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Is toddler eating enough?

16 replies

frenchtoast88 · 18/03/2021 21:13

My child is 18 months old and was good with food for a while but then seemed to get picky around about 1 and it seemed easier to serve up sausages every night knowing it would actually be eaten. Does this sound like enough food?

Breakfast - porridge made with almond milk (one Flahavans scoop which is 15g of oats and 2 scoops of milk), plus some frozen blueberries, half a mashed banana and a tablespoon of Greek yogurt. Usually eats all of it.

Lunch - 1/4 tin of beans, a slice of seedy toast, a few slices of cheese, a gherkin. Then grapes or other fruit. Will often only eat half the toast but pretty much everything else.

Afternoon snack - grapes or some dried apricots and a rich tea biscuit. I usually eat an apple at this point too and she'll gnaw away at the core until it nearly disappears.

Dinner - one sausage or small amount of mince. Very small amount of pasta. Peas and sweetcorn. Would rarely eat even half of what she's served. We're talking 2tbsps of food max.

Pudding - Greek yog and frozen berries. Usually eaten.

Milk - she has 100ml of Alpro 1-3+ milk before bed and would sometimes have another 100ml in the morning after breakfast but not always.

Writing it all down it doesn't seem so bad? Maybe a bit fruit heavy? Worried about portion size and whether it's enough. She's petite, only 9th centile and doesn't weigh 9kg. Don't want to stunt her very limited growth any further! Any tips of getting her to eat more at dinner time very welcome! She sleeps through the night and can wait up to an hour after waking for breakfast without getting too cranky which makes me think maybe it's ok?

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Mrscutesmummy · 18/03/2021 21:20

It doesn't sound too bad. I stir a big heaped teaspoon of peanut butter into my daughters porridge to get some extra calories and protein into her. She really likes it too.

Sounds similar to what I give my 3 year old whose on the 50th centile. We've had issues with low iron levels with her though so not sure if that is worth considering if she's not eating much meat? Can I ask why Almond milk and not cows milk?

aliensprig · 18/03/2021 21:21

Following this post with interest as I'm in the same boat with my 15 month old. Very similar diet/intake to your daughter and he's not quite 9kg. Sausages every night Blush

Thatwentbadly · 18/03/2021 21:26

She eats more than my toddler. Is she following her centile? Is she getting 350mg of calcium a day? Why almond milk? It tends to be very low fat - are you using one which is forfeited with calcium and iodine? If it needs to be dairy free then Oatley Barista or alpro growing up milk would be better. Maybe add in a mid morning snack.

I’m assuming this is just a random sample of food rather than what she eats everyday.

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Willow4987 · 18/03/2021 21:29

Doesn’t sound too bad. You could always swap the lunch/dinner around. I found my DS eats more at lunch so he now has his main meal then

frenchtoast88 · 18/03/2021 21:43

Thanks for quick replies!

Almond milk cos I can't deal with cows milk. She's not a baby cow (yes, nor a baby almond or a baby soya bean I know). She breastfed til 13m. I realise giving her dairy yogurt and cheese is still cows milk but somehow that's not so bad. I completely appreciate the hypocrisy there but I guess probably 50ml of almond vs cows milk isn't going to make the biggest difference? That's why the Alpro soya milk too. I'm not too sure exactly how much calcium she's getting, will need to have a look and work it out.

Mid morning - if we are out the door early enough then she'd have milk and maybe a biscuit when we got back but I don't think she'd eat her lunch if she had that any later than 10.

@Mrscutesmummy
Porridge - I do put peanut butter in too. Had forgotten! Maybe not every day but most. I'd say she gets her biggest meal at breakfast and maybe that's ok? Reassuring to know that amount of food can sustain a normal sized 3yo.

@Thatwentbadly - unfortunately she pretty much eats the exact same thing every day. It works and she got so picky (and I got so pregnant with #2) that it seemed much easier to choose the simple option and give her what I know she'll eat. She refused mince and pasta the last 2 nights which had always been a failsafe so tried puff pastry pizza things tonight. She had a nibble and made lots of mmm noises but then decided she was done. I gave her toast after, although I'm sure that wasn't the right thing to do! Never thought I'd be this person pandering to a picky little dictator!

OP posts:
doadeer · 18/03/2021 21:44

It sounds like loads to me! I have a very picky 2 year old, I'd be chuffed if he ate all this!

frenchtoast88 · 18/03/2021 22:00

Thanks @doadeer. It's so hard to compare them isn't it? She sees kids her own age so infrequently that I got a bit of a fright yesterday when we were at the park and realised the same sized child she'd made friends with hadn't even turned one yet 🤦🏼‍♀️

Baby number 2 due imminently so her dad is going to have to take charge of food a bit more. Maybe this is the change she'll need!

OP posts:
frenchtoast88 · 18/03/2021 22:03

I've checked, I think she's probably not far off getting 350mg of calcium per day between Alpro 1-3+ milk, cheese and yogurt.

