not to want nursery to feed DS marmite and crisps

[wildholly]

Okay so DS is just 7 months old and he eats practically anything (mix of BLW and puree). My nursery has a book where they record what he has eaten. I am pissed off over the cake and toast and jam but not said anything, however the marmite and crisps really worrys and annoys me. I'm a doctor, my under and post-grad education has taught me salt is bad for under one's. Basic life skills tells me that marmite and crisps are high in salt, crisps also have no nutritional value. why oh why would a nursery give these to a baby... and why am I made to feel like a freak for asking not to give them to my DS? Anyone had a similar experience or words of wisdom as they would be gratefully received.

I have not had a similar experience but would be raving if I were you. I don't think the odd bit of cake at a birthday party is terrible, but would not allow them to feed a 7mth old baby crisps and marmite. Crisps are basically fat and salt.
Have you said anything to the nursery? How did they respond?
TBH I think I would be looking for a new nursery. Is DS there full time?

Do they have a menu or a list of food that will be on offer?
Perhaps you should go through it with the nursery manager and discuss what you feel is appropriate for your child, and, more importantly, what you feel is inappropriate.

Jesus,

I am shocked that they give babies of that age such foods! I would defo not be happy and let the staff know my baby CANNOT eat those horrid foods! Specially crisps as they can hurt her gums and chocke on them!

Very disturbing in my opinion!

Tell them as a doctor that this is not acceptable, and suggest some alternatives. It's not even like crisps are particularly cheap kilo for kilo with veggies. Though they do have zero preparation time.

I did have the same experience and myself and another mother discussed our concerns with the centre and sent our boys with healthy snacks instead. The problem was that I was never convinced that although the crisps etc weren't listed on his food list that they weren't feeding him them anyway. I could tell they thought I was a nutter for bringing it up and couldn't see what the problem was. There is also the issue that when they get slightly older they want the same as the other children. We moved house so day care not too long after but I had started to look for another day care.
I would dicuss it with them, he is your DS and you should have the final say over what he eats but be prepared that they might think you are a 'freak'. It may be a case of looking for alternatives if there are any.

I did have the same experience and myself and another mother discussed our concerns with the centre and sent our boys with healthy snacks instead. The problem was that I was never convinced that although the crisps etc weren't listed on his food list that they weren't feeding him them anyway. I could tell they thought I was a nutter for bringing it up and couldn't see what the problem was. There is also the issue that when they get slightly older they want the same as the other children. We moved house so day care not too long after but I had started to look for another day care.
I would dicuss it with them, he is your DS and you should have the final say over what he eats but be prepared that they might think you are a 'freak'. It may be a case of looking for alternatives if there are any.

Oh.my.goodness!

No you are most certainly not being unreasonable. So much salt and empty calories for babies possibly barely on solids (two of mine weren't at all at that age...)

Sounds like a nursery with little grasp on basic nutrition- what else do they have little grasp on?

Can you make an appointment with the manager? If not successful, shop them to Ofsted. It's exactly what Ofsted should be there for.

Failing all these, vote with your feet and walk making sure you inform every person (inc potential parents) you can WHY you are leaving. Make sure you tell nursery owner that will certainly NOT be recommending her establishment.

OMG, no not unreasonable at all

my dd's nursery are the other way, everything is annabel karmel recipes and they will not feed her anything unless it is on a list i have made - a few times she has miossed out when she first started, just because I hadn't put silly things on her list. They even rang me at work to ask whether she could have somthing once.

They do give her treats type food too, eg shortbread - homemade, jelly with fruit, icecream with fruit and sponge cake, but they also offer at least 5 portions of fruit and veg a day too.

Your DS needs a balanced diet, and iot should not include marmite or crisps just yet - until you decide you want him to have them

and alsok, nursery should follow your requirements, I am sure you are paying them enough for them to provide decent heathy food!

Of course not: Marmite is the devil's food!

