How much does your 2 and a half year old eat?

[Elisabeth3468]

Well mine is far too busy to eat half the time. He goes through spells of eating better but the past couple of weeks he's not eating much. (Not teething or unwell).
I know it's normal for this age to survive on a cracker and thin air but just wondering if other toddlers are the same.
For example today-
Breakfast ate a Weetabix, Greek yoghurt and some raspberries
Had an ice cream when out and some veggie straws. Didn't want lunch. This was my fault I should've been more organised with lunch.
Snack - banana and ice lolly
Dinner he ate a couple of chips, half a fish finger , one carrot slice and a pea 😂😂.
He doesn't drink much either.
Hes got STACKS of energy and looks a normal weight to me.
Im going to make some new recipes and get him involved in the cooking more as we go forward. I wouldn't say he's fussy as he Will try all sorts but never been keen on raw veg.
It is hard when out and about and I do probably end up giving too many snacks and we don't really have a set routine with meal times as such.

Children grow really fast until the age if 2 and their growth slows down. Check his weight centile but I wouldn’t worry.

My little one is almost 3 and that sounds very similar. Will sometimes have days of wolfing down food but it’s rare. Loves snacks. Will eat sacks all day if they could! It also depends on whether they’re constipated for my one. If they’re backed up they just won’t really eat. They’re drinking a lot more now summer but previously we would have to remind them to drink water (and trick them in to it a lot of the time “can you just slackens this straw is working please”). Having to trust they know their body and will eat if they need it (as long as they’re healthy in all other areas).

Third-born DD 2y3m today ate (this will probably make you feel better!):

A petit filous (wouldn't allow these in the house when PFB was her age)
A bit of marmite toast (terrible salt content)

A couple of Tangy Cheese Doritos (again, not allowed in the house until recently)
Cucumber x4 circles probably
An Ella's baby pouch - the pink one
Marmite sandwich - a bite or 2

Ice lolly (Twister - again vetoed previously)

1 fish finer
Alphabites
Couple bites of peas and carrots. Threw many peas at me. Masses of ketchup.

4 of her 5 a day, so that's something.

I'm going through a bit of a nightmare with mine, she used to be a great eater .

So today
Didn't eat porridge
2 satsumas
2/3 turkey sandwich with butter only ( she loves turkey sandwich)
180ml milk
A bunch of black grapes
100g of Greek yogurt

Dinner was 4 sausages and beans ( again she loves sausagea and this doesn't happen often !, but I didn't want a screaming match at dinner)

220ml milk before bed

This is an ok day

Yes this is also a factor with us! Hes got a bit of a withholding issue and his appetite does decrease when he needs a poo. I'm not worried about him at all but didn't know if there's any ways I can encourage him to eat a bit more. I don't have any concerns with his development. Sleeps OK as well.

It's the snacks. Mine eats beautifully since I ditched the snacks. If it's a snacky kind of day like a birthday party then the effects on dinner are obvious. I don't mind that as my dinner would be ruined by cake and crisps too.

Their stomachs are tiny. Just ditch the snacking and they'll eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. If he's hungry in between he's allowed fruit or veg.

He's nearly 3 now. Today's food was:

Breakfast: porridge with mashed banana and chia seeds
Snack: apple
Lunch: peanut butter sandwiches, yoghurt, strawberries
Dinner: spaghetti bolognese with grated cheese

My 2 year old is never interested in breakfast! He'll have maybe half a weetabix with milk and raisins, but it's always such hard work. Anyone else have this?
Lunch is OK, often scrambled egg and beans or half a cheese and tomato toastie.
Then he's usually pretty good at eating dinner if it's meat or rice/pasta.
Fruit he can eat all day long.

It's difficult because we do stay and plays twice a week and those two days he has a snack plate there about 10am with all the other children.
I do need to limit snacks though as he has a small appetite and snacks definitely affect his meals.
Even if he's hungry though if he gets distracted by something more fun then he's down from the table.
When we go somewhere for the day he hardly eats because it's far too exciting and he doesn't want to miss out on anything,

Mine probably eats breakfast the best and hardly any lunch!
Do you give milk in the morning ? That could be ruining appetite for breakfast.
We wait till he's been up 45 mins /an hour as well before giving breakfsst

My son is 3 and is big - 98th percentile for height, 95th for weight. Always has been (he was 10lb plus at birth). I say this as he eats a lot, I think, but tea time can be a struggle so I try and play to his strengths. He doesn't like rice or pasta at all. Won't eat much veg or meat unless I disguise it.

