childrens food

mrs-tee_2

hi never posted here before not even sure its the right place but here goes anyway.

i'm a little concerned on the amount of food my DS(4) eats. i'm not sure he eats enough. he's not a great eater and never has but since the birth of DS2(10mths) he has been getitng slightly better at trying new things.

mostly he has convienience(sp) foods.eg nuggets, pizza, mini sausages but even the he doesnt eat a lot of them.

i have been attempting to make my own nuggets etc and he is starting to come round to them very slowly. my other son is a great eater and eats whatever i give him. and mostly all homemade stuff. just need to get DS1 eatting bette now.

just looking for a bit of advice on how much food your little ones eats. eg 4 nuggets, 3 smiley faces etc.

any help would be very greatly appreciated.

d0nna

Hi mrs-tee, my ds is 4 next month and always think that he doesn't eat enough but he's a good size for his age and eats fruit/veg so I'm not that worried.

In a typical day my ds eats:

Breakfast

a pot of yogurt,
a drink yogurt,
little bowl of cereal or toast or a pancake

Fruit as a mid morning snack (he'll eat any fruit)

Lunch (packed lunch as he's in school but I give him similar things on the weekend too) -

a crust free sandwich consisting of ham and cheese or whatever he fancies at the time,
a piece of cheese,
a little side salad consisting of 2 little slices of pepper, 1 slice of cucumer, 1 cherry tomato and two olives.
1 piece of melon, pineapple and mango, 1 grape and 1 piece of a different fruit which I change each week, this week is blueberries.
A little box of raisins
3 little jelly sweets/choc

He doesn't always eat all of his lunch but whatever he doesn't eat at school is brought back in his lunchbox and he will eat them whilst he waits for his dinner.

Dinner

Differs each day, sometimes I give him frozen convience foods but he's not overly keen on them tbh. In regards to the portions, if I gave him nuggets and smiley faces then I would give him what you said (4 nuggets and would prob give 4 smiley faces too) I would add some beans or side veg with that and would encourage him to have a mouthfull even if it's a little one. Other than that I give him a cooked dinner, mash and cheese bake, pasta and sauce etc. I try not to overload the plate as I'm sure it puts him off and I give him a little choc if he eats all his dinner or has given it a good try. If he's hungry after that then I just give him fruit.

It is hard if your child is fussy but I believe that if your persistant with the different foods then they will improve their eating habits.

What does he usually eat in an average day? Is his weight ok?

Hope this have helped in anyway :-)

daska

If he's happy, healthy and running around then I'd say please don't worry. Kids are pretty amazing really, and often much better than us at judging how much and what they need to eat.

charliee_3

daska wrote: »

If he's happy, healthy and running around then I'd say please don't worry. Kids are pretty amazing really, and often much better than us at judging how much and what they need to eat.

i agree, he wont starve himself and there aren't many food that contain absolutely NO nutrients, even 'junk' food
i'd just offer one 'different' food every day, id put it on the same plate, but separate so if he doesnt like the look of it it wont put him off the rest of it, but don't make a big deal out of it, if it gets eaten it gets eaten, if it doesnt it doesnt...

he'll come round spesh if he sees his little brother eating all kinds of things..

motherkitty

Hi mrs-tee
I know how you feel as my son (now 11) has always been a very picky eater too, and i don't know why as I always treated him the same as his elder sister who will eat anything. Even as a baby he would only eat a few things and would never let me feed him. As he grew up I would sometimes be close to tears when we were all eating spaghetti bolognese and all he had was a plateful of 'naked' pasta. Over the last couple of years he has become much better, some of it down to the fact that when he eats at friends houses he eats what they give him as he doesn't want to make a fuss. Now spaghetti bolognaise, chilli and ratatouille are among his favourites and he also said he wants to try curry! I think the more fuss you make about what they eat, the more of a problem it becomes. I have always been happy that he will at least eat a couple of vegetables and fruits so at least there is something healthy in there! As for the amount of food, as long as he has energy and is healthy then I am sure there is nothing to worry about as even adults are different in that respect. Sometimes I think we are made to worry as our kids are always being measured against the 'average'. If he is happy and healthy I really wouldn't worry!

Belisarius

^ Not a parent, but this describes my younger brother exactly! He is now a strapping twenty something who has recently started to eat lentils - amazing, believe me.

Bunny200

Its very hard to advise someone how much food their child should eat as all children (& adults) have different appetites. My kids eat loads but my YO has a friend that exists on such meagre portions I wonder how she has the energy to stand up but it works for her! The child will tell you how much they want the best advice would be to give them 'good' food so that whatever they eat they are getting benefit. At age 4 I would say

• lots of carbs, e.g pasta, potatoes, bread, cereal
• lots of veggies/fruit
• calcium, milk, yog, cheese
• small portions, its better to put very little on the plate and have the child ask for more than to get worried that they don't clear their plate and you can praise them for eating well!
• RELAX, easier said than done but I know from my kids that this is the age they start getting 'fussy' even if they've eaten everything before that. Its their way of exerting control over their parents as we get all het up that aren't eating enough. Kids know what buttons to press to get us going when we respond enough.

Hope that helps

culpepper

He could help to make the nuggets maybe? then some of them will be his own work and he will be much more interested in them. My daughter when tiny ,used to like arranging the toppings on Pizzas.

abbecer

My son is also 4 and is very petite build. He eats well though, lots of fruit and veg although very small portions. He rarely has chicken nuggets etc but if he did he would only have two nuggets and two smiley faces. He eats little and often and that seems to suit him so I'm not worried.

cooking-mama

hello Mrs-Tee,do you cook seperate meals for your children?,maybe he would eat more if he was eating the same as the adults in the family(all the one cooking for you too),I never did cook seperate meals for my girls,They just ate normal food in smaller portions,(i dont add salt to anything im cooking)processed convenience foods are full of additives/chemicals too,maybe you could tell him as he is a big boy now,he can eat the same as mummy and daddy at meal times?,mashed potato is healthier than "smiley faces" etc,it might make him feel more grown up too now he has a little brother..also it will save you from seperate cooking for when the younger one is growing up.good luck.

LJM

remember they say that your stomach is only as big as your hand when its made into a fist so your LOs isnt very big.im the same my 5 year old is small and very skinny for her age but she does eat.she has funny days where she eats more than others.yet she will only eat as much as she needs,children wont starve themselves if they are hungry they will eat if not they wont,try not to worry too much