Does this diet look ok for an 18 month old?

[AugustSeptemberOctober]

I've never had a very good relationship with food myself, and am wondering if what I'm feeding my 18 month old is ok. Here's what she eats:

Breakfast
Porridge with half a fruit pot mixed in, or 2 tablespoons of greek yogurt and half a fruit pot with weetabix

Dinner
Usually something home made - a basic curry, spaghetti bolognese etc. She always leaves her veg, so I make her a 7-veg pasta a couple of times a week which she loves. A piece of fruit or yogurt afterwards.

Tea
Toast with cheese/ham/peanut butter/marmite/jam, a handful of baby crisps and a piece of fruit. If I give her salady stuff she won't eat any of it, though I do keep offering it.

Snack
Sometimes one of those toddler cereal bar things or a piece of fruit

She drinks very little water unfortunately, though I constantly encourage her. Maybe 6oz a day. Because of this I also give her 6oz milk at breakfast time, as well as 7oz with vitamins before bed.

Is this ok? Any suggestions for a bit more variety would be appreciated, I'm especially conscious that she has toast for tea pretty much every day... I've tried making those pinwheels, cheesy broccoli muffins, quiches etc but she never seems to like it. She won't eat egg.

Thanks!

Does she not eat what you eat at tea time?

@SheABitSpicyToday

Does she not eat what you eat at tea time?

That's what I eat too! This is what I mean, my diet has always been a bit rubbish.

If she likes vegetables but not salad I would give her proper vegetables at 'tea'

@cheesecrackerz

If she likes vegetables but not salad I would give her proper vegetables at 'tea'

No she won't eat vegetables by themselves, only in sauces etc. I try to sneak as many in as I can!

Can you try tings like cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers etc? Mine won’t eat lettuce or ‘salad’ but will go through these like a locust. I tend to leave the on the side where she can reach and she grazes.
Also cubes of cheese make good snacks.
It doesn’t sound a huge amount but if she’s happy then she’s eating enough.

Have you tried things like eggs for tea? Quick and very nutritious. Or tuna?
Mine likes things like sweetcorn or veg fritters which are just batter with veg in and cheese which I dollop into a frying pan like scotch pancakes.

Sorry, I’ve just reread your OP and seen she won’t eat eggs. Although it’s worth trying them in different forms, mine went through a phase of eating scrambled eggs only but not an omelette for example

I think it looks absolutely fine. I also think you’re doing the right thing to keep offering but not making a fuss over her eating stuff. We sort of did this (we fussed a bit which didn’t help) and over time they just gradually try stuff & widen their palate a bit.

Looks fine to me and similar to what mine eat except we have a cooked meal for tea instead of lunch. You can only keep offering foods to see if she'll try them - I've been sticking brocoli in front of DC1 for 3 years now, he's yet to even pick a bit up. 🤦

What about sandwiches for tea too- cheese and ham, tunaayonnaise etc Baked beans on toast with melted cheese? Pasta salad- sonvold pasta and mayonnaise with chopped bacon, tomato and sweetcorn.

Looks fine! You are offering a variety of fruit & veg, even if she doesn’t eat it, offering is key! Guessing you are from Yorkshire calling lunch, dinner 😄 I am too!

Honestly, it’s so easy to be sucked into the Instagram ‘super mum’ thing of making all these fancy & varied meals with zero sugar & toast made into a sculpture .. don’t fall into the trap! Make food that works for you & your family. Encourage healthy & balanced eating. Ideally, they’ll like similar things to you.

I have two kiddos, a fussy 4 year old & an 18 month old. My OH & I are really good eaters, there’s not much we don’t like.

Breakfast - wholemeal toast & peanut butter, weatabix/porridge (with fruit pouch for the toddler), shreddies, occasionally a bagel.

Lunch - cheese spread sandwich, ham sandwich, peanut butter sandwich, eggy bread, omlette, scrambled egg, Heinz tomato soup, Heinz spaghetti hoops (with toast), sometimes I make carrot or pea soup, crumpet & cheese, baked beans on toast, as a treat they both love sausage rolls from the local bakery!

Snack - fruit, all kinds. Raw pepper. Cucumber. Wholemeal breadsticks. Whole wheat crackers. Cheese. Baby/toddler crisps. My eldest won’t touch the cucumber but has just started eating pepper (it’s taken 4 years of exposure!).

