Portion Sizes for a 2.7 year old

[xsxsxsxs]

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.

What was the point in posting then? That's a fair amount of snacks which is fine if they're a grazer but then not sure why you're concerned about the amount they're eating at meal times rather than considering that their intake across the day is probably fine. It doesn't matter whether milk is drank from a bottle, a cup or whatever else, they don't need that much at her age- if you're concerned about her losing weight when it seems she eats a fair amount perhaps better speaking to your HV or GP.

Are you in the UK? It is very unusual for a midwife to be involved with a baby at 4.5 months and even more unusual to be advised weaning is okay at that age, especially if your child is small.

I think it's bonkers for a 2 and a half year old to be drinking out of a bottle multiple times a day and especially that amount of milk. Totally unnecessary and it also means they often drink way more than they need as bottles just promote sucking till it's all gone. Give the girl a cup for goodness sake. My DC have both been breastfed (not sure what the relevance is for that anyway, seems even weirder to switch to a bottle at such a late age - I'd understand more if she'd always had one and you were having trouble getting her off, but to actively introduce a bottle at almost 2 is very odd) and have gone straight to cups. She's not a baby any more so maybe stop feeding her like one.

Do you actually want advice? Or did you want people to agree with you that your DC is eating a good diet (she isn't) and that those terrible Instagram parents are wrong? Your child isn't even having breakfast and half the food written there is just UPF rubbish. Stop feeding sugar-laden crap like Belvita biscuits. They're a waste of money and not healthy.

Honestly I despair. There's so much out there about healthy eating for kids, you're obviously capable of using the internet, so go and do some due diligence.

How come she's having breakfast after snacks rather than first thing? She's then having quite a late lunch as she naps at midday and then when is dinner? She's never really building up hunger enough to eat a larger meal.

However, kids differ. Of she's overall eating a healthy amount and a good balance, that's what matters really.

When is she likely to go into full time nursery? She's unlikely to have such grazing facilitated as it's more structured so to that end time, od look to have less grazing and less milk and larger meals.

Also is she clearing her plate? If so put more in to start with
You might bin it but at least she's got it there to eat rather than having to have seconds and losing the moment

Without getting into how much milk a 2 yr old should or shouldn't be drinking, the fact is that kids tend to find milk really filling so it reduces their appetite for food.

So its fine for you to criticise others but not for the other way around. Dont ask for opinions if you dont want them. No child needs that much milk. And people can offer cheese and veg etc for lunch if that's what they choose.

@ApolloandDaphne Actually I didn’t ask for advice, I asked what sized portions do other people’s children eat, as I wasn’t certain whether Instagram seen portions were massive, or my daughter’s small.

She eats 3 good meals a day (breakfast is a bit questionable, quite a small meal), but lunch and dinner is almost always homemade food made from scratch, whatever we eat. She’s not a picky eater, eats pretty much every cuisine you could think of, including foods that most older children would struggle with like a spicy biryani or lamb chops/steaks, I just wanted a real life portion comparison.

Whilst others may not agree, I’m not concerned about what she’s eating, as she has a very varied diet consisting of real homemade foods, fruit and veg, and snacks, and she’s gone up 10 centiles since birth which is a big deal for small babies.

She’s obviously not hungry for meals as she’s having baby bottles of milk and loads of processed junk for snacks at weird times. Stop that and she’ll probably eat bigger portions of proper homemade meals. Or just carry on as you are if you’d like but then I’m not sure what the point of your post is?

Some children eat three solid meals and others are grazers. If your child likes to graze, you still need to make sure that the majority of her food is healthy and not ultra processed (which a lot of it is, currently).

At age 2, I would definitely consider quitting bottles. A cup of milk at breakfast and another at bedtime is fine.

Why are you giving so many "unhealthy" sugar and salt based snacks?

Like cakes, biscuits and crisps?

My DS (2.5) meal portions are generally about 1/3 of what I would eat.

If he asks for a milk he has an espresso cup full.

@brassbells She's not? I think most people have assumed that she eats every snack I mentioned every day. She’s not having crisps, ice cream, cakes an what not everyday
She had mostly fruit and veg throughout the day, but will also have maybe half a pack of crisps, some popcorn etc.

