Portion Sizes for a 2.7 year old

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I keep coming across people on Instagram (I know, bad place to make a judgement), who seem to serve a full plate (kids size) to 2.5 year olds. I’m talking a roast dinner 6-8 cubes of chicken, multiple potatoes and what I’d say it probably over half a chunky carrot etc.

my DD eats constantly throughout the day, but her portions are tiny in comparison. Just wanted to come on here and get a more realistic idea of what other toddlers are eating.

An average day for DD:

• 8-9oz milk in a bottle some time between 6-7:30am
• Breakfasty snack like a biscotti, half a Belvita soft cake or handful of dry cereal before 10am
• between 10-11am she’ll have actual breakfast, could vary from a fried egg, to 7/8 mini frankfurters, handful of cheerios with milk or half a slice of toast. (She does love a cheese and roasted tomato toastie from Costa though, will eat one whole “sandwich” of that)
• snacks on and off between breakfast and lunch - packet of crisps, cucumbers, grapes, olives, half a banana etc
• 5-6oz milk in a bottle around 12:30 when she has a nap
• Lunch is usually a proper meal, rice & curry, chapatti, pasta, a mini wrap or 2-3 chicken tenders etc, portion wise half an Ikea kids bowl
• will snack again between lunch and dinner, things like popcorn, crisps, ice cream, cookies
• Dinner will again be a proper meal, whatever I’ve cooked, but I’d say portion wise again it’s half a bowl
• 8-9oz milk again at bedtime (she’ll usually finish it, but sometimes leave 2-3oz if she’s had a heavy dinner)

Sorry, I know that super long, but that’s roughly her. I can’t get her to snack less and eat bigger meals. She will have a bigger meal herself, out of choice if it’s something she really enjoys. But never a portion the size of what I’ve seen online.

Why is a 2.5 year old having 3 bottles of milk a day? that is absolute madness and no surprise her meals are all over the place. A cup of milk in the morning with breakfast and a cup of milk at night time after tea is more than enough and the bottles should have been ditched at 1.

I think they will eat more and at more regular times if you ditch the milk.

Bluntly no wonder she's not eating much if she's having so much milk.

Maybe if she didn't have all that milk and ultra processed snacks, she'd eat 3 full meals made of actual food.

What you describe from instagram is more than mine would have eaten at that age (unless in a growth spurt, when all bets are off...). But with so much milk and so many snacks, of course your daughter's meals are small – I'd be trying to gradually reduce those down to 3 meals, 2 snacks, and a cup of milk before bed. What happens if you give breakfast first thing, for example?

Drop the milk. Problem solved.

That is an awful amount of processed food for an adult, definitely too much for a child

I would make the snacks smaller and meals better as she isn't ever actually empty then full

Do you as a family snack all day and into the evening or do you have 3 meals a day?

So breakfast before work then lunch at lunch break time and then evening meal when you come home -- so 7am & 12 noon & 6pm?

I know this is a random comparison but the day you've described is like filling your car every time you drive it for 2 miles into the town rather than when it is under half full then go to get more fuel

I am sure unless you were on a strict budget so only have a limited amount to spend on fuel you would think that daft

However the food you are eating are expensive snacks but not necessarily "good healthy" snacks

Problem is you have made it so she is never going to feel hungry because she is constantly eating and eating rubbish too.

you need to get control of it now and cut down on the constant need to eat

Is this a real question? Surely looking at that you can see why she doesn't eat meals?

Her portions are tiny but total eaten in a day is probably the same as the social media kids.

It will help if you gave her a cup of milk before bed. Does she have a bottle since you mention Oz as a quantity? Bottles are not good for teeth.

Not all children snack. At that age DS ate and finished:

1. 7am 80g Porridge with 12g raisins and 200ml whole milk lol.
2. 11:30pm Lunch - one full toddler plate of whatever he wanted. A small pot of plain Yoghurt and fruit too sometimes
3. 3:30pm tea time - usually a cheese sandwich and cucumber or half a jacket potato and a couple of tbs of baked beans
4. 6pm Dinner - 1-3 toddler plates of whatever I made for us. Plus fruit. If I gave him chicken it would be 1-2 breasts shredded or 2 drumsticks with brocolli. He loves proteins.

He has always tracked 30-40th centile for weight and 50th for height. He’s an active boy - at 3.5 he spends 99% of his time outdoors. Constantly moving. He eats less now he’s at school (has started to leave breakfast, fruit snack, more at lunch, but dinner’s quite small). So I presume his massive growth spurts have finally steadied.

Honestly I think your kid's diet is the one that sounds not great. So much milk, way too much shite, not a proper breakfast?

She's full up on milk! Doesn't really need any at that age at all. Maybe a small cupful in the morning or evening. No wonder she's eating tiny portions. Drop the milk and half the snacks and then she'd probably eat a proper meal.

My son is the same age and does eat regular portions like you describe for at least one meal a day. He loves asking for snacks but I have really cut these down and tend to only offer things like cut up vegetables and fruit, or rice cakes with peanut butter, and even then have to limit it otherwise he won’t eat his meals. We have the odd cake in the afternoon though if we are out at a cafe! He doesn’t have milk anymore either except sometimes in a cup. For breakfast I offer the less processed cereal where I can eg shredded wheat.
I have found srnutrition on Instagram to be a very helpful resource with lots of ideas for cheap and healthy toddler meals and snacks.

