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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how much your toddlers eat?

59 replies

Neverwasapancakegi7l · 09/09/2017 16:26

My dd (20 months) seems to exist on air.
I've read that they are meant to eat around 130g carbohydrate a day. We are nowhere near that!
She's not underweight or anything but I find most days she barely eats breakfast, she might have some lunch and then she has a reasonable tea. She's just not that fussed.

Is this normal?!

Today she had a cup of tea and a few strawberries at breakfast, 7oz of milk at naptime and then at lunch she had one square of cheese sandwich and half a banana, mid afternoon she had a small chocolate bar and a handful of vegetable sticks and for dinner she is having stuffed peppers and vegetables with some cherries and blueberries after. She will probably eat most of this. Then another 7oz milk before bed.
It barely seems anything.
Other people's toddlers seem to eat and eat. If I bought those ready made toddler meal things my daughter would probably only eat half at most. Obviously she isn't starving or anything but it worries me a bit when basically she goes all day on a quarter of a cheese sandwich!

OP posts:
cheerylilthing · 09/09/2017 18:17

DS 14mths has been offered / eaten

Breakfast - scotch pancakes with a little chocolate spread & 1 whole banana sliced served with a sippy cup of whole milk. What he ate: banana & a few sips of milk (we're trying to wean from bottle to sippy cup & he isn't impressed)

Morning snack - apple crisps & handful of grapes / all eaten

Lunch - bolognese (with lots of veg) & penne / ate half of what was offered

Misc snacks (generally when he's had some of what we've had) - 3 crisps, 1/3 yoghurt break bar, Peppa pig yoghurt, bite of a kitkat stick

Shortly I'll try him with 1/2 jacket potato with beans & cheese followed by some fruit for dinner. He'll also be offered milk before bed.

He was awake a lot of the night teething with his molars so we're running a couple of hours later than we usually would with meals as it seemed best to let him sleep as long as he needed to when he napped.

I might regret this later...

MilkshakeAddict · 09/09/2017 18:23

DD (27 months) barely eats anything. For breakfast today she had around four Cheerios, lunch was about quarter of a slice of toast (but she left the crust), snack was an organix oaty bar, babybel and banana, then she had a Tilda Kids Rice and some grapes for supper. Then she had a cup of milk.

DaisysStew · 09/09/2017 18:24

My DS is a bit older (3 in a couple of months) but it's always been up and down with his eating. Some days he'll eat everything put in front of him, some days he refuses everything (except fruit which he loves). It seems to balance out over a week.

If she's a healthy weight and seems happy in herself then don't stress, she's fine.

TuckingFaxman · 09/09/2017 18:26

Square root of fuck all, and still on the 80th centile. I make toddlers who eat loads at the very start, begin giving up on food around 18 months then from about 3 onwards start the long journey back to eating properly. My oldest child eats everything that isn't nailed down, presumably making up for all the fasting and abstinence as a 2 year old.

RiseToday · 09/09/2017 18:28

2.5 yr old.

Breakfast - bowl of cereal, sometimes toast.
Snack - fruit/biscuit/cheese crackers (one not all), drink of milk
Lunch - usually a sandwich, half a packet of crisps, fruit
Dinner - happily eats most things and usually polishes off a small plate full

Drink of milk before bed

PoppyFleur · 09/09/2017 18:29

The best thing about children is they are experts at self regulating. If all her growth metrics are fine I wouldn't worry (easier said than done!).

However, tea impedes the body's ability to absorb iron so I probably would offer a different drink.

SweetEnough · 09/09/2017 18:33

My Dd is just 2, she has:

Breakfast: Cereal and toast

Snack: Grapes

Lunch: skips altogether as prefers to sleep, may have a packet of crisps

Tea: eats the same amount as her dsis 7

Bedtime treat: Hot chocolate and a biscuit.

