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healthy eating for toddlers?

8 replies

bellbottom · 20/12/2009 21:20

I'm reviewing the way I feed my toddler. She's healthy but always been a bit on the bloated side with ever growing pot belly. She's 22 months.

Confused on 2 matters. How much milk to give her now?

Also, what is healthy eating, in terms of grain consumption and levels of protein?

Should she avoid carbs in the evening? Is protein at lunch and dinner too high a level? Up till I didn't feed her all that much protein, but talking to a friend this evening made me wonder if I should seriously increase this. Worried I may get it all wrong! Any advice? Also any good books on the subject by trusted authors?

THANKS!!

OP posts:
ShinyAndNew · 20/12/2009 21:28

2 year olds are meant to have pot bellies no?

IMoveTheStarsForChristmas · 20/12/2009 21:33

why would you avoid carbs in the evening?? as long as she's happy, healthy and active with a good varied diet, why would you start restricting carbs? is she on a low fat diet too?

IMoveTheStarsForChristmas · 20/12/2009 21:35

As far as I'm concerned (and DS) a typical toddler diet is: Ready Break/Porridge/Weetabix with fruit for breakfast. Added toast if still hungry. Cup of milk mid morning if wanted.
Sandwiches for lunch with fruit/yoghurt and then something like fish with potatoes and veg/shephards pie/spag bol/etc for dinner.

What sort of thing does she eat?

Caz10 · 20/12/2009 21:38

Much as I really do not like Annabel Karmel, her meal planners are quite handy just as an overview of amounts/variation etc.
There's one at the back of the recipe book I hhave but I'm sure there would be one on her website too.
Birth to 5 book might also cover that?
My dd is so fussy atm however that we are living on beans and macaroni cheese!

Seona1973 · 20/12/2009 22:25

How to feed your toddler

Mimi1977 · 21/12/2009 11:33

My toddler eats what we eat, yesterday for example, Cherios with banana for breakie, ham sandwich for lunch with yoghurt for pudding and tea was chicken pie with roasted parsnips and mashed carrot and swede. Today she'll be having left over bacon and tomato risotto from Sat tea amd fish pie (made a load in a batch in ramakins in the freezer). Snacks include babybel cheese, raisins, chopped apple, satsumas, blueberries and grapes. However we don't want any food to be forbidden so she can have a bit of chocolate off the tree or some choc buttons every so often.

Other favourite lunches include:
Cheese on Toast
Boiled eggs and soilders
Baked potato and beans
scrambled eggs

I don't get too involved with the right proportions of meat and carbs etc but i do just give her a well rounded diet which is a bit of everything in moderation.

ButterPie · 21/12/2009 11:51

DD1 eats exactly what we eat, and has done since we started weaning her. I don't see why you would make a child eat differently to the adults. Only difference tends to be in drinks.

Breakfast is porridge with something in it, usually raisins or fruit, or toasted teacakes, or cereal with some kind of fruit, or cereal bar and a banana if I am feeling lazy. Milk for her, milky coffee for me.

Mid morning (if we got up early enough to have early breakfast) is a cup of tea or coffee for me and a glass of cordial of juice for her with whatever treat we happen to have in, so a cake or a couple of biscuits.

For lunch, I tend to go for stuff she can help make, so sandwiches, stuff on toast, baked potatoes and so on are very popular.

Tea is, well, tea stuff, so shepherds pie, stew and dumplings, curry, etc. We try and make sure the entire family is round the table for this.

If we managed tea at a reasonable hour, she will have some hot chocolate and maybe a biscuit for supper. Possibly some cheese and pate on crackers or toast.

She does seem to be a hungry child, as she will have other bots and bobs as well, fruit, biscuits, whatever I fancy myself really.

I am a bit concerned that we don't seem to be having enough milk, so I am going to start making us hot chocolate with milk in a pan to be drunk through the day, or maybe milkshake.

We do have to limit her fruit intake to around 5 portions maximum as it can give her horrible nappies and an upset tummy if we let her go mad.

BornToFolk · 21/12/2009 12:11

Like Mimi, I try to go for a well rounded diet with everything in moderation. We're vegetarian so I do think a bit more about protein but DS's favourite foods are eggs, cheese and all kinds of beans so it's fairly easy to manage.

He can have as many vegetables and fruit as he likes. Biscuits and cakes are limited, but a fairly regular part of his diet (homemade as much as possible). Sweets and chocolate are rare.

I think that the recommended amount of milk is still around a pint. DS has a big bottle before bed and the occasional slurp from a cup during the day. I think as long as they are not drinking so much milk that they have no appetite for anything else, you can't really give them too much.

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