Tea - my fussy 4 year old spent 3 years only eating sausages & fish fingers. But we kept offering & kept offering and now, after 3 years she’s just started eating tomato (& hidden veg) pasta. She loves mash potato, new potatoes, homemade wedges & luckily she’s always liked peas. My toddler - bolognaise, pesto pasta, shepherds pie, fish pie, pizza, salmon fishcakes, small portions of whatever we are eating (currys, stir fry, fish dishes)..

*also, 6oz water is fine for an 18 month old. Mine drinks about that on a normal, not super active or warm day. I never measure, I just fill up her 6oz water cup & it’s available through the day! Don’t think of water the same as milk when she was a baby. That was a meal & babies need a certain amount to grow. Water is just liquid when thirsty around meals. They get water/liquid from fruit & also milk on cereal etc..

It looks good to me.

I would think about switching dinner and tea at some point just because that will work better when school starts, but no rush at 18 months old.

I would cut out the baby crisps because they just don't need it at that age. They don't know crisps are a thing yet so no need to introduce them. I would also cut the jam and marmite options from tea, ham, cheese and peanut butter are much better options. Maybe try houmous or avocado on the toast too or at the side for dipping. Keep trying but not making a fuss with veg, sweet veg like sweetcorn and cherry tomatoes are normally popular. Try eggs in all forms, french toast is a good one if she's a toast fan because you can't really detect the egg. Vegetable fritters are another good option.

It looks fine to me

Will she eat eggs in things? Fritters are a good.way of getting veg in, grated veg, egg, flour, bit of grated cheese and fry. Courgette works well, or my daughter likes beetroot ones. They're quick and easy. Stuff like pitta bread and hummus is a quick easy tea, you can make your own fairly easily or I sometimes do a tin of butter beans with yoghurt, lemon and garlic just blitzed up. Mine wont eat salad either, a bit of cucumber occasionally maybe.

The What Mummy Makes books are good for ideas.

Looks fine to me and approximately what my 15 month eats.

Mine still has very few teeth so even though I offer other stuff, he can’t really chew yet and just spits anything like that out. He also will only eat eggs scrambled and eats very little meat or fish. Only meat he will eat is beef mince and sometimes white fish

Veg I find he will eat root veg but only if very soft ie carrots/ sweet potatoes. If it’s an al dente carrot he just half chews and spits out

As example for you if it reassures you, today:

Breakfast: porridge with fruit purée. Whole banana. Few dry cherrios

Lunch: slice soft rye bread with cream cheese, few cubes cheese, chopped grapes, inner bit of cucumber

Dinner: will be sausage traybake. He will probably eat the potatoes, carrots and courgettes if they have butter on, might eat nibble of sausage. Then fruit and yogurt.

My 2yo today has eaten;

Weetabix with milk and frozen fruit chucked on top

Sweetcorn fritters (just Yorkshire batter with cheese and sweetcorn on the fries like pancakes) cherry tomatoes and cucumber

Brinner with a hash brown, sausage, scrambled eggs which were ignored, beans and tomatoes

Snacks have been a couple of plums, cherry tomatoes snaffled from the fridge, a gingerbread man and a rocket lolly (standards are low in the summer holidays!)

Mine does graze as well as eat meals but has also had an active day so snacked more than usual. Some days she eats far less than this.

Guessing you are from Yorkshire calling lunch, dinner
We do that down yah in wales too.

Ooh try eggy bread OP. My fussy one hates eggs but loves eggy bread & ketchup 🤷🏼‍♀️

That looks fine to me but if you would like a few more ideas...
Our dcs all like homemade tortilla chips, easy to do - snip a wrap into rought triangles with scissors, brush with olive oil, bake in oven until golden (5-10 mins) and serve with hummus or guacamole to dip.
They also like carrot/cucumber/pepper sticks, especially if I tell them they can't eat them yet as they are for dinner time, they devoured them!

@AugustSeptemberOctober I would be really happy if my DD ate that diet! It’s good that can manage to hide veg.
My DD will just pick at things (except chocolate and snacks obviously!)

Oh one thing fussy Ds will eat is Quesdillas. He will each mashed black beans with cheese and you can hide loads of grated veg in the chipotle/ smoked paprika black bean mixture