LuluJakey1 · 09/09/2017 18:37

Ds 2 y 8 months-
Porridge and small banana, full fat milk
Small bowl of pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, icecream, water
Small bowl of prawn risotto and peas, full fat milk, yoghurt with strawberries

All small portions

BillBrysonsBeard · 09/09/2017 18:58

I wish I could swap you a bit, my DS is all about the carbs Grin

AmpleRaspberries · 09/09/2017 19:05

Ds 17 months

Porridge
1/3 tin spaghetti hoops on 1 slice of toast
Mash potato, 2 fish fingers, peas and sweetcorn
Chocolate mousse for pudding
(weekend treat food today)

Snack was an apple
Had 2 x 6oz bottles

Today he ate it all, but often he doesn't eat much lunch, he will eat breakfast until its coming out of his ears, and is up and down with tea. He's a healthy weight so I don't worry about the days he doesn't eat much.

ItsALardBaby · 09/09/2017 19:16

I worry my 20 month old eats too much.
Breakfast: cup of barista oatley, 3 chicken chipolatas, most of a slice of toast and dairy free spread, coupe of tablespoons of tinned toms. Ignored fried egg.
S: handful of raspberries
Lunch: pumpkin soup and toast, banana and half an apple
S: breadsticks and a couple of bits of my apple
D: lamb spinach curry x 2 portions (vv mild) daal, rice (ignored) bit of coconut yoghurt and a few raspberries.
He's 90th centile for weight, 70th for height, but he tends to bulk up then have a growth spurt and even out. I never intended to raise a snacky child but he's so used to it from nursery!

MrsChopper · 09/09/2017 19:32

DS is 1. Today he had

Milk when he woke up
Breakfast - 3/4 of a weetabix with milk, strawberries, some apple

Lunch - Pasta with pesto, tuna and veggies
Cup of water

Some milk in the afternoon, a couple of bites off a blueberry muffin, a couple of baby friendly crisp things

Dinner - a 'pizza' made with a little pitta bread with ham and sweetcorn and a yogurt, cup of water

Milk before bed

DS is a good eater though!

Ummmmgogo · 09/09/2017 19:40

leave op alone about the tea. it's cultural whether you give babies and toddlers tea.

op her diet sounds wonderful to me stop worrying.

TheMasterNotMargarita · 09/09/2017 19:42

I find these threads quite fascinating - all of the range of normal.
Ds is 1.
Today was -
Bf on waking.
Small bowl of cheerio type cereal with milk, probably about 5 or 6 tablespoons worth.
Water.
3oz formula.
Breadstick while I was hanging the washing out.
Most of an Ella's veggie moussaka pouch.
Half a satsuma.
Gnawed on what was left of his sister's apple round Tesco.
A small rice cake.
3 baby potatoes, peas and a small piece of pork with apple sauce.
Some kind of fruit smoothie.
Another 4oz milk and then bf before bed.
This is a good day but I realised recently he needs more food as he ate all his dinner and then ploughed into mine after!

Tortycat · 09/09/2017 19:51

3 yr old

Bottle milk
Slice of eggy bread and grapes

Carrot and lentil soup (half bowl)
Some bread and humous, about 5 cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, kiwi

Rice crispie cake

3 fishfingers, couple of chips, few peas, yoghurt, satsuma

Bottle milk

A reaonable day but my 1 year old slways eats far more!

Sandsnake · 09/09/2017 19:54

DS is 22mo and eats quite a lot in general (perhaps too much sometimes). If he likes something e.g. chicken, hummus, ice cream, cottage pie he would get through an awful lot if allowed to. He eats really quickly too.

Oddly though he's always been like it. Was demanding milk within minutes of being born and fed constantly as a newborn. Took to weaning like a duck to water (still remember him opening his mouth like a little sparrow the first time he was ever offered food!). I think that being a big eater / not a big eater is something that seems to be in a child's nature. I certainly don't think that being a smaller eater is necessarily a bad thing though, as long as the child is healthy. I sometimes think that as a society we might put a bit too much value on our children 'eating well' (aka lots).

