peas, carrots, runner beans, stuffing, turkey & some of my duck plus a giant Yorkshire pudding.

Lots of water and a couple of cups of full fat milk

Today is my day off so my DD (2) has had
Porridge (adult portion), banana, half of my slice of toast
Snack - cereal bar
Lunch - sandwich, blueberries, carrots and cucumber and a baby bel, followed by a biscuit
Dinner - chicken breast, roasted veg, potato, some of our garlic bread, strawberries and a yoghurt

At nursery they tell me she pretty much always has seconds. But having had breakfast there I'm pretty sure the portions are tiny (I guess to avoid waste). When I bring her home from nursery (6pm), she's usually just had milk and a biscuit but still polishes off a crumpet or cheese on toast plus some tomatoes/apple/cheese bits on the side.

DS is 11, slim but strong. Competes at County level in swimming (which impacts on his food intake).
B- yoghurt, fruit, and toast or pancake.
S- fruit
L- sandwiches, crisps, salad bits, fruit,
S- snack bar or toast or cheese scone (add something else if training)
D- pasta and meat/ veg sauce or noodle/ rice stir fry (meat and veg) or similar.
Milk before bed.

DS is 6. Breakfast is toast (2), yoghurt and fruit with a glass of juice and a glass of milk at breakfast club. Weekends he has scrambled egg on toast or similar (2 large/3 medium eggs, 1 toast, often some beans).

Mid morning piece of fruit, usually an apple, plus a carton of milk.

Pack up is ham sandwich or wrap (sometimes with cream cheese and grated carrot), a small bag of crisps, some yoghurt, a banana, a small flapjack or mini malt loaf, water or fruit juice.

Snack at after school club - crackers and cheese, soup, beans on toast, cereal etc. Milk to drink, some more fruit (they chop a selection and the kids graze).

Dinner is a home cooked meal, often something from the slow cooker like chicken tagine, chilli, curry, bolognaise, casserole, with a starch; or pasta with tuna/chicken/bacon and some veg in a sauce. Pudding usually a small chocolate dessert pot, a biscuit or a small amount of ice cream.

He often grabs a banana before bed as he still claims to be ravenous.

He's very active and does sport several times a week plus 2 hours of dance/musical theatre on Saturdsys and I usually take him out and run him ragged on a Sunday too, it helps him sleep. He's tall for his age and slim but not skinny.

That doesn't seem too much! At nursery my DS gets weetabix for breakfast, a cooked lunch with pudding (he frequently has seconds), fruit/milk after his nap and then a snacky tea with fruit/cake/yog at 3/4 ish. I think the tea they give them is fairly small as he'll still eat an evening meal - although maybe 2/3 of the amount he'd eat on days at home. He's only 1 - and not chubby. I think nursery portions tend to be 'little and often' sized and they probably chuck a fair bit on the floor...

Oh and in answer to your question, if your DS is having an early tea, I'd offer him a proper savoury supper at 6ish rather than have him graze on fruit or whatever. Mine happily polished off some fishfingers/sweet potato/peas and a yoghurt tonight despite having had bangers and mash for lunch and soup and bread for tea.

Thanks everyone for the replies it's certainly eased my mind. The only comparison I've really had is his cousin who is 15 months younger who doesn't eat very much at all but is a lot bigger than him. I also quite often get hung up on the prem thing but by the sounds of it he's a pretty average 3 year old eating wise, just smaller built atm.

And also you guys are probably right on nursery portions. Although I think I do big portions and when it's something like a roast he always asks for more. thanks for the insight

I don't find it helpful to compare with other children. DD has friends that eat about a quarter of what she does and they are chubby. So much is how much they move and how fast they are growing. In your case the premie thing is a factor as well. Teaching them to choose healthy, eat to their appetite and listen to their bodies is far more important IMO.