Is my 15m old eating too much?

[superstarglo]

I just have no frame of reference? What’s everyone else doing?

Breakfast:
Bottle
Banana, Soreen Bar, couple of biscuits/ breadstick

PM Snack:
Little bag of snack a jacks

Lunch:
Little dish/ M&S kids meal with extra mixed veg

PM Snack:
Some kind of water based fruit
and a couple of biscuits/ breadstick/ cheese cubes

Dinner:
Homemade bolognese/cottage pie/ rice and chicken
Mini milk for pudding

Bottle and bed

He’s quite a big boy, 85cm and 2 stone. Thanks

way Too much unhealthy processed foods regularly but quantities look OK

I'm not going to comment on quantiles because my two eat vastly different amounts but I would lose the soreen bar and biscuits for breakfast, that's a lot of sugar on top of a banana and not really necessary.

I’d swap the Soreen bar and biscuits for porridge or eggs or full fat yogurt and berries

I think the amounts look okay. Personally I would swap a few of those things for other alternatives, at least sometimes, as mini milks for example I would see as more of an occasional treat as they have quite a lot of sugar. I'd also ditch the Soreen loaf and biscuits for breakfast and maybe move to the Soreen to a snack time instead and maybe offer some toast and peanut butter or porridge or similar for breakfast instead.

My general rule with babies/toddlers is that they eat what they want. So if he's eating that, it's the right amount of food for him. I would agree with other posters that I'd personally change his breakfast and first snack to something more nutritious and less sugary but my DS (age 4) mainly exists on a diet of pain au chocolat at the moment so I'm hardly one to say anything!

Why the soreen and biscuits ....porridge would be healthier and more filling.
Instead of processed food or sweet tastes I'd be offering veg sticks for snack like cucumber

😂😂😂😂😂😂

Never ask on here love, little word of advice. Ask the health visitor

Maybe replace mini milk and biscuits with yoghurt...but again watch for added sugar it's high in kids stuff

Is there actually much nutritional difference between a soreen bar and butter and toast or a mini milk/ yoghurt though? Not to be rude but I feel like once the toast has butter/ nut butter on.

Hahaaaa the pain au chocolat comment 🥰 Very relatable. Also cucumbers/ veg sticks is actually a really good shout for a snack! Not sure why I never thought of it. Thanks guys💕

Also the health visitor chart for food was tiny 😂 it was like half one weetabix for breakfast, NO snacks, two small sandwich triangles for lunch and a couple of grapes, NO snacks and half a jacket potato for dinner 😅 That can’t be right surely.

Also the HV said just to give him adult biscuits because the kids ones are even more unhealthy 🤷🏻‍♀️ It was just a very strange visit

Quantities are fine… quite a lot of sugary food for every day. Maybe some swaps like toast rather than soreen bar. Mini milk as occasional treat and fruit and yoghurt for pud instead. If you’re giving him actual biscuits I would stop those completely - it’s so bad for their teeth.

I'd have said never ask the health visitors!!

Personally mine would be having porridge for breakfast at that age and yogurt/rice pudding rather than a mini milk. I'd also change the snacks up a bit, flapjacks, crackers rather than biscuits.

What kind of biscuits? He doesn't really need biscuits at all if it's the sugary kind. I wouldn't really use those as a daily snack for a baby or ice lollies every day. Oatcakes or something are good.

It's the sugar content in all those things: in isolation no big deal, but if he's having sweet biscuits, a Soreen loaf and an ice lolly every day that's more sugar than I'd be comfortable with for such a young child (and I'm pretty laid back about food generally, but I think at 15mo this is exactly the time you can control what they eat before it all goes to pot around 3!). They're also not particularly filling in a way something like veg sticks and houmous or oatcakes with cream cheese on would be, I think. I know my older DD can inhale stuff like that and never really feel full from it!

The NHS website has some good snack suggestions:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/weaning-and-feeding/baby-and-toddler-meal-ideas/

I also steal ideas from the nursery menus as they have a good mix of stuff and it's all pretty healthy!

I don't know about your dinner portion sizes but I'd say that seems within realms of normal for a 15m. It's such a huge range, I know because I have two and my eldest ate hardly anything and my youngest ate loads. They're 5 and 1.5 now and my youngest often eats more than my eldest! Neither of them are tall or overweight or anything either, eldest is petite and youngest is just average sized.

Also only on MN I see people always express horror at children's diets, maybe it's the circles I move in (?! But they're pretty varied circles and include people in eiffet parts of the country) but 'in real life' everyone I know/met at playgroups etc kids never have the super healthy wholesome diets people on MN usually claim their kids do. I'm not saying bad diets are good btw but just being realistic/for context.

My DS is little and he eats more that this, he's only slowing down now at almost 2. Remember they're growing and developing so much, and moving constantly

At this age it's not so much about quantity as quality.

There's a lot of high sugar, not nutritionally brilliant choices in that example.

I'd lose the soreen bar and biscuits for breakfast and replace with toast with egg/avocado/peanut butter or porridge or Weetabix. Add in some extra fruit, maybe some berries. Cake and biscuits for breakfast really isn't ideal!

Lost the snack-a-jacks. Again, no nutritional value at all. Rice cakes with peanut butter/cheese/avocado/houmous would be a better option. Or cheese and fruit. Veg sticks with some kind of dip.

For lunch, give home something homemade (leftovers from yesterday's dinner or just sandwich, veg sticks etc.). Ready meals are not ideal for everyday use.

Lose the biscuits from the afternoon snack.

Dinner sounds great. Mini milk is fine sometimes. Natural yoghurt with a bit of fruit/honey is also a good option.

no that amount hv suggested is correct. He's a baby, imagine the size of his tummy! my boy is 18 months same height and weight as yours and doesn't eat nearly as much as what your child does. porridge or egg for breakfast, rice and veg for lunch and then whatever we have for dinner. that's it. he will eat fruit as a snack but not much. plus 3 bottles a day

Is this much dairy even good for a toddler though? That’s why I chose the sugar route. Having milk, cheese, yoghurt, cheese spread. How is that healthy along with all the fats as well? Not being bitchy I’m genuinely just so confused at this point x

That’s a lot of milk though, usually at 18 months old they don’t have a bottle during the day so that would be replaced with food

Children need fat. It's vital to their growth - strong bones, growing taller etc. Sugar is delicious but they don't need it. It's a nice to have. While I was more in control of what DS ate, I tried to ensure he didn't have any sugar other than fruit because I wanted him to prioritise getting nutrients like fat and carbs. For info, DS' nursery is totally sugar free. When they serve 'biscuits' it's oat cakes or water biscuits. Pudding is only ever fruit. And they serve cheese and yoghurt almost every day.

I think they generally eat they need at that stage, so I wouldn’t worry about it.

ideally cool it on the sugar a bit - porridge or toast and peanut butter rather than banana + soreen + biscuits. And fruit and yogurt or cheese and fruit for PM snack j rather than biscuits. Maybe not both mini milk and crisp puffs everyday.

Toddlers eat very different amounts, especially in a growth spurt. Under 3 they generally don’t eat more than they need. So just because your toddler has a smaller appetite, doesn’t mean the OP’s shouldn’t have a bigger one.

I got some cucumber, Greek yoghurt with some purée to mix in and some cheese 🥰

He’s not with me until Weds after tonight so I’ll pick up some bread and other bits then💕 Thanks all