LittleBirdBlues · 09/09/2017 19:57

My kids are 3.8 and almost 2. They are the opposite of your little one op, and eat like horses.

I'm sure this has been mentioned above but maybe cut down on the milk? Mine get an occasional cup, but not every day. Could you start the day with porridge?

Today:

Eggs, bread, sliced eggs and cottage cheese for breakfast

Natural yogurt as a snack and mangi on the side

Lunch was courgette pasta with feta cheese

Cookie for desert

Dinner was corn on the cob and some ham, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and a slice of toast

The were more fruits in between as snacks as well

Sometimes I worry the eat too much!

I always think if they are otherwise healthy, they probably eat the amount they need!

LittleBirdBlues · 09/09/2017 19:58

*mango not mangi...

Also sliced veg with breakfast, not sliced eggs. Sorry, the gin is kicking in! Grin

Camomila · 09/09/2017 20:08

17 month old

Wake up: breastfeed
breakfast: half a bowl of rice krispies
snack: breastfeed and a few apple chunks
lunch: bit of baguette, cheese, plum tomatoes, raspberries
snack:raspberries and a biscuit
breastfeed
dinner: little bit of pasta, the topping off a pizza slice, bit of salad
breastfeed to sleep

DS is like me and likes to eat little and often, he was the same when he was just on milk.

Worriedaboutsmear · 09/09/2017 20:11

DS is almost 15 months.

On waking : 6 ounces milk

Breakfast: 1.5 weetabix

Doesn't snack mid morning, just has water.

Lunch : cheese on toast with some Organix puffs (had about 80% of the cheese on toast)

Mid afternoon: a bowl of chopped blueberries, raspberries and banana mixed into yoghurt

Dinner: a bowl of chicken curry with rice (ate all but dinner can be hit and miss), followed by rice pudding with chopped up strawberries

Just before bed: 6 ounces of milk.

This sounds like a lot written down; I normally worry I'm not feeding him enough

outofmymind2 · 09/09/2017 20:19

She eats better than my 3.5 year old! He's so fussy. My little one doesn't like warm food so it's an absolute nightmare getting food into him.
Today he had coco pops for breakfast & a glass of milk, followed by some grapes
No lunch (flat out refused!)
Cold pasta for tea of which he had about 3 mouthfuls (as said he doesn't like hot food 😫)
Yoghurt for after tea.
He also has smoothies through the day (probably 3-4) and a few cups of milk.

Today he's actually eaten more than the average day!
He loves peppers cut into sticks, tomatoes & loads of fruit so survives mostly on that.
He's 3 foot 5 & 2 stone 3 lbs. trying to put his weight up but it's hard when he's so fussy. He doesn't like sandwiches, saucy food, food that isn't obviously separated. Won't eat stuff like cottage pie because it looks 'messy'. He sometimes eats mash.
It's a daily fight to eat in this house!

silverbell64 · 09/09/2017 21:05

Have no idea what "good eaters" is supposed to mean. Babys/toddlers eat what is necessary for them to survive and thrive. They also have preferences. Go with it rather than be concerned.

Put small portions when a bit older and let them ask for more rather than sticking heaps of food on their plate.

A friend of mine used to say to her kids they had to eat "all" of their massive portions on their plates to get a pudding... What on earth is that about?

Applesandpears56 · 09/09/2017 21:19

Tea is NOT a suitable drink for a 20 month old. It's not cultural - it's good or bad health. With tea and chocolate your dd is having way too much caffeine.

She's eating fine. Cut down her milk if you are worried as she's filling up on milk a bit.

silverbell64 · 09/09/2017 21:22

Everything in moderation is fine, that includes tea and chocolate.

silverbell64 · 09/09/2017 21:27

Do all of you that feed your children supposed "healthy organic ready meals" know what you're doing? I'd rather give a kid a bit of bread and butter with a milky tea :)