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What do your 2 year old eat in a day?

22 replies

DarkGreen · 25/01/2021 11:26

Snacks, drinks, meals everything really. Please can you say how many months they are as my son is just 2 so not sure if a 2 year old who is nearly 3 will eat more or not?

Trying to work out if my 2 year old eats enough...

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Mylittlepony374 · 25/01/2021 11:43

2 yrs 5 months
Innocent fruit smoothie when he wakes
Cereal for breakfast
Toast /fruit /cheese snack
Cooked lunch when at creche e.g.lasagne, curry&rice. At home likely toasted sandwich with meat/cheese and fruit on side.
P. M. Snack of a biscuit or scone or similar.
Cooked dinner, whatever we are eating. On créche days he often refuses this and I make him porridge instead.
He's always been a big eater. His sister never at this much. He's average height/weight etc for age. Never stops running/climbing/moving etc.

Gemzee · 25/01/2021 11:45

My son is 2.5 years old - hardly interested in breakfast, will eat a pear or a breakfast biscuit (like belvita) and loves sausages but he only has those at the weekend.

He snacks on biscuits way too much! (Rich tea, digestives or custard creams if I'm feeling generous).
Will eat a bag of skips or quavers
An apple cut up or a pear if he's not had one at breakfast

Lunch is picky bits (cheese, mini hot dogs, crackers etc) or sometimes cheesy pasta

Dinner is bolognese or chicken dippers or cottage pie or fish fingers
Also has party rings as a snack after dinner or a couple jaffa cakes.

As you can see, not much heathy stuff Blush but I prefer him to eat so let him off (he's tiny, 12-18 month trousers still!! 18-24 month tops).
Also he would eat chocolate all day long but I have reigned that in since xmas!!

user1471523870 · 25/01/2021 11:48

Mine is 27 months (but he was born 2 months earlier, so he should be 25 technically speaking...).

Breakfast: it's cereals (it varies, but his favorites are Cheerios, plain cornflakes or Weetabix) or the odd brioche roll/plain biscuits. Plus a couple of glasses of milk. I normally add his Vit D supplements to the milk.
Mid morning snack: crackers, half a toast, cereal bar, breadsticks, fruit (a handful of cut grapes/apple/pear/half banana/berries), cheese cubes with carrot sticks or cucumber cubes.... Not much as he loves his snacks and would eat too many and not be hungry for lunch.
Lunch: pasta of various type or cottage pie or casseroles with veg in it or presented in the same plate, plus fruit or yogurt as pudding.
Afternoon snack: similar to morning snack, depending of what he already had (if he had fruit already it would be breadsticks etc)
Tea: cheese sandwich, soup, pizza, chicken goujons, fish fingers all normally served with some veg.

If he gets tea at the nursery I also give him something to eat before bed time, but normally it's just a toast or a crumpet and a glass of milk.

I am struggling with vegetables at the moment. He's eating them well if mixed in his pasta sauce or cottage pie etc, but he's getting fussy at eating them alone. We are stuck to carrots, cucumbers, beans, sweet potatoes and peas (possibly potatoes if you wide the definition of veg!). I found some sort of frozen hashbrowns made with all sort of veg inside and he loves them, particularly the cauliflower ones. But it feels a bit like cheating as I am not creating the right habit there....

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fluffy71 · 25/01/2021 11:53

Mine is 2.5 yrs. Usually porridge or weetabix for breakfast. Add omega 3 oil and tiny amount if insulin powder and cinnamon and honey to it. A peace of fruit, water to drink and toast and marmite. Lunch is usually a cheese toastie or sandwich. Then a hot cross bun or fruit for snack then a hot meal (ie stew, pasta and sauce) for dinner. Not so keen on veg so really load up on fruit. Was a terrible eater living on sandwiches and fruit so have had to really focus on getting a dinner down him

fluffy71 · 25/01/2021 11:54

Sorry meant inulin powder (it’s a fibre that promotes good bacteria)

Abouttimemum · 25/01/2021 12:18

22 months.
Cup of milk on waking

Breakfast at 8/8.30 is usually porridge with banana or berries and peanut butter, or weetabix / shredded wheat with some fruit afterwards.

He doesn’t have a snack as he has lunch at 11. Usually a carb, protein, veg mix and then some fruit afterwards if he eats this. Some days he does well with lunch, some days he doesn’t.

