To feed my 16 month old readybrek for dinner?

[Platypusmama]

So hear me out.

Made dinner tonight, just a halloumi type stew in tomato sauce with couscous, something dd has eaten before and devoured. She literally didn’t even taste it, just sat in her chair. I tried to feed her a bit (she usually feeds herself) but she wouldn’t take it. Not a single bite made it into her mouth. Obviously I’m worried she’s going to wake up hungry so I made a (massive) bowl of readybrek, I mean massive! More than I would eat. She devoured the entire bowl which must mean she was starving, right? But if she’s so hungry, why won’t she even try her dinner? Fair enough if she tasted it and absolutely hated it, but not to taste it at all?!?

She’s a really healthy weight, in the 90 percentiles so certainly not going to starve, and I still breastfeed her quite a bit so there’s always that, but what do I do?!? I know it’s bad to cave and give something else because it’ll make her become picky but do I just send her to bed hungry?

God no one tells you how hard getting them to eat is! Some days she eats like a trooper and I finally think I’ve cracked it but then she resorts back to barely eating a thing. GAH!!

I thought it was just a finer porridge with some vitamins added?

It might be I just said I think that it’s full of sugar. PP corrected me ☺️

Internet is being sooo slow I don't think all replies are loading properly.

It's my winter breakfast of choice, proper porridge makes me gag

To previous poster who said toddlers are u reasonable my gosh that made me laugh!! It’s so true! It’s crazy, sometimes she eats me than me, other times she will eat maybe 3 tiny bites of food in a day!! I do think she’s maybe teething as there’s quite a lot of drool 🤤

Will monitor it and hope she doesn’t start trying to live off of a diet of readybrek, though that is easier to cook than a complicated dinner

Thank you for all your responses, some of them have really made me chuckle! They really are the boss of us, aren’t they!

I’m just glad my DS (her twin brother) isn’t a picky eater, he’s such a relaxed toddler I’m lucky, if both were as finicky as DD I’d have probably gone around the twist by now... especially as DD currently sees mealtime as “the walls are my canvas and food is my paint” at the moment

something dd has eaten before and devoured

My experience with children has been that they initially eat most things or even anything and then start to stop eating things they don't like around 18-30 months. Maybe halloumi in tomato sauce isn't going to be liked for long.

My 16 month old DD just refused her dinner. Currently sitting with her while she plays in the bath. When shes out and in her jammys she'll be getting weetabix with banana and cinnamon.

It's fine, in fact, my 11-year-old just decided to have ready brek for dinner! No idea why, he just fancied it for a change!

I think sometimes us adults feel a bit under the weather and just fancy some plain comfort food like toast or porridge. Much better than going to bed hungry and feeling worse. Maybe your little one feels a bit below par or is teething. Probably back to normal tomorrow.

Hello, welcome to toddler parenting 101. Hope you like cooking pasta

Halloumi has a very high salt content, I wouldn’t feed it to a 16 month old in any case.

I'd use actual porridge oats as readybrek is just oat flour and doesn't keep them full for long. (Try a bowl yourself and feel the difference!)

But apart from that, yes sometimes we have requests for porridge/ weetabix tea, especially when tired

www.independent.co.uk/news/salt-in-food-led-to-baby-death-1108931.html

Isn’t Ready Brek high in salt? It made me recall this article about a baby who died due to being fed Ready Brek.

Ready Brek now has no added salt or sugar, in think perhaps in response to that. I've seen that before - I remember it terrifying me when weaning because I'd given Ready Brek on the HV's advice - and I think blaming the Ready Brek was always a bit of a fiction from the parents; they also fed their tiny baby gravy and Smash.

That article is about readybrek being fed to a 3 month old. Very extreme case.

My DD isn’t quite 1 and I’m already at the ‘as long as she’s not hungry’ stage of parenting 😂 Peanut butter on toast and porridge are regulars on our menu. She’s generally a very good eater but other times only has to watch me pick her spoon up to decide she doesn’t want it!

The other day I made something new, DD started chanting beans excitedly, dinner was put in front of her, (no beans) she looked to the bottom with her spoon and said beans? Children are funny,

Haha wait til you have a five year old who wants nothing but toast for every meal . Very normal.

so I made a (massive) bowl of readybrek, I mean massive! More than I would eat. She devoured the entire bowl which must mean she was starving, right? But if she’s so hungry, why won’t she even try her dinner?

Do you mean that readybrek that is chocolate flavoured? I wonder why she wouldn't eat her dinner?

Rod and own back springs to mind here.

YANBU 5 year old DD gets readybrek if she doesn't eat her dinner.

YABU to not post the recipe of the stew though.

My 1 year old is teething (5 coming through at once!) and has only eaten ready brek for the last couple of days!

I remember my mum saying 'imagine you really fancy a curry but someone gives you a plate of toast' - sometimes they just don't fancy don't want what we serve up. I would have (and have done) the same thing.

Do you mean that readybrek that is chocolate flavoured? I wonder why she wouldn't eat her dinner?

OP didn't say chocolate flavoured?!

Do you mean that readybrek that is chocolate flavoured? I wonder why she wouldn't eat her dinner?

Talk about extrapolating from bugger all just to have a dig

Ready brek is fine OP. It's got decent shit it, despite what people might assume and speak as though it's truth. It's filling and should see her through until tomorrow.

That sounds really nice can you post the recipe?
My 21 month old is like this, one day he will love something the next he won’t touch it. They have very strong wills too!