Is this too little food?

[amysaurus87]

Just wondering if this is too little food for my 2 year old. As a bit of backstory, weaning was hard work. He didn't really take to food and was still only having puree at 13 months old. It wasnt until he went to nursery at 14 months that he really started to eat actual food. He has a dairy allergy as well, we are slowly introducing this into his diet now.

I thought he was eating really well, but I was talking with friends about how well I thought he was now doing and one of them told me that I wasnt feeding him enough and that's probably why he still wakes for milk overnight (this has pretty much stopped now, he still wakes but will go back to sleep with cuddles).

Currently his eating day looks like this (nursery is different in that PM snack is at 2 and dinner at 330)

8am Breakfast - Will usually have a bowl of cereal or muesli (I'd say he has a medium sized portion). Sometime he has toast (1 slice) or a bagel (1 whole bagel) if he is still hungry he has fruit.

10am Snack - Usually fruit or lentil crisps or whatever stage of the milk ladder we are on so at the moment this is a scotch pancake.

1130am Lunch - Usually something like pasta and sauce with vegan cheese, egg fried rice with veggies, ham sandwiches with a bag of melty puffs, jam sandwiches, ham and cheese quesadillas. He will have a pudding and again this is either fruit or something like a pot of jelly or vegan yoghurt.

230pm Afternoon Snack - Usually something like veggie sticks and dip, fruit or a biscuit.

530pm Dinner - Usually a portion of what we are eating so things like curry, fish and veggies, pasta dishes, Shepherds Pie, Lasagna, rice dishes. If it has been one of those days he will have an Ella's Kitchen or Heinz toddler meal. He has a pudding which again would usually be yoghurt or jelly, sometimes fruit, rarely ice cream or at the moment he is having a small amount of vegan easter egg chocolate.

7ishpm - Milk feed before bed (breastfeeding so no idea how much)

He is pretty active and we go for a walk every day.

Does this seem like to little?

No this doesn't sound to little at all ! I have a 2 year old and she eats pretty much the same ! She sleeps all night after her milk and is active all day too ! Every child is different, some eat more some eat less. Your doing a great job. It's very easy to compare your children to others, I was the same my little one wasn't the biggest foodie and I was thinking the same but rest assured it's perfectly fine ! Hope your well x

@mummyof1LO thank you! It's one of those things that I thought was fine but because someone mentioned it I started worrying that it wasnt enough!

All well here, hope you are too x

Yeh I understand and no don't worry you keep doing what your doing ! Yes all is well here to thankfully ! X

Sounds pretty normal toddler food to me. Of course we don’t know portion sizes but the food itself is fine.

What does your friend think he should be eating?

Sounds normal to me

I'd be ecstatic if my DS ate this much and this range of food. Sounds like you're doing great!

@Thesearmsofmine I have no idea. She has 3 boys so I think shes going by them. Portion sizes I would guess are small to medium, so he will happily eat a handful or so of pasta with sauce and cheese.

@MadeForThis that's reassuring! I'm a FTM so I worry a lot more than I need to I think!

@Millie2008 I think I I got lucky with him happily eating new food, I was incredibly fussy as a child and I'm still fussy now so I'm glad that hasn't rubbed off on him.

When he eats tea at 3.30pm does he have more food at home before bed?

Apart from that I thought it sounded good! Keep doing what you are doing xx

@Russell19 not a full meal no as by the time we get in from nursery it's well past 6.

Nursery do offer a light snack if its needed and we give him a snack in the car and this is usually fruit.

Your friends might be overfeeding their kids. Your menu sounds perfect

Hmmm I'd personally give him more than fruit as a snack in the car. My little boys nursery has said the 3.30 tea is just a big snack and that they'll still need something else but yours might be different.

I wish my ds would eat even half of this! Sounds plenty! Nice varied and healthy diet too!

It sounds like a perfectly normal amount and variety for a toddler. I would be giving him something more substantial for an evening snack on nursery days though - whenever I've worked in nurseries, tea has usually been something like a small sandwich or a slice of toast with a few spoons of beans or egg, more of a snack than a meal. It's a long time to go till breakfast time if he's just had something like that at 3.30 then a bit of fruit.

If he's following his centiles and is meeting his milestones, I wouldn't worry too much.

I'd be tempted to introduce another BF in the day, maybe on wake up and try and cut down on the night feeds. Dr Jay Gordon has a really gentle night weaning method.

The Caroline Walker Trust has a good guide on food for one to four year olds here which gives menu suggestions, recipes and even portion sizes which should be helpful

@Russell19 @NannyR the evening meal at nursery is a full hot meal with a pudding, and they will usually give something a banana or breadsticks to any child who is still there at 530/6

@JiltedJohnsJulie he seems to have naturally stopped the night feed in the last week or so, so although he wakes over night he doesn't want a feed now and will settle back to sleep with cuddles.

He is following his centiles and as far as I can tell he is meeting all his milestones as well.

So if he’s not waking for milk, is meeting his milestones and following his curve on the centiles, then I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I would still have a read of the guide from the Caroline Walker Trust I posted though as it seems to have sone good ideas