Why whenever I collect my 20 month old from nursery do they say she's had 2 dinners?

[Katie321516]

Does anyone else have this quite often recently they'll say she had 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches why do they feed her double meals don't know if I should say anything is this normal? She is a big girl she doesn't even really have snacks at home just breakfast lunch/dinner then desert usually fruit sometimes a treat. She is nearly 2 and already I'm buying age 3-4 clothes so I don't want them over feeding her or are their portions just really small? I guess ask them this myself I just don't want them to think bad of me like I'm trying to deprive her of food they give her deserts too I don't often give her at home like fruit and cream and cake/ice cream. This is a good nursery with excellent Ofsted reviews

Are you sure they don’t just mean she’s had second helpings, as in a bit extra when she cleared her plate? That would sound fairly standard I reckon.

I guess they just want to make sure she's had enough to eat. My DD will sometimes have 4 helpings of breakfast at childcare (no exaggeration!) but is so active and then doesn't snack. Sounds like you Dd had a healthy appetite but I cannot comment on if she's bigger than she should be

My sister was the same growing up. The dinners just weren’t enough, perhaps they’re small portions?

If it's anything like the nursery I work in, portions are small. We allow children to have seconds, but not of pudding.

The portions at nursery are absolutely tiny so I would not worry

I worked in a nursery for many years, I can't speak for all nurseries but the portions weren't big and x2 often meant they just had a small amount of seconds.

Maybe ask them what they mean by x2 is it a whole extra portion or just a small amount of extras. To be honest the catering company never sent enough for us to give the children a full second portion.

I used to think this, I’d always see all+ next to his meals and think wow how much is he eating but when I asked all+ means he had second helpings.

BUT pancake day they sent me a photo of them ‘about to tuck into pancakes and banana’ and it was 4/5 slices of banana whereas if I give banana I give the whole banana. So in my mind he was eating a whole banana and a whole pancake but it was a few slices iyswim

My 2 year old often has two dinners because she likes food. She's the same at home - she often asks for more.

Generally IME little kids won’t eat “normal food” past satiety (though like all of us you do see them binge on ice cream or whatever) - and nursery meals tend to be well balanced and healthy, so I wouldn’t worry.

If it was double portions of pizza or cake every day... sure. Ask a question. But if it’s meat/complex carbs/ veg/fruit etc- I’d just be glad she’s eating and eating well.

I have 2 boys. One was lanky wee thing and the other was... politely put, sturdy. When picking them up, I'd be told my oldest had eaten most of his portion but needing encouraging and my youngest had gone back for seconds/sometimes thirds. Our nursery serves it family style; food in platters/large bowls on the table and the kids "serve themselves" with a lot of help to make sure everyone actually got enough food in their plate. But it meant they could get more if they wanted.

They really didnt mean any insult by it. Just one of my kids disnt eat much and the other loved a good feed.

They are now 8 and 10 and are both perfectly healthy and within the green for the height/weight/age bmi. The youngest is still much more solid, but he is tall and has huge feet for his age so he is just a large person. He plays rugby so that'll be fine

If you're worried about it then see your GP and ask for s referral to a dietitian. They can help relieve your concerns and if any action is needed, then they can help you implement that.

Portions are tiny in nursery because they would rather give second or third helpings than be throwing food away.

I used to think the same but then I picked up DD one lunchtime to see that the portion of fishfingers was one lonely fish finger. She will easily eat 5 at home!

What am I missing, why are you asking strangers rather than the nursery?

Like everyone else says it probably means second helpings but just ask them