About kids and food?

[imamearcat]

My kids generally eat ok-ish, 3 and 5. 3yo is usual Chunky toddler but healthy weight, 5yo very slim.

We are away and they have a tendency to not want to eat a anything. Kind of annoying because they get grumpy etc. I ask my sils for some advice and they sent me VERY long replies basically how I don't feed my kids very well and need much stricter reform of their eating habits. Not in quite do matter of fact but you get the idea.

I'm quite relaxed I suppose, we don't always have set meal times they have a fair few lollies etc. when it's hot. But they have plenty of fruit and veggies and are healthy and happy (most of the time!).

I took offence a bit but I did ask, so not sure if IABU and I should buck my ideas up or if they are just a bit OTT?

Anyone?

When you say they have a few lollies do you mean they have more than one in a day? They can be high in sugar, even ‘fruit’ ones.

I think it’s beneficial for them to have set meal times personally.
If SIL is aware of what & how they eat, and doesn’t think it’s great, then maybe she has a point?

www.behaviourmatters.org.uk/top-tips/fuss-free-mealtimes/
if they’re allowed to nibble all day long, they will learn poor eating habits and won’t recognize their body’s hunger cues (children need to learn to eat when they’re hungry and not to eat when they aren’t)
www.madeformums.com/news/how-much-sugar-is-in-your-childs-favourite-ice-lolly/

If your sisters -in-ław felt the need to give you advice, thats quite telling.
The very fact that you’ve approached them in the first place speaks volumes.

It sounds like you don’t like their answers and so you’ve jumped on to Mumsnet for back up.

So today they had bran flakes, toast and yogurt for breakfast. Had a lolly because it was boiling walking round the town.

Lunch was hard work, DD had some meetballs and tomato, DS had sandwich.

Then dinner they have had more sandwich, salad, loads of fruit and an ice cream.

I don't think that's so terrible for holiday? Or maybe it is?

I think sometimes it's hard to get tone across in writing...you asked her for advice and she thought she was being helpful by writing a long detailed message?

Maybe @Camomila I think they were trying to be helpful.

If you're at home, what do they typically eat and when? You say no set mealtimes but not sure exactly what you mean?

The holiday is irrelevant...we've just come back from a week away and my dc pretty much ate chips and ice cream all week!

I mean it’s impossible to know without what they eat on an average day. I’m not super strict with my kids but we always have meals roughly the same time, evening meal together. They are 6, and 4 and would eat:

B: porridge with honey, glass of juice (OJ or apple)

L: cheese/peanut butter sandwich (4 year old rarely eats a full one though), share a bag of crisp, a piece of fruit, vegetable sticks, and a yoghurt

T: Chicken, rice and vegetables/spaghetti bolognese and vegetables/steak, jacket potato and vegetables

Snacks: fruit, cereal bars, cheese string, ice lolly if hot, biscuits if they haven’t eaten too much crap that week

Do you enjoy food OP? Or are you a take it or leave it/ food is just fuel kind of person?

Snacks btw they would eat one or two of those not all of them!

@OnlyFoolsnMothers interesting you say that, I don't eat regular breakfast, lunch, dinner. I do enjoy food but more eat when I'm hungry kind of person.

At home they are normally at school or nursery but at home would maybe have:
Breakfast, bran flakes, weekabix, toast, sometimes pancakes or dippy eggs. Sometimes eaten better than others.

Maybe a biscuit or fruit for snack

Lunch maybe JP, sandwich that kind of thing. Normally with cheery toms and cucumber.

Lolly or ice cream it it's hot, maybe a few sweets from the shop or after school,

Dinner, summer we've had lots of bbqs so steak or chicken with potato and more tomato and cucumber. Ice pop or custard for pudding.

Supper they have fruit. They do have quite a lot of juice.

Guess where we are not regular, yesterday we ordered lunch but then none of us (except dad!) really wanted to eat, it was VERY hot. So ate some but then I felt hungry again about 3 so ordered a toastie that they seem to have a lot of in Greece. Then DD wanted one too.

But then she scoffed loads of Greek salad and fruit for dinner. But another time they just don't want to eat at all. It's like you serve dog poo even though they are really hungry!

That's quite a lot of sweets and sugar over a day - jam, ice cream, sweets and juice.

Yeah I think the sugar is high. They would only have small amounts though. The juice bothers me.

Worth probably saying that we are all slim and One of SILs is very of weight. The other ones child is over weight.

imamearcat I think for people not “in” to food they maybe don’t realise they project unhealthy habits (in much the same way people obsessed with food can). I think good eating habits are important to teach our children- and meal times, trying new things etc are part of that. Your SIL maybe sees something you don’t.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers maybe, but I'm the only one who's actually a healthy weight and is fit and into exercise!

They don't have the most advanced diet. But they have the usual stuff. Not chicken nuggets every night by any means but at the same time they don't eat quinoa and spinach!

Meh...some parents are obsessed with their DCs food intake. My sister and her DH would probably give me a big spiel of "advice" too if I asked (I never would!) food is a really big deal to them, they're regimental about it and they seem to wear it as a badge of honor if their DC have a varied pallet consequently their DC, while lovely, never shut up about it "what me eat, what me eat" "what's for dinner" (asked at breakfast) just as obsessive as their parents.

Swap the juice for water and you're all good IMO!

@OnlyFoolsnMothers, might have a point there.

I will say that my DH grew up eating whatever and whenever he wanted and is skinny as a rake and always has been. I grew up with Proper Meals, very, very little sugar or processed food and I was a chubby kid, fat teenager, slim young adult and all the way back to chubby again now...

Our dc1 is skinny. Dc2 is chunkier, but both are comfortably within the normal weight range according to NHS calculator for childrens weight.

We probably have too many snacks though and no enough sit down meals. We are starting to do more of it now, but I have to say DH's eating habits are the worst. It is downright unfair that I keep gaining weight and he stays so slim on it, but hey ho. We now have family dinner every night and I eat breakfast and lunch with the kids. DH eats his in front of his computer and snacks there too! There's no justice I tell you.

I think maybe it's a combination. DSILS could lighten up a bit but I know my kids have too much sugar. I don't know how you guys find it but my DC are not really that into food? They only really eat enthusiastically if they are really hungry and even then they can easily go past that point. DSILS kids really get stuck in and want more. I'm not sure which is worst!🙈 kids eh!

Honestly, you did ask them, you cant complain that they then told you their opinions. From what you've said, theres very little veg there, tomatoes and cucumber aren't really sufficient. But there's a lot of fruit and sugar.

What's not sufficient @Nottherealslimshady ? Just interested to know. So maybe on an average day at home they would have potato, cucumber, tomato, beans, banana, strawberries. Juice. Is that not 5 a day? They do have other veg mainly carrots, peas, sweet corn. Having less of that at the moment tho especially while away.