To think this is enough food for a 2 year old?

[Dranktoomuchpepsi]

DH is a bit worried about DS's diet. He doesn't really eat very much compared to other toddlers, it seems. He's gotten fussy recently! Use to eat everything given to him.

Today he's had:

Breakfast: Two slices of toast with butter. It is usually peanut butter. All eaten.

Snack: Handful of cheese. Most ended up on the floor. Ate one bit. Some pineapple - eaten. A multivitamin bear.

Lunch: Pasta with cheese. Eaten.

Dinner: 2 Weetbix with strawberry soya milk. All eaten.

Is this enough? We don't give a proper 'meal' at dinnertime because it NEVER eats. DH is really really worried.

DS is in 12 to 18 months clothes and he's 2.5. He is being investigated for height but doctor says it just may be genetic (both my grandads jockies), yet less likely since DH is 6 foot 3.

He does also get breastmilk but they're short feeds, not frequent and don't seem to impact appetite.

He was a brilliant eater before

Things like beans, vegetarian meats, etc, all get thrown and rejected. He won't eat them and has become so so fussy!

I don't think anyone is saying you should stop breast milk, just that oat milk or cows milk would be a better option than strawberry soya with cereal!

Not just soy. Breastmilk. Which is even better than cows milk

You keep going on about breast milk which is better for human babies than cows milk. However, you also use a milk substitute, that is far less nutritious than cows milk. We’ve established you are not vegan and you’ve made no mention of allergies, so it is hard to understand why you do that.

Cecily Because cows milk really isn't meant for humans. I don't know - I just don't think it's better than other alternatives. I know soy is a bit naff (there are better alternatives), but it's something DS will drink

I've given cows milk a few times before as a drink on its own when out and about. He didn't like it and rejected it. Same happened recently when I tried putting it in his cereal. Wouldn't touch it. But will eat it all with the soy milk

I’d cut the snacks back and I’d offer more fruit and veg. I’d also tell him not to throw food. None of this may work but it might eventually.

I’d also have family dinner and offer him what you’re eating rather than weetabix. If it’s a disaster then he can have weetabix but I’d keep trying with family dinner - even if occasionally this means you eat cheesy pasta so everyone gets something they’d like from time to time.

Finally is your nursery open at all (for keyworker kids). Could you ring them and ask what he eats there and the structure of the day. If this is down to the change in routine, mimicking the nursery routine might help?

Hi Op

There is so much nonsense on this thread.

Firstly there is protein in his diet - he has nut butter, and breast milk, and soya milk.

Protein wise they need 1g of protein per 1kg.
So if you know his weight you can calculate how much protein he is getting and if he is getting enough from the nut butter and soya.

Your DS eats more than my son. My DS refuses all meat protein. He just refuses chicken, meat etc. Very very occasionally might try a fish finger.
I’ve offered in different formats.

He needs healthy fats, proteins, carbs. It’s good he’s on a multivitamin.

Suggestions could be that you swap the meals around as a PP suggested

Offer him something new at every meal e.g. with the weetabix a side of fruit, or with the breakfast a side of fruit, or a side of peas, cucumber, etc place it with his food with no expectation that he eats it.

Toddlers go through fussy eating phases. Some last weeks, some last days, some last years. Don’t be too hard on yourself.

He is still getting breast milk and eating, he is growing and toddlers grow slower at this age. He is also using less energy as he is mostly at home. He might be small but is he tracking his centuries for when he was born?

My DS is small. He is nearly 2.5 and in 12-18 month clothes, he weighs only 10kg, he was born low birth weight and tracks on the centile. He is happy, healthy, active, fussy with food (I plate what he will eat and things he sometimes eats, and new foods), he sticks to his norm but today he ate a banana after 3 months

If you want to chat more please DM me

It makes no sense to give him
Soy milk if you are happy to give him
Normal cow’s
Cheese. I Am still breastfeeding my nearly 2 year old as well but he also has cows milk with his cereal or as a drink etc etc because although, yes, it’s for baby cows, it ALSO has a lot of benefits for humans. Eg calcium for the bones, protein and a good amount of calories. Your son doesn’t like it as it’s not strawberry flavoured, probably, but persevere. Maybe mix half
And half with the soy milk to
Begin with.