He has a snack at 2pm which is usually fruit or rice cake/ breadsticks, depending on lunch.

5pm ish he has tea, I’ll give him a good portion of hot food if he’s not done so well at lunch, or something lighter if he ate all of his hot lunch. I put out protein, carb and veg again. If he does well at dinner I’ll offer him some natural yoghurt or sometimes rice pudding / custard with fruit afterwards. Sometimes he gets some chocolate if he’s demolished everything I’ve put in front of him.

Then he still has milk before bed.

On nursery days he has a different pattern and because they give him tea at 3 I usually just put some finger foods out for him at 5.30 for him to munch on if he’s hungry.
On the weekend we eat all meals together.

Some days he eats everything and other days he just has tiny bites so I try to look at it across the whole week.

PeggyMoo · 25/01/2021 12:36

Cereal x2 - small plastic IKEA bowl.

Fruit bar / fruit for a snack/ raisins

Beans on toast - one slice of bread with heating of cheese. Yoghurt for pudding or fruit. Or sandwich, one slice of bread.

Dinner is usually pasta, fish fingers, sausages or cottage pie type thing. Toddler doesn’t eat vegetable willingly - some times I can sneak them in. Pudding will be fruit or yoghurt pouch (if hasn’t had one at lunch).

Small milk at bedtime.

My toddler is very heavy (overweight according to BMI) but doesn’t seem to eat THAT much?. She often asks for more and I’m not sure what I should do.

WalkingOnStarshine · 25/01/2021 14:33

My 2 year old (31 months) eats breakfast and dinner but no proper lunch. If he eats a hot meal at lunch he won't eat dinner. We usually do:

Slice of toast for breakfast
Fruit and crackers (or similar) late morning
Snack plate mid-afternoon (veg, fruit, cheese, oaty bar, etc)
Dinner will be something like pasta, or fish fingers with veg, spag bol or roast dinner

BringMeThatHorizon · 25/01/2021 14:51

DS is 27 months. A good day would be something like this:

Breakfast - slice of marmite toast and a smoothie, or a banana and a sugar free flapjack. Sometimes he'll have Wheetabix topped with fruit or a bowl of apricot mini wheats (he's not keen on breakfast so this is proving tricky for us at the moment)

Snack - a clementine/some grapes/a banana if he didn't have one with breakfast, plus a Soreen bar/naked bar/mini cheddars if he's really hungry

Lunch - usually either cheesy tomato pasta or a pate sandwich with whatever else we've got in - raisins, mini sausages, yogurt etc. If it's pasta I usually use a sauce batch cooked and in the freezer with as many veggies as possible that I can disguise in it

Snack - same as earlier, or if we've baked something recently then it'll be that

Dinner - quite limited but usually some variation of pasta/something with mash and peas and sweetcorn (sausages, black pudding, fish fingers)/roast dinner/corn beef hash or cottage pie and beans

Occasionally a biscuit or some chocolate buttons or something like that after dinner if he asks for one and has eaten well.

If it's a bad day then there are a lot more snacks - I just focus on trying to get all of the food groups in there somewhere so it's at least somewhat balanced

bluechameleon · 25/01/2021 16:17

Mine is nearly 3. He tends to eat progressively less through the day. So breakfast is big and dinner is sometimes virtually nothing. A typical day might be:
B: small bowl of rice krispies or oat cheerios or one weetabix, plus about a tablespoon of porridge, plus something toasted (crumpet, muffin, bagel).
S: fruit
L: 1 slice toast and peanut butter, Laughing Cow dipper or about 4 pieces of filled pasta; cucumber or sweetcorn; maybe some crisps (he would eat fairly unlimited crisps if allowed); yoghurt or fruit or biscuit
S: more fruit or an oat biscuit/Soreen bar
D: one sausage, fish finger or a chicken leg; about 10 pieces of pasta, 2 pieces of garlic bread, or some wedges or rice; 4 bits of carrot or some sweetcorn. Some days we have yoghurt or fruit, some days a proper pudding like banana and custard or cake.

Peanutbutteryogurt · 25/01/2021 16:33

28 months

Bottle of milk on waking
Cereal, porridge, fruit and yogurt, crumpet or toast, depending on what she wants. Pancakes on Saturdays.

