How do we know we give our toddlers enough?

[Pyrrhic]

I'm quite conscious of what LO eats (and get teased for it by non mummy friends )

But do you give you toddlers are extra vitamins? I give LO omega-3 oil and vitamins B and D.

I make sure she gets her 5 a day too and hopefully enough calcium.

She does get treats, twice a week or so. Mostly if it's after dinner I let her snack on fruit which she loves (especially dried fruit).

I worry about her getting calcium as she doesn't take milk anymore, but loves her cheese sandwiches and yogurts.

She does get ready made meals too, like chicken dippers and stuff which I always feel guilty about! Not sure why as I put veg on her plate too

So how do we know we are giving them enough? Does anyone else worry?

 

[vickivick]

my 3yr old is a nightmare for eating. he will eat toast for breakfast and have his lunch at school but he never eats it all. i cant remember the last time he ate a whole meal he just picks. he refuses to eat veg except carrots but will eat apples til their coming out his ears! i give him the soft and chewy vits he loves them cos he thinks hes eating a orange sweetie lol
i do worry hes not getting everything he should be but short of shoving it in his mouth theres not much else i can do i just hope he gets better with age

 

[Pyrrhic]

Yeah LO can be picky with her veg and she's 2. Think it's a standard kids thing! I just offer them, or try to hide them in food. For instance she demolished some salmon, spinach and green pea fishcakes the other night but if I'd given her peas on her plate she would have picked at them.

 

[vickivick]

i wouldnt even be able to get him to eat fishcakes. he will eat things like spaghetti bolognese but if he hs something like say sausages, burgers, nuggets or anything like that he wont eat it. he will eat the chips/mash/potatoes thats with it but not the actual food!

 

[sabby52]

I worry alot about Dec eating, although he is a great eater I want to make sure he gets everything he needs, I give him a daily vit. He doesnt drink milk either but he does eat alot of cheese and yogurts. I think it is quite normal to worry about them, but if they are having 3 meals a day with fruit and veg then they should be fine

 

[Pyrrhic]

Today she's had...

Breakfast: Dairylea on toast and an apple
Lunch: Salmon and cream cheese sandwich, falafels and a biscuit
Snack: Raisins and dried apricots
Dinner: Shepherds pie with carrots and peas and a yogurt

Can she eat too much fruit?

 

[kiwimama]

I don't give lo vitamins or take them myself, I haven't had us tested to see what we are deficient in and some vitamins can actually be harmful if you have too much in your system, vitamin A particularly. White people only need 10 minutes of sun a day to get enough vitamin D, although if you are very dark skinned, vitamin D supplements can be beneficial in winter, as it takes at least 30 minutes in the sun to get the required vitamin D.

As for my los food intake, I do worry sometimes but try not to, because it's not going to help things. I just make sure I keep offering healthy options everytime. If she doesn't eat it, then so be it. She's not going to waste away anytime soon with the tummy on her!

Today so far she has had:
Pb on toast, 1/2 banana.
Yoghurt and plain cracker.
Rice cracker with pb and banana (can you tell she loves pb and bananas!)
Plain popcorn, apple slices and strawberries (her fav fruit at the moment.)
For dinner we will have homemade burgers and chips with a salad on the side (which will probably end up being chucked on the floor!)

My lo doesn't drink milk either but has yoghurt everyday and will usually ask for cheese at some stage during the day so she gets a slice or two of cheese as well.

Pyrrhic - I don't think it's bad to offer lots of fruit, yes, there are the sugars, but they are natural and fruits have all those great antioxidants in them as well. Ella would eat a whole punnet of strawberries if we would let her, but we give her 3 large ones at a time and I don't mind doing that because they are so good for her.
It sounds to me like your lo is getting a very varied and healthy diet with a little treat in there once in awhile, which is perfect!

 

[isil]

I worry. But I know generally he still has that inbuilt thing where he seems to make the right choices. Like, I realise if I haven't offered him foods high in something, he'll be desperate for it! He loves vegetables, fish and fruit. Nursery are always going on about how well he eats I worry most about calcium but although he won't drink milk at home, he drinks it at nursery. I try to give him cheese or yogurt every day but he's sometimes not bothered. He loves sprouts, spinach, beans and tofu though so they've got calcium in too.

 

[Arcanegirl]

I dont so much now but Alex is back on formula milk after being diagnosed as allergic to dairy.
He does eat plenty of fruit and veg aswell.
We do ready made meals sometimes too and i also feel guilty, but same as you theres always veg included!

 

[golcarlilly]

I worry ALL the time, Myles is such a picky eater, he had a brilliant diet when we were weaniing and loved almost everything I made with a variety of meats, fish, veg and fruit but these days he refuses almost everything and won't touch meat or veg, we have been giving him toddler milk 3 times a day and I am switching that for whole cows milk gradually and starting giving him vitamins, he seems to just have a really small appetite which I find strange as he is a big boy - 86cm tall and weighs 2 stone!