I would be fucking furious with my husband if my child were not eating enough vegetarian proteins or iron etc and he wouldn’t let me at least try a little
Bit of meat. I mean I wouldn’t be furious, I would just give it
To my son as it’s for
The best.

@Littlejayx

Fair play to you

Fair enough if that is what he will actually take.

I don’t think what he eats sounds too little. And if he is not actually underweight, lack of calories would not explain his smallness. All you can really do is give him what you know he’ll it while gradually trying to introduce things he might like. I’d also recommend eggs which were back in the supermarket the last couple of times I shopped. Ignore the people going on about cutlery - that would just be an added complication that you don’t need.

You say your DH is worried but does he have any useful suggestions or is he doing anything to help?

Hi, my son is almost 3 and non verbal (he has Down syndrome). Like yours he would have no interest in helping prepare meals!
We communicate using makaton signs would that be something you could look into? Maybe just a few basic signs like more, food, drink, milk etc? I know you say he doesn’t yet point but offering a choice will help with this in time. My son also can’t use cutlery so help him we use hand over hand to guide him. Food that is thrown is taken away, and he’s always told “No we don’t throw food” (he doesn’t care or understand l don’t think!). If he’s in proportion I wouldn’t worry too much (DS is still in 18-24 months clothes and looks small compared to others his age), just keep offering a varied diet. All children go through fussy phases and phases of refusing food

Seems like you've got an answer for everything OP so not sure why you asked on here? Are you vegetarian too? If not, why do you bother eating meat and fish if you keep saying no one needs to eat it? You're being ridiculous putting your husbands views above your DS health. Is your DH a strict vegan? Because if he's so moral about animal welfare in farming he should be. The dairy and egg industries are certainly not run in a perfect way and animals suffer in that way too.

There's cows milk in cheese and yoghurt . How odd to be so against it in milk form (which is of course personal opinion), but it's fine in other forms.

Honestly op the problem is him being restricted to a vegetarian diet of which he wont eat most of it. He needs to be eating more protein and meat will provide that.
A friend of mine went through exactly that with her 2yo. Her ds stopped eating most things and became extremely fussy. Then his sleeping pattern changed horribly. Poor child wasnt sleeping well because he was hungry.
After trying every which way to force a vegetarian diet on him they eventually had to relent and her ds was a changed child. He started eating a wide variety of foods and actually wanting to eat. the sleep thing corrected and overall hes a happy child.
A vegetarian diet works for many kids and for others it doesnt. Your ds is probably throwing food at that age out of frustration.

Have you tried the high protein weetabix?

If he was eating better at nursery, how about trying to recreate that setting, finding out what plates they used, sitting at a tiny table, mimicking the routine as much as possible.

Seems like you've got an answer for everything OP

I don't understand why people say this. If someone gives an answer and there's a reason it won't work for us, of course I'm going to say say and explain why. If not I'm sure there would be many 'you're not answering to any of the advice given OP'

How about asking why some posters need me to repeat 10 times that certain thins like basic communication isn't there with my DS? So of course suggestions such as 'make him use a fork' and 'let him help make his food' don't work. And as lovely as some of it is, I can't get through to DS on that level it's so hard.

I really don't want to be rude and some suggestions have been given in such good heart, but I just have to explain why xyz doesn't fit if I need to. Otherwise it'll appear I'm not trying anything

Have you tried the high protein weetabix?

To answer the question above, those are the ones he eats. Same as his dad

What do you eat and do you all sit down together to eat?

Meat doesnt automatically mean a better diet. Plenty of people live off lots of processed meat crap . Vege is a perfectly do able and healthy diet.

Personally I would ditch the snacks hes just playing with them and it's just a waste.

If hes not interested in a dinner as such then try reversing the day.
Would he eat say a toasted cheese sandwich for breakfast? Make the 2 meals he does eat a little bigger it's no big deal if he has a "lunch " for breakfast. And the just cereal in the evening.

I think the important thing is to back off and stop stressing. He is eating. Toddlers go through phases where they live off fresh air and the odd dead spider. Its normal.

I would look into disciplining him for throwing food around. Hes old enough to understand not to.

