Advice on toddler diet

[HerculesMulligan]

This is an example (fairly close to ideal) day's food for my toddler. Can you tell me if it's missing something?

Breakfast - boiled egg and a slice of buttered toast, half a cup of milk, a satsuma

Snack at nursery - carrot sticks, grapes, maybe some cheese. A gingerbread man or fairy cake maybe once a fortnight.

Lunch - baked beans on toast, yoghurt

Snack - a fistful of rice cakes (3/4 of the little ones) or a banana. Sometimes chocolate buttons if it's a grandparent day.

Dinner - vegetable pizza (with salad peppers which may/may not be discarded) or pasta bolognaise with minced beef/mushrooms, more yoghurt.

Bedtime - cup of full fat milk

I'm asking because he had tonsillitis a month or two ago and it's taken ages to get him back to eating normally. I think this is pretty good but feel a bit like I've lost my frame of reference, so critique welcome.

Looks pretty good to me! I'd drop the rice cakes and either give a proper snack or not bother if he doesn't need it. I'd also probably offer an additional serving of fruit either after lunch or dinner, alongside the yoghurt and there would definitely be a salad with the pasta. But it's pretty good, imho!

I'd be pretty thrilled if I could get my toddler eating that!

You wanted critique and I dont mean this bad

Overal you are giving lots of gluten, every meal is gluten, look into offering less gluten. Very very little vegetables which should be base of diet. I see no mention of oils, quality fats should be included-meaning ghee, coconut, olive, flax, hemp oil. Seeds and nuts, very important. Green leafy vegetables.

Also why are you combining yogurt into meals?
i personally would not combine fruit with meals, give rice cakes, cakes, chocolate, limit exotic and out of season fruit, mushroom.

Oh, don't get the idea it's always like this! But this is what we aim for on an average day and we do manage it most days when he's well as he's a good eater.

I take your point about gluten, Zahran. I'll give that some thought.

Isn't ghee just butter? Not that I have a problem with butter but never heard it referred to as a quality fat?

What's wrong with fruit and yog at mealtimes?

And what's wrong with mushrooms?!

What's wrong with yogurt? And gluten, unless you have coeliac disease? And mushrooms too!?

Sounds great. You said this is just an example day so it's not worth getting too picky about the details. You could try mixing up the carbs a little as there seems lots of bread and I'd probably offer fruit rather than yoghurt twice.

But that's being picky. It's really not a bad diet and I'd be happy if my LO was eating this.

Yes seeds, nuts, 'quality fats' might be full of good stuff but I wouldn't worry too much. Lots of variety of food, and good amounts of fruit/veg is as much as you can expect any toddler to eat!

No, ghee is not butter, but it is made out of butter, however doesnt contain lactose, or should not. Healthy for cooking due to very high burning point.

Fruit is generaly recommended to be eaten alone and not in combination with other meals such as often combined with porridge. It has to do with digestion of simple sugars contained in fruit versus starches, proteins and carbs of other meals. It is bad for digestive system when the fruot is fermenting inside a gut. Especially for young children.

Mushroom again, hard to digest.

As far as gluten, there is lots written about why it is bad for you. There is no need to avoid it, but certainly it is good to limit it or vary with other naturally glutten-free grains. It is better to use spelt bread, pasta etc than common wheat ones, the form of gluten in it is more easily broken down.

Hope this helps to clarify.

zahrah will you come be my personal family chef?

Quality fats, you can put couple of drops on porridge, or on steamed vegetables. My daughter loves squirt of pumpkin oil on creamy soups, it actualy makes something like kale or brussel sprouts soup way more palatable, you would not even believe, it is currently a favorite.
Nuts we usually mix into porridge. But nut butters are also an option.

Just keep trying different things.

For goodness sake there is nothing wrong with gluten! Unless of course someone is a coeliac. Your meal plan sounds great OP. Very balanced.

Can you provide some links to the science behind your suggestions, Zahrah?

Yes I'm sure I just saw on a BBC doc that gluten is only harmful if you're a coeliac, and the gluten free thing is total fad.

Sounds like a good diet for a UK toddler. Seeing as you asked for opinions, here are my thoughts:

1. Toast at breakfast, toast at lunch and pizza dough at dinner - these are three meals based on wheat. So I would swap one for potato or rice.

1. There are not enough green veggies.

1. It's great that you offer a mainly savory breakfast - too many kiddies start the day with a sugar fest of coco pops!

It actualy makes something like kale or brussel sprouts soup way more palatable

I'm trying to imagine what it would take to get my DS to eat brussel sprout soup, I am pretty sure a drop of pumpkin oil wouldn't cut it.

Oh, I should definitely try DS on brussel sprout soup and video his reaction for this thread. It would be a sight to see. He's already pretty comical in his loathing for hummus.

I definitely eat too much bread so the gluten point hits home. It's probably shown at its worst here because on nights when he has sausage and mash or curry or beef casserole or whatever, he wouldn't have bread with it, but I agree that it seems a bit much.

The green veg is easily dealt with as he loves peas beyond all things, so has those with his evening meal most nights.

There is nothing wrong with gluten! There is lots written about how bad it is on nonsense faddy clean eating blogs. There is also a lot written about how this is nonsense. Scientific evidence favours the latter view!

Hope scientific evidence also explains increase in civilisation diseases, colon cancers, coeliac diseases, increase in intolerances, allergies and so on.

Oh please, enough with the faddy anti gluten nonsense Zahrah.

The child is not a coeliac.

Your meal plan sounds super OP. Maybe a bit more veg, but as we're talking about a toddler, you're pretty well.