@ApolloandDaphne Yes, in the UK. It was an idea o ran past the midwife and she said that it was worth trying, and it definitely helped her gain weight.

and she’s gone up 10 centiles since birth which is a big deal for small babies.

and not necessarily a good thing, the idea on the whole is that they should follow “their” centile. It’s not a race to get up them!

I have an 18 month old who eats a lot more than that. She is breastfed 3/4 times a day, but eats a 'proper' breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a few fruit snacks. I think the portion size is due to multiple small meals your daughters having. Including large bottles of milk which is more filling than breastmilk. Cows milk is not as nutritious as a balanced diet, so that's what I suggest rethinking.

She’s never wanted to eat a full meal first thing in the morning, always been like that.

She has lunch around 1:30-2:30, and then dinner with us around 6:30-7:30. She goes to sleep at 8:30 and sleeps through the night, usually 11-12 hours. She wakes up for a bottle about an hour before she wants to get up for the day.

She’ll start nursery after Easter 2024, so over 6 months away. She doesn’t go to nursery at all yet, but she go to loads of activities and toddler groups throughout the week, she’ll usually have a snack straight after an activity.

She clears her plate majority of the time, and if she wants more, then will ask for more.

What do you imagine your DD will be eating as snacks as an 8 or 12 or 15 year old?

You have the control of what she eats now but as a pre teen or teenager you won't have any

So imho change the ideas of what the best snacks to eat are now

It’s clear most people are horrified at how much milk she has, and in a bottle, which I’m a bit confused about because I mentioned it at her 2 year checkup (when she was actually having a phase of not eating much at all), and the health visitor said it’s just a phase, she’ll get over it, she’s otherwise healthy. Didn’t mention any concern over her milk consumption

Do people really stop giving their children milk at a certain age? When I was growing up, we’d have a glass with breakfast and a glass before bed even at 10/11 years old, and all ate well.

@Sirzy she was born at 2nd centile, going up to 12 was a very good thing for her.
I think staying on the centile applies to average sized babies

Having a glass of milk before bed is normal though. What's not normal is for child who is approaching 3 to be having roughly 25oz of milk a day.

Also staying on the same centiles is totally normal for small babies exactly the same as for bigger babies. DS was born on the 4th and has stayed there.

My DS is 4 now but often has (and has had since he was 1) a small cup of milk with breakfast and sometimes with his dinner. I have no problem with him drinking it but like him to drink it alongside food and not as a replacement for food - I also think that it's better from a teeth perspective for them to have sugary drinks like milk alongside food.

I agree that's a lot of milk, my 99th centile 12 month old only has about 5oz a day in total and doesn't want any more as he's fully weaned and eating well. Drinking lots of milk often leads to older kids being anaemic as they aren't eating large enough portions of actual food due to filling up on milk.

Why did you not put her straight on a cup from the breast? Madness. Now you've got to wean her off a bottle.

Midwives only deal with babies 10 days or under unless they are in special care baby unit. Do you mean HV? Even then they’re not qualified to advise early weaning.

@Sirzy is correct, children should always be following their centile unless they were unwell at birth.

I don’t understand why you’re giving a nearly 2 year old 3 large bottles of milk a day and biscuits for breakfast.

My 3 year old eats smaller portions that most of those pictures you see.
He was 99% born (4kg and long), but has now gone down to lower end weight wise (he’s just 13kg but still tall).

He was breastfed 18 months. Then moved to just a small glass milk with breakfast ( that he often refuses anyway).

Portion for him would be something like: (in toddler size bowl or plate)

• 2 tablespoons pasta with sauce, 3 green beans, few slices carrot, teaspoon grated cheese
• or, cheese sandwich made with 1 slice bread, few strawberries, Couple slices cucumber.

@SoftSheen I think you’ve hit the nail on the head.

Overall she’s probably eating the same as most other children her age, as she’s grazing throughout the day. I didn’t think of it like that before, was just looking at meal time portions. So nutrients wise she’s getting plenty, thus why she’s healthy and growing well.