Oh I missed something in my last post. If he's throwing food because of a sensory issue, giving him an empty bowl where he can put rejected food may work. When he throws on the floor you can pick it up and explain that if he doesn't want it, he can put it in here and you will take it away.
I found even though my DD didn't speak, she did understand things.

I know appetites drop off but we always find DS appetite (or what he chooses to eat) is really linked to teething or his general health. Is he teething? I know teething can vary greatly in age. DS often will only be spoon fed when this is the case. We also have concerns about his weight and when he was poorly recently he was the same weight as 4 months previously! We were meant to have follow up with HV but then Covid happened.

DS - 16months - example of a typical day

Breakfast - 1.5 weetabix and 150ml cows milk with fruit grated into it. If still hungry after we give some more fruit or yogurt.

Morning Snack - Crumpet with unsalted butter

Lunch - Ham, tomato and Dairylea mini Wrap, 1/2 a packet of crisps, fruit.

Afternoon Snack - some sort of biscuit pack or cake bar (Soreen) and raisins

Dinner - Small Homemade Lentil Quiche (also has leeks and aubergine in it), potato waffle and veg. Alternatively, something like Pasta (hidden veg) or (if teething) some sort of pie (cottage pie, fish pie) with mash on top and veg hidden.

Bedtime - small amount of milk.

All veg needs to be hidden at the moment. He can also be funny about textural changes so could be something to be mindful of! DS also self-weaned from Bfing when teething at 12 months.

Sorry you’re having a rough time OP. The posters going on about cutlery and helping him make food have obviously not read your updates and are just going from your OP, as do many MN posters. I’d just ignore them.

However you’ve not replied to anyone asking why your DH gets to be the only one who decides what your son eats and whether he gets involved with meal planning/cooking if he’s so concerned.

What about fat bombs. Keto dieters make up a huge variety of fat bombs from various nut butters and chocolate/cream. It wouldn't be healthy in the long term but even just to try and get some energy into him and it's veggie friendly. I haven't managed to rtft so I'm sorry if someone has already suggested it. Sounds like you have it tough OP. Hope you get the appropriate support from gp if and when you need it. Best of luck!

Hi OP. Ds1 (now teenager) has ASD. He went through a really fussy stage between about 2 and 6. Mostly he would eat one type of cereal for breakfast, sandwich that he would pick apart to eat for lunch and sausage and pasta for dinner. Every day for eternity - sausage and pasta. Sometimes a bit of grated cheese melted on the top for a bit of variety - woo!! He would eat fruit though, with me throughout the day. He loved watermelon. Paediatrician said his diet was ok, he was getting nutrients. But that sausage and pasta!! Had a lot of issues with texture of food too. And foods couldn’t be touching each other on the plate. Cue little dish of beans on the plate like a fancy cafe!! Now he’s 13 and will try almost anything. That seems to have accelerated since going to secondary school, where he chooses what to eat. He tried sushi and decided he loves it!!
I also have DD who is nearly 2, she’s pretty good with salad, adores beetroot. Doesn’t like bread. I don’t tend to give her ‘snack time’, she doesn’t talk but can get the raisins out of the cupboard and show me she’s hungry. She loves the little easy peel oranges.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, just seems sometimes that the tunnel is never ending. My kids also get Hangry, but don’t realise they need to eat. You’ll get there, don’t stress over what he won’t eat but don’t resort to sweet things all the time just to get something inside him. Good luck 😉

He does also get breastmilk but they're short feeds, not frequent.

Breast milk is good for babies and toddlers and better than cows milk I agree, but maybe you need to feed him more often or top him up with cows milk as an alternative as his diet is very limited?

If there were health concerns for any of my children, dietary preferences such as vegetarianism would be out of the window. I’d offer anything and everything to see if he took to anything. If that was meat, so be it. Daddy will cope.

@Dranktoomuchpepsi Honestly you have enough going on with him, don’t worry too much about his diet. I have one tall and one short child and the short child eats far less food than the tall one did at the same age. She is perfectly healthy (well monitored as she was prem). If your DS is short then he simply doesn’t need as much energy as a child who is 15cm taller than him.

His diet may not be optimal, but that is very very common for toddlers and it’s nowhere near being a diet which would cause growth problems. Give yourself a break.