Is toddler's diet ok?

[Cosyanddozy]

Toddler is 2 years 3 months. He's not the best eater in the world but I think he's not the worst by far. He goes through phases of not eating very much and then phases of eating lots. He looks well fed and healthy and I'm not really worried but wanted some opinions on his diet in terms of variety and vitamins. I do also give him multivitamin drops daily.

This is a list of everything he eats at the moment. Every day is just a rotation of these same foods:

Porridge made with chia seeds and whole milk
Cheerios or rice crispies with whole milk
French toast with honey
Pancakes with honey
Croissants
Toast and butter
Peanut butter sandwiches
Haggis
Black pudding
Lorne sausage
Cocktail sausages
Crackers/breadsticks/oatcakes
Humous
Chicken soup
Tomato soup
Mushroom soup
Fish fingers
Chicken nuggets
Potato alphabet letters
Sweet potato fries
Yoghurts (any kind, always with no sugar or sweeteners)
Cheddar/feta/halloumi cheese
Bananas
Strawberries
Grapes
Satsumas

That's the entire menu and it's been the same for quite a while now. He will eat everything listed above enthusiastically. He eats no vegetables except for in soup. He used to like sweetcorn or corn on the cob but won't touch them anymore. I still serve various veg on his plate with his fish fingers or whatever he's having but it's never eaten and we don't try to cajole him or negotiate with him about it.

I feel like there's enough of a balance in what he's eating that he'll be fine even if it takes a long time for him to expand his list of accepted foods. Am I being too relaxed about it?

We don't force him to eat anything, we just put his plate down and say "there you go". Tonight we had a roast dinner and he ate none of it (predictably) so he had toast, strawberries and a yoghurt. Often I'll put what we're having with something I know he will eat but tonight I just couldn't be bothered as I was already cooking so much food. ^
^
Oh and, of course, the above list is not entirely exhaustive. He will eat ice cream or chocolate cake if it were to be put in front of him

I'd say so, yeah

Thanks for those suggestions. I'll try different ways of doing fruit. I did an apple crumble with cream recently as I'm the same as you with apples. Cinnamon but no sugar in the stewed apples. Didn't even try it So frustrating when they refuse things that are really nice!

I think he'll be ok in the long run and I'm grateful for the reassuring posts.

You and he are doing great. Keep plugging away, sneak in nutrients where possible and don't worry too much. Anyone criticising really doesn't understand.

I feel so much for parents feeding fussy toddlers as my DS1 was AWFUL. Refused to eat a thing they tried at nursery. He would not eat pasta or rice. No veg except cucumber and sweet potato. He would eat stuff like pork pies and sausage rolls! So we gave them to him sometimes to fill his belly and tried not to think about salt.

He is now 14, 5 foot 11 and his immune system is strong as an ox. We can take him to most restaurants and he will find something he likes. He is still a bit fussy (eg no peas or pulses) but SO much better.

Hang in there!

I meant to say you're doing great so please be kind to yourself. Posters saying you're not concerned about lack of veg, if you weren't concerned you wouldn't have made the post FFS! It's also OK to have days where you just want as little fuss and as many calories consumed as possible, by the way. Especially around Christmas when food is so coded and pressurised.

My oldest ate exclusively potato waffles as a toddler. Nothing else at all. That's a really good range of foods for that age group.

Sounds great to me, if possible try and ensure every meal he gets a mix of fruit, vege, protein etc. There's a few vege "colour of the rainbow" songs on YouTube, I encourage my 2.5 yo to eat the colours of the rainbow and that also encourages him.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=1u5HOURq7kQ

That sounds so difficult and really puts things into perspective. How did they get on as they got older?

Thank you I'll have a look He loves brushing his teeth because we watch different toothbrushing songs so I'll definitely give this a try too.

Thank you @musicmaiden and @LaviniasBigBloomers that's really encouraging and reassuring

There's a few of them, they're actually quite informative and I've learnt alot! 🤣 There's one by the same people about the planets too. You're doing a great job BTW 👏

My 3rd old daughter eats: raspberries, raspberry yoghurts, toast and marmite, ketchup, peanut butter sandwich, a slice or two of mild cheese, very occasionally plain pasta.

getting support for this is very hard work, she’s autistic and it’s Arfid

Thanks @Passingthethyme

I've just remembered that he also likes dried fruit, particularly dates and dried apricots. I make sure to get dried fruit with no sugar added but it's still another bloody thing to feel guilty about

That sounds really difficult. I think I need to reel in my stress levels around his eating as I can see he doesn't have the same aversion to foods that some children do. I hope you're getting the support you need now and things start to improve x