 

[Nibblenic]

Yesterday Lo had

10oz milk
2 slices of buttered toast
A Bananna
Some chocolate mini crisp cakes (not everyday but as a treat)
A cheese Sandwich with grapes and a yogurt
Some plain rice cakes
A Pear
Ginger busicuit
Chicken and veg broth with 2 yorkshire puddings
Grapes and a yogurt.
8oz milk

She has acess to juice/water all day

Seems like alot of fruit when i right it down lol

Shes tall but her weight is low for her height as its always been. No idea where shes gotten a tall thin gene from like

 

[momandpeanut]

Yesterday logan ate

5oz milk
porridge and cinnamon
1 slice of fruit toast
an apple
homemade sausage roll with cucumber and tomatos
yoghurt
grapes
squash and pepper pasta for tea
greek yoghurt with blueberries
5oz of warm milk before bed

he drinks water thoughout the day

I dont give him any vitamins as i think he has enough variety in his food.

 

[dom85]

I wouldn't call Brady picky but he does go through phases where he will eat loads or barely anything and sometimes he loves breakfast and eats loads and sometimes he doesn't touch breakfast and eats a lot at lunch or dinner. I just go with it and keep offering him a variety of things.

I do give him vitamins, especially in the winter as he's dark skinned and just to make sure he's getting enough. He seems happy, is very healthy and thriving so I guess he's getting enough He has occiasional treats at my Mum's and sometimes I do ready made things like chicken goujons or breaded fish but that's just normal life right? I think it's far better than what I used to see some of the people on the estate I grew up on giving their kids, their weekly shop was done at Iceland and consisted of things like pizza, nuggets, sausages, twizzlers etc.

 

[babe2ooo]

to be honest i dont worry about what he eats at all, i cook tea everyday which is always a good home made cooked dinner, like saug and mash or spag bol and for pudding he always has a yoghurt well 2 lol, for lunch he has chesse on toast, with raisens half an apple, quavers well half a bag mummy has the rest, he also has bits of cheese, for breakfast he has weetabix or toast and sometimes half an apple, through out the day he snacks on raisens biscuits or fruit. which i'm happy with and he still has a cup of milk b4 bed to. i dont give him any vitamins i dont feel the need.

 

[Sarahkka]

I go by the big picture rule. Simon is a strapping big boy and ridiculously healthy. I try to keep that in mind and not get too worried if he goes a few days seemingly running on about 3 calories!
I have a few "insurance" foods that I try to get into him if he seems to be on a stretch of barely nibbling. I will make him a smoothie with ovaltine, a banana, milk and yogurt. It's rare he won't guzzle that. Sure, it's got sugar, but it's packed with nutrients.
And he gets two vitamins a day: special gummy ones, one is a multi and one is vit D.
I don't think most people do get enough vitamin D, particularly in northern climates. My whole family takes vitamin D and I think we are much healthier for it.

 

[tasha41]

My LO can be really touch and go with just about everything, I never worry about protein or calcium because she loves milk, meat, fish, eggs..

I do give her a vitamin D supplement (and really should be taking one myself) since we're in Canada and I feel like I don't see the sun for days sometimes lol.

Aside from that I hide veggies in tomato sauce, give her extra fruits.. of course I want her to try new foods and like a variety but I keep the tried and tested ones on hand and ready to go! Like I usually do a dinner like.. one meat, one starch (pasta, rice, couscous, potato, bread).. plus 2 veg.. one out of the 2 veggies I do will be something she loves, like broccoli or asparagus or peppers

 

[fairy1984]

oh it is hard. i think especially as they cant prepare the food themselves so you feel completly responsible. I think a good idea is to look at the bigger picture. i.e maybe today they didnt have the 5 fruit/veg per day but had loads of calcium and tomorrow maybe they'll have a little less fruit/veg and what feels like no calcium....

easier said than done as I constantly worry myself too

 

[Tegans Mama]

I worry a LOT about what Tegan eats. She has a lot of food aversions (one of the symptoms of one of her disabilities is aversion to certain tastes/textures etc) and doesn't eat a great deal at all.

 

[Sovereign]

I give Charlie vitamins but that's because his diet is so terrible. He is a really really fussy eater and his diet mainly consists of sandwiches (cheese or paste), toast, and pizza. Oh and yoghurts. x

 

[Twinminator]

Hi, I stir Abidec vitamin syrup into my twins' porridge in the morning, along with mashed banana - Abidec is lemon flavoured which they won't tolerate off a spoon but seem to really like as an extra flavour in the porridge. It sort of acts as an extra "sweetener" too xx