Is my toddlers diet healthy?

[Arthurbear1234]

Hi there. I thought I’d start a thread as I wondered what people thought of my 18 month olds diet. My husband criticised what I fed him yesterday & said it was unhealthy. I personally do not think it’s too bad, and as he’s a fussy eater & small for his age, I’d rather give him things I know he likes and will eat rather than chuck on the floor. He doesn’t eat meat unless it’s hidden, won’t eat egg or most vegetables again unless they’re hidden.
yesterday he ate:

breakfast- a small handful of Cheerios as was too inpatient to wait for his Weetabix! (ate all)
1.5 Weetabix with whole milk & raspberries (ate most)
Half a banana

Snack- half an apple with some peanut butter (ate the apple, refused the peanut butter)

Lunch- cheese sandwich with 1 slice of seedy bread (ate most)
cucumber (refused)
7/8 grapes (ate all)
yogurt (ate all)

Snack- breadsticks and carrots with humus (ate the breadsticks, left the carrot. Ate most of the humus)

Dinner- homemade spaghetti bolognaise with lots of veg, cheese (ate most)

a small piece of homemade cake (obviously ate all)

I don’t usually offer him milk, but he breastfeeds before his nap & before bed.

if anyone has any suggestions how I can make this better then I’m open to it.

TIA

I’m finding it really hard with my 18 month old at the moment, he’s going through a phase of refusing everything! So the healthiest diet is sometimes the one that they’ll actually eat.

But yes it looks fine to me - perhaps a little more protein. Mine will have a scrambled egg sometimes when he’s refused his actual dinner.

Interesting that your DH has criticised it… what input does he have into meal planning, shopping for and preparing his child’s food?

Sounds perfectly normal and healthy to me. What exactly does your husband think you should do differently?

Sounds fine. Have you asked your husband this question?

Sounds great. What does your husband feed him when he’s in charge…?

Thank you for your replies. My husband is from culture where they don’t eat cereals for breakfast or sandwiches for lunch, and therefore feels that we should be giving him egg for breakfast (for example) and a home cooked meal for lunch (such as curry or something different to what he’s eating dinner). He will not eat egg however it’s cooked as he doesn’t like the texture, and I don’t have the time to be cooking several meals per day!
if my husband is in charge, which rarely happens, he will give him whatever I’ve left for him to have or get something out of the freezer (I batch cook in case we’re out late/ something happens and his dinner won’t be ready on time) to be honest, he probably eats more unhealthy when my husband is in charge!
i guess I just needed some reassurance as when he asked what I’m giving our son for lunch he rolled his eyes and said “can’t you give him something more healthy?” I thought a cheese sandwich with seedy bread was perfectly fine but apparently not

Hand the responsibility for meals over to your husband.

Mine only get a hot meal during the day at nursery.

Sounds fine to me, your DH certainly can't criticise if he does no better on his days.

If he's not around during the day perhaps he'd like to batch cook some lunches for you to use if it's so important to him?

I'd love to have a home cooked meal twice a day! Practically though it just isn't going to work out with the amount of time I have to prepare food, so I have a sandwich/ soup/ couple of snacks at lunch time. I don't have kids but if I did, they would mostly likely get the same.

It partly depends on your lifestyle and situation I think. Maybe if you are a stay at home mum there's more time for cooking (but not necessarily and no judgment if you don't/ can't!)

I'm also wondering why your husband doesn't step up and do some cooking if he thinks it's so important.

Sounds OK, perhaps a little carb heavy. I'd try to avoid the double cheese (cheese sandwich, cheese on pasta).

I would try not to have other food (cheerios) in reach that he can grab whilst he's waiting for his own breakfast.

Sounds like he eats fruit but isn't keen on veg, I'd maybe try to work on that a bit. Maybe try soup?

It's definitely in the realms of a normal diet and I think your husband shouldn't criticise if he's not helping.

Personally I think that's a lovely day's eating for a slightly picky toddler OP and.I think you need to be firm with your DH that unless he's going to suddenly step up and start batch cooking hot lunches or making your son scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast he can, in the nicest way possible, jog on...

I read a good blog about this topic, it might help you out. Have a ganga x
www.hallfieldschool.co.uk

Sorry wrong link www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/nutrition-guide-toddlers