Marmite is not entirely un-nutritional (has lots of B vitamins and folic acid, for example) but I agree that it is certainly not suitable for a baby or indeed a younger toddled. As for crisps, words fail me. Like you, the salt would worry me considerably more than the sugar, although jam at that age I would also see as a no-no.

Our dd's nursery provides a bi weekly menu, (breakfast, lunch and tea) and it includes at least 5 portions of fruit and veg a day, all of it made within the nursery itself, and it's the type of food I would make at home. That said, they do have Marmite on toast sometimes, but this is "baby marmite", a small amount of marmite mixed with butter, then spread on the toast.

But no crisps, and only cake when it is someones birthday.

I would sometimes like to stay for lunch myself when I see it descibed on the blackboard in the morning

Marmite is foul and disgusting.
Right to be concerned, for adults, the recommended amount of salt per day is 6g, it's much less than that for for kiddies and babies (I think it might be 1-2g)!

it sounds to me as though your DS is at the wrong nursery

try to find one that cooks fresh (preferably organic) food on the premises and has a grasp of minimum nutritional guidelines

I would personally be livid (and me a marmite snack as well)

I give marmite sandwiches to dd2 I thought it was good for you

be really clear with your nursery about what you want your DS to be given to eat - definitely ask for a meeting to discuss it. My DS has various allergies as well as dislikes and these are all logged in his record file

They also clearly display the food for the week so parents can see what is on offer

My nursery gives all children 5 portions of fruit and veg per day and no junk - he has had cake once at nursery and that was for someone's birthday (he has been there 6 months)

they do offer marmite on toast for the older children (1 year +)

If you don't get a satisfactory answer you may have to put him in a different nursery

btw, I only put on the mearest scraping of it, and she is nearly 10 mths old. I so think 7 mths is too young for crisps tho, well and marmite actually.

I don't think you are being unreasonable on the crisps or on wanting to restrict the salt in your ds's diet however I don' think marmite is any where near as bad..

I give my dd toast with a marmite scraping - I restrict salt in virtually everything but here feel the good outweighs the bad.

Marmite website has this to say:-

"Health professional advice about the weaning of infants of less than 12 months is to choose products marked as being low in salt as well as avoiding the addition of salt to foods. However, toast "soldiers" spread with a little Marmite are suggested as 'suitable snacks for young children, aged one year or more, along with fruit and vegetables, and dairy foods like yoghurt.' **"

Contains b vitamins, iron, folic acid, thiamin & riboflavin& niacin

The tiny portion I give my dd contains about 0.1g salt - 10% of her daily recommended max & about 25% of her actual max

marmite nutrition

Plus SHE LOVES IT!

My nursery also cooks food on the premises and they have the food menu up weekly so you can see what DD is eating. However crisps are not on the menu and I would be absolutely furious if they were.

I wouldn't feed a baby crisps - very stupid, no nutrition, too salty and choking risk. Wouldn't feed a 7mo marmite either - your nursery have shown they are clueless about food, I wouldn't trust them to only use a scraping. Outrageous.

you are right to feel annoyed especially with all the publicity trying to encourage parents to feed their children healthy food, crisps are not healthy.
I may be wrong but I thought schools had to provide parents with a menu so am a bit suprised that nurserys dont do the same.
My daughter goes to a nursery here in France and we have to provide her food, they do sometimes have birthday cake and frequently have fruit thats in season they have their own garden and are growing strawberries, raspberries and other stuff so they take the children to pick them, wash them and let them eat them.

Those foods are so ridiculous for a 7 month old I can't believe the thread is genuine.

I had a friend take her 9 month old dd out of nursery because when she picked her up one day, they hadn't given her any dinner as "she didn't seem to like the curry"

marmite isn't that bad, lots of people say its a good enough brekkie on toast for babies (though i think the taste is fowl!)

The crisps could be absolutely fine from a salt point of view. There are salt free ones readily available.

I dont mind giving a little bit of what i'm eating to my 9mo old DS just for him to try, but as a meal? No way.

I think i'd be pretty p*ssed if i found out he'd been given stuff like that for dinner