Nursery feeding DD burgers

[EmmaOvary]

My DD recently started at nursery, she is only 13 months old. The kids are given fruit as a mid morning snack and what seems to be a healthy, home cooked lunch. But then for tea they seem to be given a diet of frozen processed stuff. One day it was burgers, another frozen pizzas, hash browns etc. It is definitely not home made versions ie. homemade pizza with lots of veggies as I've seen them handling the boxes and it was Tesco own brand frozen stuff. Does anyone else have experience of this? Seems absolutely mad in terms of nutrition and salt content, especially as the babies are eating it too.

Send in your own packed tea.

The nurseries I’ve worked in would only employ a cook to cover lunchtimes, so it was up to the nursery staff to throw together a quick tea, which may be what’s happening here? Have to say though, we never did frozen burgers or pizza, it was more like scrambled eggs on toast, or a jacket potato with beans and cheese; stuff that took minimal prep. I would definitely ask about it, I wouldn’t be happy with it either. If it doesn’t change, send in a packed tea perhaps?

Yes I've asked them to just give him a snack that I provide now. Hate being 'that parent' but he was filling up on crap and then not eating his dinner, which was another problem. Just wondered if this was commonplace!

What time are you picking up that they are giving a cooked tea? At our nursery we give a sandwich or cake with fruit. The cooked meal is at lunchtime.

Not normal where I work. Nursery staff make the food at tea time and it’s things like scrambled eggs on toast, soup and crackers, veggie sticks, pitta breads and dip, 1/2 wholemeal and cheese with salady bits etc.

Wholemeal wrap that should say!

Not normal at our nursery. Is there a menu? Everything at ours is freshly made. It's nursery-type food, so just stuff like tuna pasta, soup and a roll, chicken curry, salmon and potatoes, but it's all made on-site. I'm not massively precious over food, but if you are paying for meals then I would expect something better than that.

Oh I just saw it's tea. Our nursery only do a late snack, not a dinner. I'm surprised they offer it if they aren't able to cater it - a late snack would surely be better.

My nursery only do late snacks. That seems a lot to be giving them. Just give a small healthy snack and feed when you get hone

Op your original post says dd and she and your follow up says he and him?

I wouldn’t be happy with that
Were you given info re menus when you started?

Our nursery does afternoon snack. It's usually things like:

Sandwiches and fruit
Cheese toasties and yoghurt
Crackers & cheese and Homemade banana bread
Homemade scones with jam and fruit

That's not very healthy especially for one so young. I'm totally not that strict with what she eats but I wouldn't be too happy with that but I'd probably let it go unless they were at nursery quite a few days per week.

Sounds terrible. Not at all suitable for a child that age (or any nursery child really). I'd keep an eye as if they're lazy on something as fundamental to your child's health as providing healthy food, they might be lazy on other things like getting the kids outside for exercise every day. Healthy habits need to be formed from the start.

@imnottoofussed typo - my DS, not DD.

All of the above sounds normal to me - it isn't the minimal fuss food I mind, more the processed crap. Whole meal wraps and suchlike would be great!

They give this hot tea at 4.30, I believe.

@nimbuscloud yes, I asked to see an example menu but I should have asked more questions. It had pizza on it and I naively assumed it would be homemade, for example. I do think giving burgers and hash browns to children that small is shocking, especially the babies. They seem a bit clueless in a way, when we went on a nursery day trip recently, the nursery workers were passing me crisps and Ribena for DS - not kiddie versions, full salt ones.

Our nursery do lunch & tea ‘backwards’. Lunch is the main meal. Always home cooked. Curries, stews, pasta, stir fry, cottage pie, risotto followed by pudding which is sometimes fruit & yoghurt, sometimes ice cream, sometimes sponge pudding & custard. Snack is always fruit, veg & wholemeal pitta bread sticks to dip in things like hummus. Tea is more what I’d normally do DD for lunch at home. Cheese toasties, crumpets & beans or cheese, homemade soup, sandwiches.

I’d say ours is a really well balanced menu. Healthy, lots of fruit, veg & wholemeal but with the odd treat thrown in!

@SlothinSpirit I take your point! I do think they are good on exercise, the kids get a lot of outdoor time and in every other way I think the care is excellent. It's really just the food, and I think now I've opted out of the hot tea it's going to be ok. Just wondered how universal this was, it sounds from the replies that it isn't at all.

Every nursery setting my child has been in its big homemade lunch, usually very healthy, often something I wouldn't imagine a bunch of little kids eating (like veg curry or stuffed peppers) but I don't know if it's peer pressure but they usually eat v well. Evening meal always a snack tea, usually the cook makes big portion of soup which is then reheated at 4.30 plus sandwiches or crackers. Theres no way they would need a full second hot meal at that time. Bit confused when you said your child was filling up on junk and not eating their tea...are you giving them a third hot meal when they get home? Surely they have had their full 3 meals and snacks at nursery and its just milk and supper if required?

This whole thread has me completely confused with what lunch, "tea" and dinner are supposed to be. I'm frankly confused as to why anyone would eat a full meal at 16h30.

Anywa, back to the topic, I agree that serving babies and toddlers frozen crap isn't great.
And really at 16h30 I'd expect a piece of fruit or a piece of bread and jam, not pizza...

This whole thread has me completely confused with what lunch, "tea" and dinner are supposed to be. I'm frankly confused as to why anyone would eat a full meal at 16h30.

My DS went to afterschool club until he was 9 or 10, and they served a fairly substantial cooked meal at 4.45pm. He was always hungry again later and sometimes had another meal before going to bed.

@Jent13c essentially I have no issue with just milk and a snack after nursery if he's eaten 3 meals, as you say, but I didn't want him to fill up on frozen rubbish and then not have room for his dinner, which would include veg etc. I chickened out a bit and asked them not to give him the hot tea on the basis he wasn't eating dinner rather than mentioning it's poor content 🙂

My youngest has 2 cooked meals a day at nursery all cooked fresh and in the 7 years I’ve had kids hurry they’ve never had pizza let alone frozen pizza once
Pilchard pie is a particular novelty that I’d run a mile from but the kids love

If that’s the norm then I’d be looking at another setting

@Figgygal I know, it isn't great. At the moment he is not being given that meal at my request so that's ok, but I don't get why they seem to think it's normal, when from these replies it clearly isn't. It is in quite a deprived area but I don't see why that should matter or indeed if it does.

The issue with keeping her there is that, although she's tiny at the moment, she'll soon grow into a bolshy toddler with views of her own. At that point, not getting the pizza/burger/chips that the other children are receiving will become an issue.

@SlothinSpirit this is a good point. We're hoping to move in the next year for sure, but within that time this May conceivably happen. I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it, in which case I may have to switch nurseries.