Protein for babies/toddlers

[Maloneyb]

I am getting fed up of people saying “ur baby doesn’t eat enough protein”

I’ve read protein isn’t super important until they’re 3. So I give what I can and she will have it when she wants it! In many different ways too.

however, my annoying, cold, judgemental mil thinks because I don’t feed her mounds of chicken, beef, fish fingers, etc she’s not getting enough.

shes 15 months fyi. EBF, eats veg, fruit, grains, dairy, and protein in smaller amounts maybe? I don’t know. It’s annoying.

is it just me?

she doesn’t go chomping on a chicken leg, I think it’s a texture thing. But if I mix protein with pasta or something it’s gone in seconds!

am I doing something wrong? It’s been said so many times I’m fed up of it.

what makes you think she doesn't need protein until she is 3? of course she needs it, loads of it!

Protein is important at this age but they’re tiny do they need a smaller amount of protein.

I would say for my oldest who is nearly 8 it’s only now she would eat things like a chicken breast or steak. My 4 year old gets most of her protein from Greek and pine nuts at the moment.

I think some older generations are very meat and 2 veg and don’t recognise non meat sources of protein.

I try and give oily fish twice a week - it’s not always eaten. There is a bbc good food salmon and pea pasta which usually goes down well.

Yes definitely needs protein. Eggs are the answer! Boiled and scrambled - go down a treat. Peanut butter on a spoon. It doesn’t have to be meat.

My 14 month old has never had meat, I don't eat I never have so don't feel comfortable cooking or storing it. Actually I do give her tuna or salmon occasionally but I don't eat it myself.

Protein sources she has are eggs, peanut butter, lentils, peas, black beans etc, no ones ever commented about protein?

Yes she has other sources tbh!
beans, peanut butter, nuts, chickpeas, Greek yoghurt etc.

That's not good enough

They really need proper meat protein no matter what veggie bollocks you read

That’s not true at all. My brother never had any meat and is over 6ft. Quite a few cultures do not eat any meat. Children do not need to eat dead animals to thrive.

My DS never eats meat. He just doesn’t like it.

because she is probably getting enough - it you don't get enough protein in early infancy, you will never grow to your full height and strength - most of us know rescue animals stunted from early malnutrition. The same thing happens with humans

My kids eat protein in the form of:
Chickpeas
Tofu
Peanut butter
Peas and other vegetables
Hummus
Eggs
Cheese
Beans

Meat is not essential at all!

They need less than you think - low carb high protein diets for babies and toddlers can actually be harmful. I've seen some warnings about this, where people assume that those "protein added" products are more healthy but they actually aren't for babies and toddlers, they'll have too much protein for them. Unless a child is on a medically indicated protein supplement, you probably don't need to supplement protein for them - they probably get enough already.

And of course it doesn't need to be from meat but they do need less if it is from meat.

This matches the NHS advice but is more detailed and I believe is a trustworthy source. If your toddler is having 2 portions of protein per day then that is fine. A toddler portion of protein is given here as half to one egg or 1-2 fish fingers as a guideline.

https://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutrition-for/toddlers-and-pre-school/

A 1-3 year old needs 13g of protein a day. This should ideally be from a variety of sources but does not need to be animal based. A quarter of a tin of baked beans is 5g. 2tbsp of peanut butter is 8g. 50g of chickpea pasta is 10g.

Same! It’s a texture thing

so we do try and give it in other ways - mince, shredded etc. weird as she loved chicken breast strips when under 12m!

Thank you. So helpful!

MIL, is that you???

🤣🤣🤣

Some people get very hung up on protein. You hear a lot less concern about fibre and that's something a lot of western diets are deficient in these days!

Did you know that breast milk is very low in protein? I say that, obviously it's actually just the right amount of protein for the baby. But I think our understanding of protein is skewed (probably by meat industry advertising).

Just keep feeding DC plenty of variety.

NHS says 2 portions veg based protein or 1 of animal based protein a day (and portions are very small for that age). I'm sure your child is fine.

I cannot even begin to worry about things like this. It's hard enough getting my 2 year old to each much of anything half the time!

When things are good he's eating porridge with chia seeds, flax seeds and mashed banana, peanut butter on toast, fish in the form of fish fingers, chicken in soup, sausages, mince in Bolognese, cheese and yoghurts.

When things are bad (at the moment they are as he's just getting over a bad sickness bug and his appetite is always dreadful for weeks after), he seems to live on cereal, milk, yoghurts, dry rice cakes and crackers.

I hate these phases but I try to switch off to it and remember that all of a sudden it will pick up again and he'll be eating "well" again. If I started thinking about how many grams of this and that he was having I'd just want to give up entirely.

Ignore what anyone else says about your child and their diet and just carry on doing your best.

I haven't fact checked this and can't remember off the top of my head. but I was going to say, look up from NHS/first steps nutrition trust etc reliable sources what protein intake they need daily. Work out a week's worth of protein. Track meticulously what they eat and how much protein they have every day for a week and then compare it to the recommended amount.

If they eat a balanced diet they will be meeting the protein intake without any real effort on your part. I was worrying about this needlessly awhile ago and did the above for my 2 and 5 yos and it was reassuring. And we are vegetarian. I was surprised to see how much protein was in e.g. regular pasta and white bread for example. It all adds up pretty easily.

My toddler is not mad on meat and mainly just spits it out.
His main protein sources are
Eggs
Salmon
Other fish such as sea bass/cod (whatever we are having)
Fish cakes
Mince beef he will eat in cottage pie
Almond and peanut butter he has daily
Full fat Greek yoghurt
Beans
Cheese
He won't eat chicken or much other meat really.
as long as you are offering a good range of food and your baby is thriving then that's the main thing!!