2 questions - offering alternative meals and salt intake...

[WhoahThereCrazyHorse]

Would welcome advice from more experienced mums please!

Tonight I gave 18mo DD pasta with pesto, chicken and green beans. I left her with her fork and she tried one of each bit but then spat them all out and wouldn't eat any more, so clearly pesto is not a winner! I knew she'd be hungry so I then gave her spaghetti hoops on toast and she polished off most it - so half a small tin of hoops and nearly a whole thick slice of that best of both bread. Is it the right thing to offer an alternative of something I know she'll eat or am I making a rod? What age do I need to change my approach - I definitely don't want to end up with a fussy eater (although I know this could easily happen no matter what I do).

Second question re salt intake - DD is pretty insatiable at the mo, whether its due to a growth spurt or just being very active (she's very small for her size).

So today she's had:

Grapes and some of my breakfast bagel.

Pancakes for breakfast at nursery, then sausage casserole and mash for lunch, lots of fruit and cheese scones (she had extra as well) for afternoon tea, followed by the aforementioned for proper tea. I just can't see how there's any way she would be under the recommended salt intake, and this level of eating has been going on for a good couple of weeks now. Should I be worried?

If its not one thing its another - I posted a few weeks ago despairing about having a toddler that doesn't eat!

:)

I mean small for her age, not size....

No advice (sorry!)but watching with interest about the offering a second dinner!

Personally i would say no. I did to my 2 first DS who was a fussy eater and it was a bad mistake and 5 years later we still have a very fussy eater. I did not with my DD and simply gave her what we had and if she didn't like it then she went without and we have a 4 year old that eats anything and everything.
Its hard as you think they will starve and you are being cruel but honestly they wont! Having a fussy eater is awful though

My DD is nearly 18mo & tbh I don't really offer alternatives. The only time I do is when she's ill & that would be toast or some fruit. She is a fab eater & will eat most things (I hope it continues!)

In terms of salt intake, I wouldn't have thought that the nursery would add salt to their meals? What I do is if she has quite salty stuff one day (eg spag hoops or lots of bread) I make sure I don't give her much salty stuff the next day.

I've got a 16mo and he is 'fussy' (if you can call a toddler fussy). I'm all for the "that's what's on offer - no alternatives" approach, but my husband is convinced that he is going to starve to death if he doesn't eat his dinner and so is always offering rusks, extra milk, breadsticks etc before he goes to bed. Which probably completely negates any effect of me not offering a second dinner!

Do you always have a 'spare' dinner just in case? Or do you have to start cooking again once the first dinner has been rejected?

I'm interested because I don't want to go down the 'spare' dinner route - but would prefer that to the constant bedtime snacking that seems to happen otherwise.

I think that pesto is an aquired taste, and I wouldn't be surprised if she'd reject it the first time you offer - try again another time but with only a little pesto. I wouldn't have offered Spag hoops, but I would have offered plain pasta with a little cheese maybe.

I have always offered alternative dinners (scramled eggs were my alternative) and I did have fussy toddlers but now they are 5 and 6 and eating more things.

The only alternative that I ever offer is something easy and toast-based, I wouldnt ever actually cook or defrost a different 'proper' meal...

If she normally eats well then I would offer an alternative if it is something new. DS eats pretty much everything I put in front of him most of the time - if its something new and he refuses I offer something else, if its something he normally eats I don't offer something else.

Same as sirzy

My 19mo usually eats well and likes most things so when she refuses something new, I assume it's because she genuinely doesn't like it. In these cases I do offer an alternative. Something simple and filling like malt loaf works for us.

If I tried something new and didn't like it, I'd be really p'ed off if I was made to go hungry until the morning!

Same as Sirzy here, too.

My 2.6 year old has always been good with food so I see no problem in offering alternatives occasionally. I woldn't do it if she was generally fussy, though.

When I introduce something new I normally just do a little bit on the side of something I know they'll like - so then if they don't like it, there's still quite a bit of other stuff that they will eat.

If a whole meal gets rejected, he gets fruit and a yogurt and that's it.

Same as Sirzy here too. If they've had a salty day so far, then I'd offer something more bland and less salty than pesto at dinner time.

alternatives here are traditionally fruit and plain Yoghurt. for a while that was ds1's favourite tea. but age 4 he is eating a much wider variety. I was a.fussy child, all 3 of mine have been fussy babies from weaning. I try not to make an issue of it and keep exposing them to a little of what they don't like alongside stuff they do.

I do worry about salt though. I drain some of the sauce off things like hoops, and avoid thick sliced bread.