PLEASE come and talk to me about portion size for 4yo!!!

[ButtercupWafflehead]

My 4yo is reasonably normal in height and weight, build is doesn't look chubby or even stocky - perhaps "sturdy" but not overweight.

I have never had any issues with feeding him but having spent the weekend with commenting relations has made me feel a bit neurotic

SO the comments were: "TWO slices of bread for sandwhiches? TWO???"

And, after lunch DS asked for something else and said he was still hungry - "You CAN'T BE HUNGRY!!!!"

SO how much does your 4yo eat?

Thanks!

Well on a typical day my 4 yr old DD will eat...

Breakfast - 1 Weetabix and 1 Slice of toast

Lunch - A wholemeal roll, a handfull of crisps, grapes, cucumber and a slice of cheese.

Dinner - spag bowl/roast/pizza/pasta/shep pie/chili etc - smallish portion as she is usually very slow at eating dinner!

Snack - a biscuit, fruit, yogurt and she nearly always has a small chocolate treat after dinner (small pack of buttons etc)

Ofcourse a 4 yr old should have 2 slices of bread for a sandwich.

DD is very small height wise for her age but she doesn't look chubby.

Dont worry..you know your child best.

Who made the comments?

DS would have something like:

Breakfast - porridge or toast & jam or cereal

Lunch (if not at school) - cheese or ham sandwich - on two rounds of bread!, some fruit, handful of crisps, cherry tomatoes

Tea - Smaller size portion of what we're having - something like fish, baby new potatoes, green beans

Snack - anyhting like raisins, banana, yoghurt

After tea he can have a small chocolate treat.

He is a real skinny minny

Dd2 (4.1) has:

Breakfast: 1 piece of toast and a biscuit.

Snack: A piece of fruit.

Lunch, half a sandwich, yoghurt, half a packet of crisps, 5 grapes.

Snack: a biscuit or 2.

Dinner: 1 sausage , mash and baked beans. Followed by a yoghurt/piece of cheese cake or choc mouse.

Dd2 is very stocky (but not fat) and often asks for biscuits or bread between meals.

My fairly slight 16month old puts away a one-slice sandwich for lunch, I'd expect her to have graduated to 2 slices by 4!

My ds (just turned 5 ) is a huge eater - but so slim you can count his ribs. He's always active and think he just needs the calories to keep going.

Typical day would be

breakfast - weetabix (sometimes 2) and 2 crumpets with marmite

School snack - fruit and milk

Lunch - marmite sandwich -2 slices bread, cheese, cucumber/carrot, fruit and 2 biscuits

Snack - homemade cake, fruit etc

Tea - smaller portion of what we're having - if it's a fave meal of his coud eat about the same amount as me! eg Chicken pots and veg, tacos, chicken tikka rice and veg etc

followed by piece of fruit and custard/choc mousse/ cake etc

Cup of milk at bedtime
When I write it down it looks loads but he seems to need it!

My almost 4 yo typically eats the following:

Breakfast (his main meal of the day):

big bowl of cereal - 2 oatibix or weeatabix, plus big mound of shreddies and cornflakes, fruit puree on top. Often has seconds.
slice of toast and honey, jam or peanut butter
glass of milk or chocolate milk

mid-morning snack at pre-school - banana (innocent fruit sucky thing if at home where he won't touch bananas )

Lunch:
slice of toast/bread with soft cheese or smoked salmon pate
yoghurt
water

Dinner:
tiny amount of pasta and pesto or baked beans on toast or sardines in tomato sauce on toast
He eats next to nothing at this time of day.
Glass of milk.
Sometimes eats pudding (fruit and ice cream, or a cake, typically) but only if he's eaten the first course.

But he is the world's fussiest eater, and is 2nd centile for height and weight.

Ds looks normal to me but I have had a letter from his school tosay he is underweight (in bottom 2 percentile for child bmi) so he must be ultra slim

What ds eats varies enormously day to day but if he likes something he wolfs it down and eats loads. If he doesn't like it he eata a bit if really hungry and leaves the rest.

