Portion sizes for a nearly one year old?

[trixymalixy]

What size of portions should my DS be eating for breakfast lunch and dinner?

i just don't have a clue.

He is so slow at eating that I get fed up, but he could probably keep eating, so I don't really know if he's getting enough.

Portion size for toddlers is the same as for adults. Not everyone eats the same size. Do you give any finger food. My little boy like cubes of cheese, ham and some baby crackers and a good portion of food. He never finishes it but lets me know when he has enough. Dont worry your lo should tell you if he is hungry.

I do a mixture of finger food and feeding him myself.

At the moment he is into forks so I load up a fork and he puts it in his mouth himself.

I think if he is sleeping ok through the night he is ok. I worried about my lo not getting enough a while back and introduced an afternoon snack he is fine with that.

He isn't sleeping through the night, which is why I'm wondering if he's getting enough.

I give a mix of mash and finger food to DS (nearly 11mo), what I do is feed him a meal with a fork/spoon first (yoghurt for breakfast, a cooked lunch & dinner around the size of one of those stage 2 weaning jars), then load up the tray with various finger foods (bread and butter, fruit, etc) and assume that when he stops eating it and starts chucking it all on the floor, that he's had enough!

Not sure about the food & sleeping link, he has been eating well since about October but only sleeping through since Dec!

Do you give snacks during the day. Mine lo has a jam/cheese spead sarnie in the afternoon and eats his tea ok.
Some people prefer to have more smaller meals.
Does he still take his milk? Be careful you dont let them OD on water at tea time also, cause it fills their bellies and leaves less room for grub!

he does have snacks of oatcakes, fruit, raisins and those organix things sometimes.

I find it really hard to fit snacks in as he takes about an hour and a hlaf to eat breakfast or lunch, so there' only half an hour ish till he goes down for a nap.

He's bf so I'm not sure how much milk he is taking.

he does like water so I should maybe limit the amount he is drinking.

Hmm

Maybe you could try letting him eat for 45 mins, then stop and let him have a play, then offer more food before his nap time? He might take in more over two sittings...

Why does he take so long to eat his grub? Does he get distracted, or does he chew slow?
I would try MB suggesttion and cut the time short. Its worth a try anyway.

Good idea meg.

he just likes to chew his food reeeaaally slowly.

If I offer him something else before he has swallowed that mouthful then he will spit it out and start on the new bit of food.

Dietician said 2 of their own fistfuls of food at each meal, stomach size of one fist and can expand to the size of another fist.

Water can fill them up and with BFing you don't have to push the water so much (I have opposite problem though).

Do you eat some meals as a family as that could speed him up?

DS started out as a very slow eater and I used to allocate 30 mins for attempting to get mains into him and 30 mins for pudding. He gradually got faster and now tends to wolf down the lot in 20 mins then look around for more

let him eat as much or as little as he wants.

bf 20 mth old still eats far less than her peers but is by no means small.

eating naturally takes a down turn at about a year.

at this age dd was eating about six mouthfuls if i was lucky.

'My child won't eat' by carlos gonzalez will stop you worrying.

We try to eat meals as a family as much as possible, but DH works away most of the time, so it's just me and DS.

I think I'll do what you say Meg as the whole time between naps seems to be filled with feeding.

Im with you there its hard to eat as a family.
I know it is rough but i had to be firm with my lo who was alwys messing with his food. I took it away after several attempts of trying to give to him. The greedy little sod soon learnt not to mess with me!!