A typical day would be:

Cup of milk, banana, bit of daddy's biscuit.

Porridge and raspberries. I stir in a bit of choc too usually (3 or 4 small buttons.)

Snack at pre school, probably not at home. Raisins maybe.

Cheese sandwich, few crisps (light ones, ie skips) Blueberries or strawberries.

Ice lolly/peanut butter on crackers. Possibly an apple too. Sometimes a cookie or cupcake.

Meat/fish with mash and veg. Or something like sausages/fish fingers, waffles, peas. Corn on the cob always a popular addition. Pizza on Fridays! Tonight he had cottage pie (veg included) with peas.

Yoghurt, bit of fruit, maybe some chocolate (small handful smarties) if not had biscuit etc earlier.

He pretty much eats it all, with us helping a bit as he gets distracted easily!!

Veggie straws. Whoever invented that name was a genius because it gives the illusion of something healthy. It is 1/4 oil, 1/3 starch, then ultra processed rice flour and pea flour, and minuscule amount of veggie powder (tomato powder (0.4% ), kale powder (0.3%), spinach powder (0.3%), beet root powder (0.1%) to be able to mask how crappy it is .

Of course, the kid will have no appetite for lunch. Then the ice-cream and ice lolly are probably also ultra-processed.

You are out, have a banana, an apple if snack is needed. Forget the kid junk. It will make a kid fussier and fussier.

I read somewhere that 'snacks' are your children's meals at that age.
So feed them snacks that you would feed them as part of a balanced meal over the day. Eg veg, carbs, protein, good fats.

Don't get me wrong I use packaged snacks when we are out and about, but I try to take veg crudite and a variety of fruit out with me too and offer that first.
Ice creams are all good, (calcium right? ) plus most of it doesn't actually get into their stomachs (my dog is happy to share!)

Our son is a little older now but he's been eating the following since he was about 18 months.

Breakfast: two weetabix and milk
Lunch: cheese sandwich, tuna sandwich or beans on toast
Dinner: whatever we're having and yoghurt with berries

The dinner is usually meat with a side of potato and beans or veg, curry or pasta. He doesn't really have snacks regularly, just one a day every few days (cheese, a biscuit, fruit etc).

I have a hit and miss eater. We try to focus on what she eats over the course of a week. She might have a day when she will eat only meat and the next day only carbs but it averages out over the week.

She's 4 now and we had a day last week when she arrived 3 spoons of dry cereal, 1/8 of a sandwich a handful of blueberries, an ice lolly that took all afternoon to eat and went back into the freeze 4 times and 3 olives!

She has a sensitive stomach with allergies and reflux and other things that upset her and trigger her to stop eating. We try to keep an eye on her weight but despite her poor diet her weight is really good and her BMI is always in the 80+th percentile as she only on the 1st percentile for height and 25-35th for weight.

Have you ever tried to get a tantruming toddler in a pram whilst pregnant In 27 degrees heat? An apple isn't getting him in trust me 😂 there's nothing wrong with an ice cream.
I know veggie straws are as good/bad as other crisps , I'm not under the illusion he's eating carrot sticks.

Mine was about 75th centile for height and weight at his 2 year check. He looks a normal weight to me but hasn't gained a lot at all since then.

So today I did porridge and berries for breakfast and he helped make it. He said he didn't like the porridge but ate the berries. He asked for a weetabix so he had one of those.
We went out and I took a picnic. He had no snacks at all in the morning. We didn't eat until 1.30pm and he had a few bites of pitta (it had cheddar cheese in it) and offered him some hummus too which he said no. He had a few veggie straws and a little bit of yoghurt. Didn't want his banana. It's now 5pm and not eaten since so will see how dinner goes. He's had a long walk and 2 hours playing in the park. He never really asks for food. It must just be a period of low food intake. Not so long ago he was smashing pork roast dinners and a whole salmon fillet at dinner!

They definitely go through phases like this and then start inhaling food again when going through a growth spurt or big stage of development. Definitely don't worry.

My toddler of the same age is the same, actually eats even less than you've described. I've stopped worrying and just go with it! But totally normal by the sounds of it!

Same here - she'll either eat three bowls worth of her meal, or three bites.....there is no in between :')

Thank you for the reassurance ! It does get a bit frustrating with the food waste. But it is what it is and he's thriving and definitely not lacking in energy so clearly getting what he needs haha!