It sounds fine OP. our almost 4yo is I think pretty fussy, will rarely try new things, but I am reasonably happy with what he eats and he is growing well. we do the same no pressure approach apart from the odd occasion I try to get him to at least TRY something! haha.

things he reliably eats are:

• 'chocolate' porridge - oats, pinch of sugar, cocoa, whole milk
• bread / toast - good quality brown/seeded or sourdough
• cheese - cheddar, red Leicester, edam/baby bel
• yoghurt but will only eat the flavoured ones - the collective pouches, or yeo valley kids (I have tried Greek yog plus jam or honey!)
• peanut butter
• avocado, tomatoes, cucumber, carrot
• grapes, apple, melon, raspberries
• dates, raisins
• wholewheat pasta
• fresh tagliatelle with cream cheese and tomato&basil sauce (sainsburys organic which is as close to homemade as I can find!)

At the childminder he will eat all sorts, but not at home! he doesn't eat mixed food at home, like curry or bolognese, it has to be separate.

I've seen plenty of children who are a lot more restricted in what they will eat. Apart from the dinner options it's actually not too bad. You're already trying to get him attempting other healthier options, continue with this & try not to beat yourself up too much. Toddlers have very little control over their lives & it's honestly not unusual for them to cotton onto the fact that they can have some control over what they eat. He will gradually expand his range of foods which are acceptable but mo likely to develop issues if you try to force things. Since he already eats different soups maybe focus on hidden veg in those to start.

My eldest would only eat two evening meals on rotation as a toddler. It was soul destroying because I love to cook. I would give bread and butter for supper if a meal not eaten because I feared a sleepless night!
But with the rest, I was much more strict (didn’t want to repeat!). We all eat the table at the same time, the same meal (or close enough). No options if not eaten, you go to bed with northing else - and yet, no sleepless nights, they’d had enough in the day. And they’ve come in and out of ‘fussiness’, I’ll accept some things as not being favourites but I’ll still serve them up if everyone else likes them. Everyone gets a chance at their favourite.
It felt really hard and all consuming at the time. But with multiple children, I worry less about what they’re eating and more about the example set

Slightly random but he might like these

strongroots.com/en-gb/products/mixed-root-vegetable-fries

They do cauliflower hash browns and sweet potato ones too. Frozen so could cook just a few. Plus if he doesn't like them, they're delicious to eat yourself!

@lochmaree
Your wee boy sounds similar to mine in what he eats, but better with the veg. That's reassuring. I'm sure we'll get there in time. I wish mine loved avocado as much as I do!

@Bibbitybobbitty
I'll definitely start adding more veg into his soups and just keep putting various fruit and veg in front of him. New Years resolution to stop feeling so guilty! He's a very happy and active little boy and I can see he's absolutely fine. Thank you 

@Padget
Soul destroying is absolutely what it is! But you're right that the example set is more important. We'll stick with our current approach of eating together and not pressuring him to eat anything he doesn't want.

These are the sweet potato fries we use when we don't have fresh in to cut up. They're fab! Never seen the mixed ones anywhere- I'll keep an eye out. I did try the cauliflower ones and it was a firm no

Thanks so much everyone for the reassurance. We'll carry on as we are and I'm certain we'll look back one day and see that it was such a small phase in his life and why were we worrying. Hot meals will start soon enough at nursery which I'm betting will make a difference too!

There is a lot of processed food on that list and assuming soups etc are ready made as well, a lot of foods with high salt content. I'd be getting rid of the following and replacing with more whole foods:

Cheerios/rice crispies
Haggis
Black pudding
Cocktail sausages
Shop bought soups
Chicken nuggets
Alphabet letters

To substitute, make soups from scratch so you have lower salt content, maybe add eggs for protein in different varieties, low sugar baked beans are a good option too. I'd ditch sausages all together personally but there are some recipes to make veg based ones. Home made potato wedges (sweet potato or normal). They don't need alphabet letters or similar. Weetabix or bran flakes are better cereal options, or just porridge as he likes that.

Also as per pp I would cut out the really salty cheeses ie halloumi and feta. They don't need them, not eating them at this age doesn't mean they won't eat them as they choose as adults, and arguably adults don't need that amount of salt other than on occasions either!

Thanks for the input @SErunner But the soups are homemade except for sometimes Heinz tomato soup.

I don't see a problem with sometimes having Cheerios for breakfast and no one's going to stop him having haggis and black pudding. He adores them and they are chock full of nutrients and iron. His food preferences are already so limited there's no chance I'm stopping him eating something so nutritious.

As I've said already in this thread, he is exposed to a wide variety of food every single day. These are just the things he reliably eats. We don't solely give him these things out of choice and never offer anything else.

Okay. I never understand why people post these threads asking for input and then kick off at people making suggestions.