Does your LO eat 2 cooked meals a day?

[jimmyjammys]

Just wondering if I am expecting too much of DS? He is now nearly 15 months and at nursery full time. There he usually has a cooked lunch like spag bol or fish fingers and potatoes, etc. he also has a snack in the morning like fruit and toast. Then in the afternoon another snack like fruit and toast and in the late afternoon another snack if he is still at the nursery around 5pm.

When he gets home he does not want to eat his dinner - will eat fruit like oranges or grapes and most nights a little fromage frais. Even if he does not have the late afternoon snack he still refuses to eat his dinner. Am i expecting too much? He doesn't eat much during the weekends either but he will eat most of what is offered to him at the nursery.

Sometimes. Sometimes she just eats a cooked lunch and then has sarnies or humous and breadsticks for tea. Depends how organised I am.

It could be he's very tired by the time he gets home so fruit and yog fine I'd say.
Could also be that he has got used to the busy meal times at nursery so has less patience at home.
18 mts old have tiny stomachs - little and often like he has is fine.
Cooked food and cold food have the same value - it just depends what the food is!

Will she eat it if you cook it for her? DS just refuses whatever i've cooked.

yes i think you are right, i'm sure he's too tired to be bothered with eating when he gets home. i hadn't thought of the busy meal times at nursery, it def makes sense.

Sometimes, it depends on what he's been up to, if he's been running around outside a lot then probably. He also goes through very hungry phases which I guess are growth spurts, and then he goes through phases when he eats barely anything.

my lo hasnt had 2 cooked meals per day since he was about 9 months when he started having sandwiches and fruit for lunch and a cooked meal at dinner time. Could you offer picnic style food in the evening rather than cook something e.g. sandwich, fruit, yoghurts, crackers, etc

yes i think that is better then not eating anything. I get really worried that he is not getting enough iron in his diet.

My 3.7 yr old doesn't always eat two cooked meals. Very often lunch is a sandwich or cheese on toast with yoghurt & fruit.

If you're worried about iron, have you tried raisins? My ds loves raisins and they count as one of their 5 a day too. Avocado is also a good source of iron, as are apples, bananas and oranges. A piece of cheese and an apple is a pretty good rounded snack. Ds is also starting to enjoy dipping things (most of it ends up on the floor, but we're getting there) so I mash up an avocado and give him bits of bread or veggies to dip in.

he loves raisins! I never realised they were a good source of iron. Thank you so much, he would eat raisins til the cows come home. God I am so thick, i just thought fruit was Vit C and meat and green veg were iron sources.

I'm wondering if:

1. he's not tired
2. there's a social element of eating at nursery - children eat more in each other's company (not sure if you're eating with him but my DD always eats more if I'm eating the same food as her).
3. two snacks in afternoon of toast - maybe a bit too much?

My DD goes to nursery where she eats much more than at home: 2 weetabix in morning plus toast! fruit mid-morning, cooked lunch, bread and sticks of carrot and cucumber in afternoon plus milk, and then she'll have a jacket potato/cheese on toast/pasta/leftovers when she gets home and milk before bed.

At the nursery today he had a snack of fruit in the morning then vegetable soup for lunch. Then jam sandwiches for afternoon snack and then a petit filous for late afternoon snack. He ate everything offered to him. When he got home, he refused his dinner of pasta and cheese sauce. He ate a few grapes and some raisins instead though. So today he would not have had any protein at all? We do try to eat with him at the same time but that has no effect. I was thinking of asking the nursery not to give him the late afternoon snack but thought it would be cruel if all the other kids were having theirs! I'm pretty sure he only eats at nursery because he sees everyone eating and he enjoys the social side of it.

TBH his eating patterns sound fine to me, you have to think of what he eats across a few days and as long as he is having some protein here, carbs there, etc then he'll be fine.

My DS (19mo) hasn't eaten two hot meals a day for many months -- he has sarnies for lunch and a hot tea. I would be thankful that he's got a good appetite at nursery and let him have a light snack in the evening.

jimmyjammys, there's protein in petit filous and obv if he's still getting plenty of milk there's lots of protein in milk. I've been conversing with aitch, godess of BLW and she told me you have to not think in terms of "today he must have x amount of protein and x amount of fibre and x amount of iron etc" and think more about getting a balanced diet across the week. If he doesn't get any protein one day won't matter so much as he's bound to make it up another day. If you're worried about protein, my ds loves babybel or little cubes of cheese, so even if he won't eat anything else he'll have that (and the raisins of course!)