How much is enough?

[raychmumtobe]

My daughter is starting to worry me a little.
She never seems to have an appetite, i cook her 2 meals a day, breakfast and dinner, and i make her a sandwich or wrap for lunch, or just give her a sausage roll if were out. But she rarely eats it...
She'll nibble on the meals, and maybe take a bite or two out of the sandwich/wrap/sausage roll, but theres always loads left and she refuses to eat it...
Its not even that she doesnt like the food, i make her her favourites, or offer her alternatives if shes not eating her dinner, but she simply doesnt want to eat.
She doesnt seem to be getting slimmer, or to be losing weight?
Am i maybe expecting too much of her and making her portions too big?
Her dad just gives her meals like sausage and beans... Whereas id do sausage, beans and mash.. He'll make her bolognese, whereas ilk give her bolognese with pasta and garlic bread.. He says she eats for him... So it must be something im doing wrong?

How much do your 2 year olds eat?

 

[emyandpotato]

Rory will go days eating next to nothing and then the next week he'll be stuffing his face a crazy amount. He's thin but not worryingly so. If her weight is fine just go with it. You don't need two carbs with meals though- no need for garlic bread AND pasta, for example.

 

[Yo_Yo]

She sounds just like my 2 year old.

She frustrates me with her eating, but her weights good and she seems happy enough.

For my lo, she's easily distracted and runs away from the table. I think this is the reason she's not eating well. I've brought back the highchair now.

I wouldn't worry though if your lo seems happy and healthy

 

[Natasha2605]

Maci is almost two but a fantastic eater. She eats three full meals and would snack all day if I let her.

The more you worry about it the more she'll cotton onto it. If she's happy and healthy I wouldn't worry.

 

[raychmumtobe]

OH has just said its my fault because i should refuse to let her move til shes eaten the full meals...

 

[Vicyi]

Have you tried giving her smaller portions? I know my 2 would eat more if they had less on their plate, im not sure why but it worked for us. x

 

[Yo_Yo]

OH has just said its my fault because i should refuse to let her move til shes eaten the full meals...

Not sure you can make a two yr old sit there until she eats it all? I know we've tried-the more you push it, the worse it is for us.

I know mine would throw the plate at me if I tried lol

It's not your fault. No ones to blame, she's just being a toddler. She has to learn the concept of sit down, eat all the food and ask to leave the table!

 

[special_kala]

She sounds like a 2 year old.

Forcing her to eat is just going to cause issues with food that dont need to exist.

We are not build to eat 3 meals a day, we are grazers by nature.

My kids snack alot through the day and eat small portions of dinner. Its how we are built.

 

[Mrs Doddy]

my dd is 3 1/2 and ive only just started not worrying and she has only in the last 3/4 months started eating more, I just try and make sure she has a variety, it causes stress to make her sit there ... you cant force her

 

[RaspberryK]

They need surprisingly little food, a child stomach is roughly the size of their own fist.
Offer variety and snacks in between if you think she needs it and don't fret.
If ds doesn't eat his meal I leave it at the table in case he changes his mind, after an hour it gets taken away.
Xx

 

[KatieB]

Louis goes for weeks on end barely touching his food sometimes and every time until recently I worried myself sick, now I'm a bit calmer over it. I don't know how he gets by on the amount he eats some days though, however when he goes to nursery he eats things he doesn't eat at home and since yesterday has picked up his appetite again. He is lovely and slim, not thin but very lean and muscular. He does look a bit slender sometimes as he's tall for his age. I do think that sometimes it's easy to forget how little food they actually need and I'm glad I don't have to worry about him overeating either tbh.

Your OH is wrong, forcing her to sit at the table to finish her meal is a surefire way to make her even more anxious with food IMO although I agree it's so disheartening when they refuse to eat what you cook for them day in day out

 

[Bevziibubble]

This sounds just like my two year old. She has never had much of an appetite. Sometimes I hear her stomach rumbling and she's not bothered. She is so fussy with food and will only eat a limited variety. Last night she had one piece of pasta and half a mushroom for dinner! She was still running around being crazy though. It's so frustrating I know, but we just have to trust them that they know their own appetite and will eat accordingly.


Forcing her to stay at the table and eat won't work and is a dangerous idea. My parents did it and it caused all kinds of problems with my relationship with food.

 

[DCS]

I actually thought my LO was hardly eating till someone on here pointed out his portions were way to big. If you google portion size for a 2 year old that may help. Also i find letting LO access healthy snacks helps. But mostly not stressing about it. For about 2 days my LO just ate everything i put infront of him, even asked for more. Then yesterday he refused dinner. It seems very normal.

 

[LuckyYem]

I agree with everyone else, sounds like a normal 2 year old. Neither of mine eat a lot but they do eat lots of different foods. Both my mum and dh serve massive portions of food for everyone (neither of them want anyone to go hungry ) so it hardly looks like they have eaten anything! I have noticed sine I have given them half of somthing eg: half a banana, half a sandwich etc they seem to be eating more and obviously less waste for me! They both do stay at the table until everyone has finished eating but its their choice they can get down when they have finished - as much or as little as they want - but they stay and chat with us.

Rightly or wrongly I have always had a relaxed attitude to meal times with them. I let them graze during the day - I always have piles of food laying around I never throw the snacks away as they always want them as soon as I do! - but after dinner regardless of how much they have eaten of it its bath, story and bed no more food. Neither of them want breakfast until they have been up at least 2hrs. Its easier now they are getting older and let me know they want food.

If you are really worried about what she is eating in a day why not keep a food diary for a week or so, you may be surprised when you see it all written down just how much she is eating. As a pp said remember they only have little stomachs.

 

[Blah11]

My kids can't manage huge portions either. They snack a lot during the day to make up for it!