Do you have a food routine for your toddler?

[Littleraysofsunshine]

as in, breakfast, snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner at set times each day or just let them tell you when they're hungry?

i just find it so hard to get us both eating lately. i try to make it fun, but then she sometimes wants to just mush it into the floor!

Think that mushing the food into the floor is pretty normal for a toddler, so I wouldn't worry about that.

We usually have breakfast at 7 in the wekk and 8 at the weekends. Lunch is around 12ish and tea at 5 and we all eat together.

When you say you're having problems geting you both to eat, are you not eating regularly either?

Before I go any further though, how olid is your DD, what milk does she have and how much. Only asking because this makes a difference on what advice to give .

Yes Ido - breakfast 7, snack 10, lunch 12, snack 3.30-4 when he wakes up, dinner 5.30

He doesn't always eat his morning snack and every so often doesn't eat dinner

She's 22m, sometimes has a bottle of milk when she wakes, sometimes has one before her nap and has a bedtime milk

What things do you give at the morning and afternoon snack,?

Snack time here is fruit, a biscuit, rice cake, home made cake, slice of bread and butter when have no food!, a smoothie pouch. Mainly fruit though like raisins, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, dried apricot, apple anything really. She also lives to dip things in hummus, like carrots, pitta, cucumber.

Hi, I've always had the core meals in a vague routine because everyone else does, but DS has about seven meals and always did because he seemed a little and often type of person.

I have also found DS is hugely variable in the amount he eats. It depends what he's doing when I offer snacks - e.g. I now give a snack in car on way to preschool - some days he eats half a banana, the other day he ate two full sandwiches and this was only 2 hours after breakfast!

Personally I had parents who were very strict and irritating about food (my dad spent his entire life saying 'you'll spoil your lunch, you'll get fat, you're eating too much) and I swore I wouldn't be like that. So in our house you can always have plain bread or a piece of fruit if you're hungry and that goes for the toddler too.

What kind of milk is it Little?

Blue cows milk

spottyteacake

See this is the kind of variety we had, but she's gone off most things, even toast with butter. Fruit, veg,

The only thing she loves is eggs, beans, cheese.

It's so frustrating because some week she'll love all things, another she won't

It must be really frustrating especially when food is so expensive! I'm sure it's just a phase and she's exercising her right to choose! How about cheese scones? She can help you mix them then watch them come out the oven etc

My DD1 (2.8) has a cup of warm milk and a brioche when she wakes up at 6 ish. Breakfast at 8, snack at 10, lunch at 12, snack at 3 and dinner at 5.30.

She also has a bottle of cows milk at bed time, which is around 7.

All times are variable by half an hour or so, it depends on what we're doing.

DD1 thrives with routine, has done since she was about 18 months. I find it a bit difficult to eat with her at such structured times sometimes but we always sit at the table and have meals together.

HTH

we have our routine mostly beacuse DS goes to a CM in the day so we do the same every day to keep it simple

snacks - a banana every morning

afternoon - a satsuma, a babybel, some home made cheesy biscuits, a little fairy cake, some grapes, something like that

he only has one cup of milk with breakfast now, then water throughout the day.

I've got 2 DSs,3 & 18m.They always have breakfast lunch & tea 8ish,12ish 6 ish depending on what we are doing,and snacks mid morning and mid-afternoon,things like apples,raisins or sometimes biscuits & icecreams if at a park etc.Both drink semi-skimmed morning and bedtime.DS1 is,and always has been, very fussy but getting better.DS2 eats pretty much anything.i've had many many meals on the floor and it is frustrating,just keep going.I'm amazed some days how little food DS1 seems to eat but is lively and healthy so don't worry too much!

Beatrix I've always been told they should drink full fat until 5? Is this not necessary?

dd is 26 months wakes up at 7 has some milk breakfast between 8.00-8.30 mid morning snack about 10.00 but she isnt always bothered about that lunch at 12.00 mid afternoon snack around 3.00 tea at 4.30/5.00 glass of warm milk for bed at 7.00 ish. milk is full fat and she will drink water or milk throughout the day but no juice. i was always told full fat till 5 too.

