What do you think of this portion size for 15mo?

[DerekDoodles]

Is this too big? Just right? Not enough? Interested in opinions!

Looks fine to me, he wouldn't have eaten it if he wasn't hungry. They self regulate at that age. Mine will eat loads some days and barely anything on others

It's a big portion, but as long as he isn't forced to eat it all, I don't see the problem in offering it.

My 15 month old wouldn't eat half (well not even a quarter).
My two year old would eat that much, but he would eat enything that wasn't nailed down (lucky he loves veg and fruit).
I guess it does depends on a whole day eating habits.

Some meals children may be hungrier than others, some meals they may not fancy eating what they're given. Just like adults.

I don't always feel hungry and I don't always want to eat what someone else chooses. If they eat it, great. If they don't, it's really not a drama.

I think portion sizes don't mean all that much for very little children because what they eat varies so much between each meal and each day. It looks a lot but if he doesn't eat that much all the time I can't see there's a problem.

It all depends on your child. My 22M is a bigger eater than my 4YO.

I would give a similar amount to my 14 month old. Realistically he would probably eat just over half, the other half would go on the floor, in his bib, down the side of his high chair, in his hair...

I agree with pps that with small children it all balances out throughout the day/week.

My 3 year old would eat maybe 1/3 to 1/5 of that. My 13 month old would eat it all that and then pick at at his brother's left overs! I seem to remember ds1 ate huge amounts at that age too and then starting eating smaller portions from around 2yo.

Sorry that should have been 1/2 not 1/5!

My 2 would have eaten that much. But they have always had hearty appetites. I'm normally shocked by how little their peers eat.

My son would have cleared that at 15 months. My daughter wouldn't have touched most of it. They're both a normal weight and just eat very different portion sizes.

That's really normal that sometimes they eat like a horse and sometimes they eat like a sparrow. I'd usually put a smaller portion on the plate to start with and keep some aside for second helpings if required.

It depends. My 13 month DD2 would probably eat all that, maybe leaving a bit of mash. My almost 3yo DD1 would not eat more than half of the plateful. Both are at the small end of the centile charts.

Thanks for all the response. I guess it really does depend from child to child. He's always been around 25th centile but has always loved his food. Has never been fussy until maybe 2-3 months ago when he started to dislike things he'd always loved and spit them out or just flat out refuse to even try. So sometimes he barely eats anything, but tbf the meal in the photo is his current favourite so he's more inclined to eat it as opposed to other things.

He's probably on a growth spurt. I would have started with a plate half that size but if he cleared it and was still hungry I would have added more.

Looks fine to me (17 month old dd) I tend to fill the plate (kids size) and allow for bib/floor/face&hair portions I suppose if you had a particularly coordinated toddler you'd offer less.

Depends on which way the winds blowing that day but dd will either devour it or leave what she doesn't want. I'm taking the view till she's older that her appetite will vary until the growth spurts even out a bit. She's still not quite old enough to truly communicate whether she's particulary hungry so I'd rather offer food till she makes it clear she's finished.

It's a massive portion! But I suppose things like peas and sweet potato it might not matter how much they have, if they're hungry, because it's all healthy?

I have no idea but I like your cutlery.

Surely he or she will eat what they want at that age then leave the rest. Looks alot as its spread out.

I would give my 3.5 yo DD a bit less than that. Looks a lot for a 15 month old to be honest.

Does it matter? At that age surely some goes on the floor and they leave what they don't want.

Depends on the child. My 6 year old dd would probably struggle but her cousin has easily eaten that much since she was 2. Both girls are healthy and weigh the right amount for their ages.

Probably a bit too much for my 6yo and nowhere near enough for my 3yo

My 15 month old would eat that, but probably not much after, a few pieces of watermelon perhaps. But then he's always eaten well, fortunately. He's 50th percentile and just started walking so everything he eats he burns off.

That looks about right - my DD would eat all the at dinner time if she was in the mood! She's also 15 months. Sometimes she'd eat more or only half that amount, again depending on how much she's had during the day and what mood she is in!