Just got RL flamed for the packed lunch I did for DS

[AClearShotOfTheStreet]

Lovely friend is here. Didn't know how but got on to the packed lunch I did for DS, who is 6, today for a holiday camp.

Apparently it's not enough, no wonder he is skinny and I am starving him (mostly lighthearted but kernel of truth?)

He had porridge for breakfast with a cup of milk, semi skimmed. I have given him an apple for morning snack, a ham and cucumber sandwich on seedy bread for lunch with a yoghurt, and a small bag of hula hoops for afternoon snack. He will have cottage pie with veg for dinner and a tangerine for afters, possibly a bit of Easter egg with a cup of milk just before bed.

This is OK right? Hula hoops are a bit of an anomaly as we are having the kitchen knocked down and It's what I could find. But this IS a reasonable amount of food for a 6 year old? He's very sporty and slim but I don't think I need to feed him any more? He rarely complains of hunger and if he does is directed to fruit bowl or slice of toast with peanut butter etc.

I'm amazed at the people who say 'your DC will tell you when they're hungry'. Mine often say they're hungry but they just mean they want a biscuit/more fruit/some treat item. I pretty much ignore me me when they say that. ( 8 and 6)

OP your son's diet sounds fine. I have no idea what my kids eat. I mean they eat meals with me sometimes but I don't remember what they are at them.

I'm sure threads like these are just used for Mnetters to boast about how much veg their DC eat.

Today, my two year old will eat:

A fruit pouch
Plain toast
A yoghurt
Blueberries
Pitta bread
Cucumber
Pom bears
Chicken breast
Mash if I'm lucky
Full fat milk before bed

They wouldn't find it remotely difficult to find it out if they wanted to, my eldest is 15. My point is, I don't want them to read about horrible or impolite things I may have said about them online.

Thisis, do you think so?

Pancake, what the hell is the 'anti-fruit brigade'? It's a cold hard fact that fruit is full of sugar albeit natural sugar. Nobody has told you not to eat it or give it to your children so what's the problem? Do what you like, nobody cares.

I really want my children to be able to think for themselves and not second-guess themselves all the time like some adults compel themselves to do. Nobody has all the answers. Hawking had more than most but he's gone. This is all such insignificant bollocks!

DatsunCogs - have you not thought of the fact they have growthspurts? Mine dont do the constant asking unless they are in one. When they are growing their appetites become ridiculous and they’re all 50th centile or lower.

Those of you who think this is not enough food for a 6 child, what do you (as an adult) eat for lunch?

Pankcake- mine only eat fruit, they wont touch veg. I sneak it in sometimes via smoothies or Organix stuff but mostly I think they’ll live! No signs of scurvy yet

OP your DS’s diet sounds good to me. My DS doesn’t ever take much for packed lunch. They catch up at other times. You don’t need affirmation from forums that you are feeding him properly. You have presumably been a parent for at least 6 years already. You will know what you are doing.

There are two types of children in my experience (I’ve got one of each)

Dd is a huge breakfast eater. Bow of very filling porridge or egg on toast etc. She The has a sandwich & piece of fruit/yoghurt for lunch or a salad or a cup a soup & bread roll. My brother was like that two. He’d eat 4 weetabix or shredded wheat for breakfast as a teen then we’d be lucky if he ate half a sandwich at lunchtime but he’d then have a substantial early evening meal.

Ds is the opposite. He’d prefer to skip breakfast or just have a milkshake or smoothie. But his appetite kicks in mid morning so he needs a decent snack plus sandwich, hummus chips, dairylea dipper, pasta, yoghurt & cake bar etc for lunch.

one of the infant school childrens lunches on here, is more than my marathon runner, 6'2 husband would eat if he was going for a 20 mile run.

it's no wonder there are so many fat kids. Lots of high fat / sugar stuff being added in (needlessly) to bulk out an already fine dinner.

Some people don't understand centiles.

Semi Skimmed is fine past age 2.

unless these kids are pro athletes then all you are doing is stretching their stomachs - portion sizes will only increase. They will get fat, at some point.

I started a thread like this last week .......
Ended up on the mirror website 😳

Could have been worse - could have been the Daily Fail!