Spotty:I think full fat is until advised until 2.My 18m old eats so much other stuff(cheese,full fat yoghurt etc) that I don't think it matters and it's more convenient for the family to have semi.

Spotty it used to be full fat until 5 years but now its 2 years but you can use your discretion when they are 2. Mine are 8 and 5 and I'm an old bat and we are all on full fat.

Little did you know that the recommendation is for 300 ml of full fat cows milk per day from 12 to 24 months and to ditch the bottles at 1 year?

With that in mind I'd stop the morning bottle and just offer her something like eggy bread or readybrek with fruit and a cup of milk and when she wakes from her afternoon nap offer her a cup of milk again and some fruit. Once you've successfully stopped the daytime bottles then I'd look at stopping the bedtime bottle.

Once you've got her down to 300mls you'll probably find that her appetite picks up anyway.

There are some great suggestions for snacks on here already but if you want more inspiration, have a look at MN recipes or Baby Led Weaning website. Sorry, can't do links at the moment.

As for refusing food, I know it can be stressful but try to remain calm, don't comment on what she does or doesn't eat and if she refuses something, just assume she isn't hungry and never, ever offer an alternative. That is a very slippery slope

HTH

dd2 still naps, so mealtimes are sort of dictated by her sleep times.
breakfast is about 7.45 or whenever we're all dressed. sometimes have a morning snack, sometimes not.
lunch is at 12, so she can nap at about 12.30 or 1. Sometimes she has a snack on waking, depending on what lunch she had. Dinner is between 5 and 6, as she goes to bed at 7.

That's really interesting, thanks. Dd doesn't really drink milk so it can get thrown away before she drinks it as no one else has full fat. I expect dp will say she still needs it though

At the risk of a thread hijack ...

JiltedJohnsJulie I agree with never offering an alternative. I am not a cafe! However I get in a twist about puddings after not eating dinner.

I have twins. Invariably one will eat the dinner and the other won't, though it's anyone's guess which way round it'll be at the start of a meal! I don't offer an alternative, but I do offer pudding to both, even though one hasn't eaten any dinner. I am conflicted about this - if I had one child who hadnt eaten dinner, I think I'd not offer pudding (but not make a fuss about it either, just not mention pudding and carry on with the day), but because one of them has eaten their dinner, I want to progress to pudding. I don't feel I can withhold pudding from the non-dinner eater without going down the 'no pudding if you don't eat your dinner' route, which I don't want to do because that makes the pudding a forbidden treat instead of a normal part of dinner, but equally I am getting a bit concerned that DTS has given up on dinners because he's pretty sure a yoghurt/banana/custard/biscuit pudding is on its way.

Does anyone have any ideas?

^^

Hi, I have been advised to have two puddings available, and decide at the time which is appropriate. In our house there might be cake in the tin, or banana with plain yogurt. If they've both eaten their dinner, I offer the cake. If they haven't I offer plain yogurt and banana because that is not sugary and has nutritional value in itself.

I don't do sweet puddings as a rule, so peanut butter on oatcakes or toast for afters - these are nice foods but not sugary and the one who hasn't eaten dinner gets some decent food in their second course.

Pretty much agree with little. Have you thought of offering a little bit of fruit for pudding? Nice and sweet but not too filling.

That's good to hear! Most of my puddings are fruit and yoghurt, with the odd cake/custard type pudding for variety, so I guess I have been doing as you advise.

They're both healthy and growing, so I guess I can't be going too far wrong and I guess it is possible for a boy to live on yoghurt and fruit for a month :)

^^

I didn't know 300mls is recommended. She has about 300 a day most days anyway (always has a small NUK bottle which is 150ml) (started at 13.5m when weaned from breast feeding)

She hasn't had lunch milk for a few days, but loves her bed milk and when she wakes up in the morning. Some mornings she doesn't have it if she wakes later ahe'll jut have breakfast. Where as if she has an early rise she'll have about 100ml