To give my toddler a 'picky tea' regularly?

[ToddlerTea]

Because he's going through a fussy stage and just seems to want the same stuff.

We usually offer whatever we are having but end up giving him something like toast soldiers with veg sticks, hummus and a side of fruit or pasta with tuna or chicken/ham etc..

Do they all go through this stage of seemingly only liking a handful of things?!

He adores fruit of any kind but struggles with veg although I try and offer it with every meal and he will have a small amount namely cucumber, sweet potato or sweetcorn.

But YANBU at all to give it to him

We used to call this “kid’s picnic” and it was both DC’s favourite meal. And still would rank highly at 8 and 11 I think.

My two always used to call that kind of dinner, English Tapas! They are 21 & 19 now and we still call it English Tapas, you can probably guess where we used to go on holiday! 😂

You can give your child whatever you want…. What’s the issue? Do you need permission on what to give your child to eat?

We all do it, it's fine, we call it 'a platter'. Cannot stand the 'picky' bits, tea, anything.

We call it a picky platter. My dc are 27, 25 and 16 and I still occasionally do a “picky platter”.

She’s currently only interested in ham sandwiches and only if she can eat them from within a large cardboard moving box, called My Quiet Box.

Can see the attraction there. May adopt it myself...

Buffet 😎

'Things on a plate' is a regular in our house!

That's a normal dinner!

In 1979 I took my toddler to the doctors because she refused to eat anything but custard cream biscuits. He told me to let her have just that without comment but make delicious noises over our own evening meal which we didn't offer her, and she'd soon get sick of boring biscuits. He was spot on - within days she was eating from our plates. She's now 45 and eats everything except fish.

We callit a 'tea tea' no idea why! Love them even now and my kids often get them. Fussy stages are normal and food is not a battle I pick!

I ate like this as a kid and still enjoy it on a Sunday evening.
Cold meat , cheeses , crackers , pickles, veg sticks.
I graze on it over about 2 hrs ( while listening to Audible and MNing ) .
As long as what your DC eats throughout the whole week is reasonably balanced i cant see the problem at all.

This ^ I can’t understand why a ‘picky’ meal isn’t the standard for toddlers! We would put out an entire platter of chopped up salad or fruit with various bite size carbs and protein. Perfectly nutritional balanced and easy to eat. Our kids would always clear it over the course of a lunchtime (with playing in between after the first sitting). No crap and no battles. Happy, fed children.

Sorry op I can’t stand the picky tea phrase either but otherwise you’re giving your child food they will eat and keep them alive what is the issue?

Also I’d love a quiet box I’m allowed to go into and refuse to do anything until I’m happy! I’m really not being sarcastic or joking at all and I had a version for my own child until he was 7/8 so my view isa quiet box is a good thing!

We did this all the time when ours were little, they loved it. Don't worry as long as their eating enough of good food, it's all good!

It's called a 'pick-n-mix' tea in our house 😂

My 2.5 year old twins have a picnic tea every evening.
They have a hot meal at lunchtime (bolognese, roast chicken, etc).
At dinner time they always have a selection of cold food - things like cucumber, cherry tomatoes, hummus, avocado, olives, tuna, cheese, peanut butter, eggs, toast, etc.

It's a smorgasbord in this house.

My friend used to call it scooby snacks.

My son 13 and me for that matter don't always have a hot meal.

What you describe is far wider range than some kids will be having when they have a hot meal.

Nothing wrong with that type of meal, apart from a name which includes the word " picky". I think you'll find it's a salmagundi 😁

You basically give him a platter of food with no nutritional value.

And no. Fed is not the same as eating proper food pp

Srop enabling him. So he can grow up healthy

Not helpful in anyway 🙄

We call this a slop pot.