RebeccaWrongDailly et all (because there were LOTS of the same ^ilk)

How about we stop making these irrelevant and frankly annoying comparisons about what we/our children eat? I personally don't care what you marathon-running husband eats and your pointed dig about another poster leaves me cold.

This is everything that's wrong with Mumsnet at the moment. It's gone from being a place to have a general read about what everybody else does, to a competitive 'twat-fest'. There's nobody keeping score so what's the point?

I'm always amazed by how healthy some of the diets claimed are. We eat sweets and biscuits every day but DD and DH are slim and active (I'm a bit less slim...)

My just 6 year old had
Chocolate waffle for morning snack
Sandwiches
Crisps
Bread sticks
A whole raw Carrot
Chunk of cheese
Penguin for afternoon snack

It all got scoffed

My son has just turned 7. He gets a sandwich, a Frube, two different fruits and some kind of veggie stick (cucumber, carrot, pepper), a cereal bar, and a packet of crisps if we have any. He eats every single scrap.

I would maybe give your son another extra thing to see if he eats it.....
HOWEVER you know him better than anybody on this earth and I wouldn’t dream of giving any credit to a comment made by somebody else that thinks they know what my child wants to eat, better than I know myself.

I love a good "how much food " thread. Mostly because of the contrast between what 4 year old should eat and and what a 34 year old should.

OP: "My 4 yo had a weetabix and a satsuma for brekkie, then had a ham wholemeal roll, an apple and a yoghurt for lunch. Dinner was 1 sausage, mash and peas, and he had a chocolate digestive for after. IS this enough?"

MN RESPONSE: OMG!!! That's nowhere near enough!! my 4 year old would eat 10 weetabix and 3 bananas for breakfast and have 1 pint of whole milk to drink. then he'd have 3 slices of think wholemeal toast, with peanut butter and honey for snack at 10. Lunch would be 12 sandwiches and entire crate of apples, and a big tub full fat yohgurt, then he'd have a 3pm snack of a tray of (sugar-free) flapjack, for dinner I'd give him 6 jumbo sausages, 3 jacket potatoes and a 1kg bag of peas, he'd have a whole cheese cake for dessert, and still want a small snack of an entire pineapple at about 6pm."

Compared to...

OP: "I'm 34 yo, had a weetabix and a satsuma for brekkie, then had a ham wholemeal roll, an apple and a yoghurt for lunch, dinner was 1 sausage, mash and peas, and a chocolate digestive for after. Am I eating enough?"

MN RESPONSE: OMG!!! That's FAR TOO MUCH, I had 1/4 a weetabix with water for brekkie, then had a slice of ham, an apple slice (peel removed) and then I licked a yoghurt pot lid for lunch. Dinner was 1/2 a chipolata sausage, 1 new potato and 4 garden peas.... I was going to have a chocolate digestive for after, but i was just too full. No wonder the UK has an obesity problem!"

For balance @Beamur DD has had

Cereal
Sandwich
Babybel
Pepperami
Apple
Jelly beans
Ice cream from the van
Pasta
Easter egg

I'm sorry but there's no 12 year old on this planet who is good with a sandwich and some carrot sticks.

They need fat and protein for the love of god.

halfwit I'm pretty certain the 12 year old has more than just a sandwich and some carrot sticks over the course of the day/week ynd they get extra fat and protein at other times

00100001

spot on

Do all your children all eat the same amount of food every day? My (stunning! Tall! Slim!) 3yo has days where she will eat everything in sight (bowl all bran whole milk, 2 brown toast natural peanut butter, ham and cream cheese bagel, cucumber sticks, strawberries, bag quavers, small sponge cake, half a small pot of hummus with a spoon, vom, enormous plate of noodles, carrots cauliflower and broccoli, salmon fillet, 2 yoghurts and watermelon) and days like today where she ate half a slice of toast, a happy meal (fish fingers chips and water), and no dinner at all except for 2 strawberries.

Oh that was meant to be vom at her eating hummus with a spoon. Even on full on gannet mode I draw the line at her eating vom.

I am really at some of the replies. You are right, this is a pointless and silly thread and really I was chatting more than worrying when I started it. But I am thoroughly reassured anyway, so thanks all.

He is home, he had an awesome day, he won the talent contest. He ate everything except half the packet of hula hoops. I asked him if he had enough to eat and he looked confused and said "of course!".