Usually snacks throughout the morning on things like bananas, toast, babybel, some of whatever I have for breakfast. This means she's often not interested in lunch but she will always eat plain pasta with cheese and peas if I offer it! At the weekend were often out so it will be some kind of picnic food for lunch.

If we're out (for the endless walks we do these days) she might have an ice cream or.something sweet.

Dinner is whatever I make which is pretty standard family meals, Bolognese, fajitas etc. She is not particularly fussy with dinner. Yogurt or ice lolly for pudding.

She drinks quite a lot, either water or watered down fruit juice.

Bottle of milk at bed.

Imicola · 26/01/2021 08:04

27 months DD typical day would be...
Breakfast of porridge, half a slice of toast, small cup of milk.
Snack of a banana or a couple of satsumas, with water or milk.
Lunch of soup (she'll eat carrot and lentil, but others are hit and miss) and a slice of bread, or veg frittata and a slice of bread, with water.
Snack of cheese and oatcake, or veg muffin, or something similar, with water.
Tea is whatever we are having. Macaroni cheese, stir fry, chilli, bolognese, curry etc. Some things she eats well and some things get rejected, so sometimes she doesn't eat much at tea time. Last night was macaroni cheese and haggis which she loved!

Gwegowygwiggs · 26/01/2021 08:20

21 months (so apologies, not yet 2yo but almost so thought it may still help?)

Wake 7-7:30

Breakfast 8-8:30 (cereal / porridge / toast/ pancakes etc with fruit after eg a pear / apple / banana / strawberries / mandarin or latest obsession of pomegranate seeds)

9:30-10am: Sometimes has a snack, but only if he asks for it. Nothing too filling, box of raisins or yoghurt covered strawberries, piece of fruit, mini soreen bar.

12pm - lunch: Picky bits EY sandwich / salmon & rice / omelette / savoury pancake / muffins / sausage rolls / hummus and dips and veggie sticks on the side (whatmummymakes book & Insta page has some great ideas).

2:30pm: Again, sometimes (but not always) has a snack when he wakes from his nap. Similar to morning snack, basically whatever we have in the fridge

5-5:30pm dinner: Most of the time he has whatever we are having, unless for whatever reason he can’t, but carb loaded for him always. Pasta / rice / couscous / potato with some sort of protein - fish / beans / chicken / mince etc.

6:30 - Milk before bed. Anywhere between 5-10oz.

Generally speaking he has 3 meals a day, some days he has snacks in between but certainly not every day. I’d say most days he has 1 snack a day but very very rarely 2 as it ruins his main meals. He has what I would think is a “normal” toddler sized portion for his meals, and normally finishes the majority. Although he only picked at his dinner the last 3 days which is normal for us, he definitely goes through stages. Hope that helps!

Gwegowygwiggs · 26/01/2021 08:27

@PeggyMoo

Cereal x2 - small plastic IKEA bowl.

Fruit bar / fruit for a snack/ raisins

Beans on toast - one slice of bread with heating of cheese. Yoghurt for pudding or fruit. Or sandwich, one slice of bread.

Dinner is usually pasta, fish fingers, sausages or cottage pie type thing. Toddler doesn’t eat vegetable willingly - some times I can sneak them in. Pudding will be fruit or yoghurt pouch (if hasn’t had one at lunch).

Small milk at bedtime.

My toddler is very heavy (overweight according to BMI) but doesn’t seem to eat THAT much?. She often asks for more and I’m not sure what I should do.

Sorry to interrupt but how old is DD? It sounds like she has a totally normal toddler diet, so I’d be inclined to say that if she’s asking for more, let her have it? BMI may be overweight but at this age (2/3yo) I feel like that doesn’t bear much indication as to their weight as they get older. Maybe she is just a lovely podgy baby but if she’s hungry, don’t think about weight at this age.

I have a sister who was an almost 11lb baby. Very very squishy (read: fat) as a toddler until the age of about 6/7 when she all of a sudden slimmed out. Is now a 28yr old size 6/8 naturally and has been slim for all her teenage / adult life.

OverTheRainbow88 · 26/01/2021 08:32

Just 2

Cereal for breakfast
Scrambled eggs for lunch
Spag Bol tea

Snacks- apple and cucumber, maybe some
Raisins

OverTheRainbow88 · 26/01/2021 08:33

Oh and 2 bottles of milk!!

