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

Doesn't look bad to me!

My son is nearly 2 and is quite similar in his tastes (sausages, fruit, crackers, yoghurt - loves!). Vegetables he won't touch. The only things that are missing from your list that my son does eat are avocados, weetabix, and wheat/spelt puffs.

All the meat he's eating seems to be processed and young children shouldn't be eating processed meat more than once a week apparently. Due to the amount of salt and fat.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/default_content/12442621.nothing-sacred-now-haggis-comes-health-warning-week-enough-young-children-says-executive/

Will he not eat an oven cooked chicken thigh if you pull the meat off the bone? Or a bit of pork chop? Or something like Shepherds Pie or spag bol? I had a picky eater and it's hell but the more you give them the sort of sugary or salty foods processed food on your list the less they'll want things that aren't laden with sugar and salt. Are there no vegetables he will eat? Not even something quite sweet like sweetcorn or peas?

There are things that list that are fine but I'd be very concerned if mine wouldn't eat any vegetables or any meat that wasn't processed.

Thanks. Nice to hear from people going through similar. Some posters seem to think that "can't you feed him salmon or chicken" constitutes advice.

We do give him all sorts of different food. He doesn't eat it.

If I had my way he would be eating the types of things we cook all the time: salmon, risottos, smoked haddock, roast chicken dinners, chilli, homemade guacamole, curries, spaghetti Bolognese, lasagne, fajitas. Christ, even tuna pasta would be a godsend. But he doesn't and I can't force him. This food is around him and is at the table on his plate every day. He chooses not to eat it.

Do people not understand fussy eaters? Don't you think the OP will have tried healthier options? It's processed yes but at least he's eating 🙄

Just checking back on my threads I'm on - OP, haggis is such a distinctive texture, I wonder if you could mix haggis and mince together, gradually changing the proportions, and that way get him into mince - which of course opens up all the chillis, lasagna, cottage pie etc?

The menu is heavily processed. Even the sweet potatoes fries, unless you do your own, there is a fair amount of additives.
Do you do your own soups, nuggets, fish fingers, .... or is all industrial?

Not sure how you can say black pudding is a shock full of nutrients. When I read ingredients on this one: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/275477037 Water, Beef Fat (24%), Oatmeal, Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamine), Dried Blood Powder (4.5%), Oat Flakes, Salt, Diced Dried Apple (Sulphites), Spices (Pimento, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Five Spice, Nutmeg), Dehydrated Onion, Sugar, Emulsifier (Sodium Pyrophosphate), Onion Extract, Pudding filled into a inedible synthetic casing

I see water, fat, flours and dried blood powder as the main ingredients. So rubbish mainly. I will admit, flour is fortified, so you get 0.0002% of vitamins and iron from that.

From a nutritional point of view, which I understand was the point of your OP, it is not great. How much is fresh, how much comes from a shelf or freezer in a deeply transformed form?

Adding chia seed to an instant porridge isn't really transformative. Can't you make overnight oats with rolled oats instead of instant. Your own schnitzel instead of nuggets?

The more processed foods you keep, the harder it will be to accept real food, because their taste and texture is very different.

Every time he refuses something, he gets an alternative. This won't make things better.

You asked in your title: Is toddler's diet ok? An honest answer is no, it is not ok. Are there worst diets. hell yes, especially on MN.

@Cormoran

Industrial?

Yes I make my own fries. Yes I make my own soups. You are I think the third person to assume I don't. The first to hit out with "instant" porridge though. He eats porridge as I said in my OP.

And no, one of this country's National dishes isn't "rubbish". He gets good quality black pudding and haggis from the butcher which are well known dishes to be rich in nutrients and vitamins.

I'll be leaving this thread now and taking with me the useful and kind advice from most posters.

Thank you to those who helped.

@Cosyanddozy please dont let people upset you. I'd be doing a merry dance if my son ate what yours does and he's 14.
Ignore people with their arsey comments they obviously don't understand a proper fussy eater.

Young children can be very sly. Why would he want to eat what's on his plate if he knows he's going to be offered something "nice" like yoghurt and/or toast? They learn very quickly how to get what they want. When mine were younger they just got given what we were eating, can't be doing with making two different meals. If they didn't like it they didn't finish it. Nothing wrong with feeling hungry, everyone too quick to say they'll "starve" if they don't have another option. Doctor said there are very few children who will deliberately starve themselves, they generally eat if they're hungry enough. My kids certainly don't look like they're being starved and are not fussy eaters now. But then my partner and I grew up not getting a choice, dinner was put on the table. No-one had time or money to make different meals for different members of the family.