OP posts:
campion · 18/03/2021 22:04

I wonder if she's getting enough fat from that. Toddlers need energy dense food so full fat dairy,oily fish, egg yolk,vegetable oil etc are important for both concentrated calories and several vitamins and minerals. Also too much fibre isn't good as it bulks up the food without providing much else and can affect how you absorb calcium.
Obviously toddlers should be encouraged to eat fruit and veg but if they are picky or potentially underweight it's also necessary to monitor their overall calorie and protein intake.

They've got little stomachs so won't eat much per meal. Maybe vary the snacks more and,personally,I think you should reconsider cows milk,though she could well reject it anyway at this stage.

modgepodge · 18/03/2021 22:05

Mine is almost 2 and similar. Evening meals are a headache. She eats potato waffles, pizza (homemade), pasta (with lentil Bolognase, mince Bolognase or cheese sauce). Those are the only evening meal type things. Occasionally she will eat some fish finger or an ellas kitchen chicken nugget. Will not eat any food saved from our evening meal, eg chilli, curry, noodles, roast dinner, rice, potatoes in any form, pie, any form of meat...

Breakfast used to be her best meal but that’s a battle now. We have to be out the house at 7.15 and I think she just doesn’t want to eat so early.

Our dietician told us to stir ground almonds in to anything we can (no taste apparently just adds calories) but as you can imagine most of the food she will eat doesn’t lend to stuff being stirred in!! She also gets a lot of peanut butter at lunch/snack time.

Thatwentbadly · 18/03/2021 22:10

Your baby so it’s entirely your choice if you give them cow’s milk or not. Both my girls have CMPA and although the oldest has now out grown it she prefers oat milk.

Like I said about Oatley barista and alpro growing up milk are both high in fat and forfeited with calcium and iodine.

If she is having the same foods every day then she won’t be getting a healthy varied diet. It takes something like up to 20 times before a child will accept a new food. I would give plates of food with some at least one thing on she likes, don’t comment if she eats or doesn’t eat something- just let her explore. If she doesn’t eat anything then offer her something else without making a big deal out of it. Let her steal things from your plate. Either offer her fish too or something else with omega in.

Just let her explore food and don’t get too worried about what she eats. My 4 year old likes bland food and my toddler likes strong flavours. They are all individuals and they will broaden and narrow their plate many times over before they are adults.

frenchtoast88 · 18/03/2021 22:18

Apparently she eats fish fingers at nursery but I'm yet to see evidence of this at home and she turned her nose up at some salmon pate today. Maybe will try fish fingers again at the weekend. She was happy to eat a bit of leftover butternut and feta pie off my plate at lunch yesterday which she wouldn't dream of touching if put on her own plate, annoyingly just as I finished it or I'd have let her have more. Perhaps putting things on my plate for her to try is a good angle to take! I eat with her at breakfast and lunch but not usually at dinner time, wondering if that makes a difference too.

My brother was horrendously picky as a child but at some point grew out of it and is a big muscly foodie type so clearly all those meals of plain rice and poached chicken didn't do him any harm!

OP posts:
Tablegs · 18/03/2021 22:33

It takes something like up to 20 times before a child will accept a new food

I've heard this sort of thing before. For the average child maybe, but if you have a real food-refuser or one with ARFID then it's a complete joke and all it does is make parents feel like a complete failure. My dd is now 21 (years, not months!!) and has never eaten pasta, baked beans, cheese, sweetcorn, eggs (except in home-made cake) or tomatoes. Despite being offered those things thousands of times. Even now, the very thought makes her heave. It took three years of trying at least twice a week to get her to eat a single piece of fish finger. And two more years after that for sausage.

doadeer · 19/03/2021 05:47

@frenchtoast88

Thanks *@doadeer*. It's so hard to compare them isn't it? She sees kids her own age so infrequently that I got a bit of a fright yesterday when we were at the park and realised the same sized child she'd made friends with hadn't even turned one yet 🤦🏼‍♀️

Baby number 2 due imminently so her dad is going to have to take charge of food a bit more. Maybe this is the change she'll need!

I wouldn't say this is always about what they eat though. My son is 2, looks like a 3 year old but he eats a very simple diet he is autistic and it's mainly fruit, porridge, toast, homemade pizza and rice. But he's happy with it - I'm not but trying to be at peace with it.
littlewedding · 19/03/2021 06:07

If you drop the afternoon snack (maybe a small glass of milk if you don't think she'll last) is dinner time any easier?

My dd dropped all snacks and went to 3 meals at about 18 months as otherwise wouldn't be hungry for meals.

She was a pain for eating too, only just becoming slightly less so at 3.5.

Letsallscreamatthesistene · 19/03/2021 07:49

OP my very nearly 1 year old has very similar diet. Except I serve the main meal at lunch time as he seems more inclined to eat then. Dinner time tends to be a buffet of various finger foods.

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