Really, if you're giving crisps, cookies, ice cream, those Belvita things that are usually full of sugar, etc. for snacks and also giving vast amounts of milk throughout the day, no wonder your child isn't eating proper meals! I'm surprised you didn't realise when writing it?

My daughter is the same age and has:

Breakfast: small bowl porridge or Weetabix, fruit smoothie, about 100ml milk as a drink
Lunch: cheese/tuna/peanut butter sandwich, one slice of bread worth, with veg sticks
Dinner: tonight for e.g. is a whole salmon fillet, 40g each of broccoli, peas and green beans, adult palm sized flatbread. Ice lolly.
Bedtime: up to 200ml milk, usually around 100ml

No snacks most days. Maybe once a week she'll get a piece of cake in a café and she always has a packet of crisps straight after swimming.

The toddlers I know who have free access to snacks all don't eat meals. Mine is very fussy and would eat cereal bars, crisps and biscuits instead of meals if I let her!

Too much milk (and she really should not be drinking out of a bottle at her age) and too many snacks. Cut down on those and she may gain a bigger appetite for actual food. If offering snacks make it fruit or vegetable sticks. Maybe ice cream or a nice treat every few days instead of daily. Her teeth will thank you too if you cut back on the milks and snacks.

Less milk and less snacks then perhaps your child would eat a reasonable amount at mealtimes?

Sorry, my fault, it’s the way I’ve typed it out. She doesn’t eat ALL those snacks in one day, those are the type of items she’ll have during the periods between meals. So for instance, yesterday between breakfast and lunch she had half a pack of crisps, half a banana and cucumbers, and between lunch and dinner she had some popcorn and olives.
I’ve tried not giving her snacks or cutting down on milk, it doesn’t make her eat more breakfast or dinner.
She’s quite small as it is, naturally, so if she stops having those items and doesn’t increase of meals, she loses weight very quickly.

In terms of bottle, I won’t be ditching it anytime soon, so don’t care for that opinion. She was exclusively breastfed until 22 months old, and then started a bottle, which I’m okay for her to have. She’s been to the dentist who says she has perfect teeth, and the milk from bottles thing is generations old and not a fact, just mum shaming.

She eats 3 meals a day, and snacks, it’s her meal portions that I thought are small compared to what you see on Instagram. I really don’t need to be told her meals are “all over the place” when most people I’ve come across feed their kids cucumber sticks, cheese and pieces of ham for lunch. That’s a snack in my opinion.

No need for the snacks before breakfast - just start with a proper breakfast? The milk can go in the cereal or porridge, or as a drink in a cup if she's having toast or pancakes etc. But defo doesn't need all the milk during the day. She seems to be prioritising snacks and then topping up with meals, it should be the other way around. I'd class milk as a snack at this age, as there's no need for it if she has a balanced diet with food.

My boy same age would have

• cereal or porridge between 7.30 and 8
• mid morning snack of fruit/homemade muffin or oatbar etc.
• if no snack, we'll have an earlier lunch around 11.30, if he does snack, lunch will be around 1pm. This will most likely be a sandwich, beans and toast, etc with veg sticks or fruit on the side
• snack if he didn't in the morning and therefore lunch was earlier (in other words, he prob only has 1 snack a day) same as above. If we are out and about it will prob be a soreen bar and a banana
• dinner 6pm. He eats a toddler sized bowl of what we eat which is 99% of time home made from scratch
• bedtime milk 7pm - he barely drinks more than 100ml.. this is more for routines sake, he knows milk means bedtime

@skkyelark She’s just never wanted a full breakfast first thing in the morning. I started weaning her at 4.5 months (midwife agreed it was a good idea as she was super small), and she’s always wanted a few hours after having milk in the morning before he has a breakfast. If she’s wants something before that the she wants something snacky like Belvita not a full breakfast

You have come here asking for advice, advice has been given and then you say you don't really want this advice. On this basis please crack on and feed your DD as you please.

You started giving an almost 2 year old a bottle? What the heck was wrong with using a cup???

Look you're obviously not interested in listening to the advice you've had so far but the only way to increase what she is eating at meal times is to decrease the amount of snacks and milk she's consuming in-between meals.

She's simply too full of snacks and milk to be any hungrier.

Fewer snacks and less milk…
Yesterday DS 26mo ate:
Breakfast: 2 weetabix and two satsumas
Snack: Milk and a cookie as a snack (we went out)
Lunch: Picnic consisting of a ham sandwich (two slices of bread), banana, packet of Pom bears, handful of grapes, malt loaf, babybel size cheese.
Tea: Homemade thai green chicken and vegetable curry (he asked for seconds so 2 children’s bowls mixed with rice), half a large naan, two small yoghurts.

DS normally has a morning or afternoon snack, rarely both. Mostly drinks water.

The great teeth are probably because you started well by breastfeeding. But bottles can and do damage the teeth which is why dentists tell you to stop them by 1. It isn’t just about decay - it can cause displacement, underbite, and gum disease too. That’s why you need to move her to a cup.