A typical good eating day would be

Breakfast

• Porridge (2 oatso simple packets mixed with milk and golden syrup)
• 1 small tooast or half a big slice and possibly a mouthful or two of scrambled egg if I have made some or some cheese
• apple or banana or some grapes (sometimes all three is he is hungry)

Mid morning snack
Fruit or nothing depending on how he feels or where we are and what we are doing

Lunch
Sandwich (whole one - ie two slices of bread) veg sticks and more fruit and usually a bisuit or some yoghurt)

Mid-afternoon snack
1-2 biscuits or a slice of cake or more fruit (depending on what we have or what he has eaten so far that day)

Evening meal
Smaller portions of what we have.
Often his evening meal is very small as he will say he doesn't like it. Sometimes he wst as much as I can if he likes it

Then fruit from the fruit bowl - he helps himself if he wants some.
1-2 after dinner Sweets or chocolates. He gets something most evenings after he has eaten if he eats at least some of his vegetables (ie he tsates all of them)

ds1 is 5 now, but eats about the same as he did when he was 4. a typical day would be:

breakfast:
bowl of porridge, glass of juice or water
hot chocolate

or, 2 slices of toast

lunch:
something like a bowl of soup with a roll or a couple of slices of bread
or, a sandwich made with 2 slices of bread, handful of cherry tomatoes, some sliced peppers, olives etc

followed by a yoghurt or a piece of fruit

dinner: smaller portions of what we have
for example he'll eat maybe a big stuffed mushroom, a big tablespoonful of mash, LOTS of veg
followed by yoghurt/rice pudding/cake/ice cream/fruit...

he snacks throughout the day too

dd1 (4 in June) eats the following on a typical day:

Breakfast:
1 1/2 Weetabix with raisins, full fat milk
Half a slice of toast, sometimes 1 slice

Snack:
Any fruit going, more toast, hot cross bun etc

Lunch:
Half a sandwich (at best), or one of those small Ikea bowls full of soup, plus a round of bread and maybe a bit of cheese

Snack:
As per the morning

Dinner:
Smaller portions of what we have (maybe 3 heaped tablespoons), or if it's say, fish fingers, she'll eat 2 fish fingers and 3 Smiley Faces and a tablespoon of peas, plus a yoghurt after

She is really really slim, always has been, probably always will be! Dreading the letter from school when she starts in Sept...

my 5 1/2 year old dd eats.

toast, peanut butter and normally some kind of cereal fruity bar and hot choc

2 yogs mid morning

lunch, sandwich with ham, carrots, cheese, apple, crisps, more yogs.

tea, homemade shep pie,pasta bake, chili etc with side ie rice, mash and veg (2 if poss)

then normally a small amount of sweetie before bed!

My ds is 5 and looks solid but is not fat. He is also tall, from most stores he needs age 8 clothes.

He eats for breakfast muffin/crumpet/toast with jam (no butter he doesn't like it) followed by yoghurt and fruit.
OR
1 egg scrambled on toast or made into eggy toast.

Snack at school is usually fruit or toast.

Lunch is school dinner,
or if at home then soup with bread or beans or cheese on one round of toast followed by fruit/yoghurt sometimes a biscuit or cake.

Snack after school is scone/hotcross bun/biscuits/chocolate/fruit.

Tea is cottage pie/curry and rice/chilli and rice/lasagne or similar followed by crumble/rice pudding/yoghurt and stewed fruit/yoghurt/cake/fruit and cream

My DD age 3 looks thin to me, tho not skinny and i was worrying i wasnt feeding her enough but in comparision to what some of the older children here are eating i feel better about it...

Breakfast - handful of cereal or 2 slices of toast and jam, cup of milk

Lunch - 2 slice ham sandwich, cheese, 8-10 grapes, an apple

Tea - pasta and cheese (enough to fill a plastic toddler plate) or 3 fish fingers and handful of chips, or half a tin of spaghetti and sausages and 2 slices of toast

Snacks (all 3)- satsuma, half a handful of raisins, a lollipop and a handful of choc buttons

I feel like it sounds too much now ive read it but she is so slim