PatsyStone39 · 26/01/2021 08:41

My DS is 27 months. But he's a very big boy. He's in 4-5 clothes.

Breakfast will be 2 slices toast and fruit - usually a banana, grapes or a pear. He used to eat scrambled eggs but i think he's a bit fed up of it. Weekends we make banana pancakes.

Snack: Rice cakes, fruit, veggie straw crisps.

Lunch: Tomatoes, cucumber, and red pepper sticks with cheese, or a chicken hotdog. Sometimes a sandwich but bread can be hit or miss.

Dinner: Usually pasta with cod, or fish fingers. Homemade pizza, casserole etc. I always put his veg out first while i'm preparing the rest and it's guaranteed to be eaten...otherwise it's left. Veg is usually quite a bit of broccoli and carrots. Dinner is his favourite and he will eat adult sized portions. I don't do puddings etc. Very rarely.

He drinks a lot of milk at bedtime and when he wakes, that's the only thing that will get him back to sleep.

spidermomma · 26/01/2021 08:48

Mine are 1-3-4
Morning either cereal or a hot crossed bun, brioche toast
Mid morning snack- different types of fruit chopped up for a snack
Dinner - things like tuna pasta , chicken nuggets with cucumber fries etc
Afternoon snack - quavers or whatsits why they have a little chill time
Tea time - whatever we're eating they usually eat like pie mash and veg and they eat a fair bit then a pudding - bannan in custard, egg custard, cupcakes we made in the day
Supper - only light but they have a yogurt each and a banana then a bottle / glass of milk with a cookie

drink water or milk and at tea have a fruit shoot h2o as their isn't any junk in them ! Xx

Quail15 · 26/01/2021 09:57

Dd is 26 months and very active. Some days she is constantly asking for food ( and I give to to her) other days she will just pick at a few bits.

Normal day she is offered:

Breakfast: Cup of milk then cereal. Followed by half of my toast/muffin/crumpet. If going to nursery she will be offered another slice of toast at nursery.

Snack: crackers or fruit bar + sometimes more wholemeal toast.

Lunch: full meal at nursery (sausage & mash/cottage pie etc), at home - beans on toast/home made veg soup/ sandwich with salad/cheese & crackers with sweetcorn/tomato's etc

Snack: crackers/flapjack/fruit bar/low salt crisps

Dinner: at nursery will have a light meal - sandwich/wrap etc... At home whatever I have cooked - curry/pasta/risotto/couscous/jacket potato with quiche etc. On nursery days she is offered our dinner as well but often just has a yoghurt.

She drinks loads and will ask for a drink even if she is hungry so I try and offer her both.

Peanutbutteryogurt · 26/01/2021 10:20

We offer DD what we're having for dinner after nursery too but she's started to not really be interested. She eats really well at nursery according to staff, even things she won't eat at home

Feelbetterfamilies · 26/01/2021 12:19

I know sometimes there can be reassurance in finding out what other children are doing/eating to get a sense of what's possible. But each child is unique and if he's content, growing steadily along his own growth curve and meeting his developmental milestones then keep doing what you're doing! If not, then see your GP. Otherwise, trust your child's appetite - your son is growing and changing all the time and his needs will vary. He knows what they are and with a bit of trial and error I'm sure you'll do a great job of meeting them.

theruffles · 26/01/2021 12:38

DD is 2 years 7 months:

8:30am: Breakfast: toast with Marmite, banana, other fruit (grapes/plum/raspberries, etc) and a small handful of dry cereal like Cheerios. Sometimes pancakes instead of toast. Squash/water

10:30am: Snack - usually apple Soreen loaf or some fruit (orange/apple, etc)

12:30pm: Lunch - picky bits (bread sticks, rice cakes, fruit, raisins, dried cranberries, cheese, sausage roll, crackers, sandwich with cheese spread/ham or a toastie). Squash/water

2:30pm: Snack - fruit, breadsticks, (sometimes cake...)

5:00pm: Dinner - usually something hot (fish cake with chips/mash and peas/beans; soup; ravioli; pasta; fish fingers/nuggets with veg). Yoghurt for pudding. Squash/water.

She will usually eat all of her breakfast and lunch but can be quite picky with tea so we tend to stick with things we know she'll eat. She doesn't drink milk anymore so has plenty of cheese/yoghurt instead.

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