Toddler lunches

[sarahb1985]

Hi can anyone share what they provide for their toddlers for lunch? I have a 17 month old mindee who is a very fussy eater. Sometimes she starts with me before she's had her breakfast and she will not eat anything for breakfast. Then at snack time she may eat a small piece of cracker or maybe a breadstick and that is all. Then I always think she'll be hungry at lunch but she barely touches lunch either.

I provide a selection of vegetables and salad, oatcakes, dips, wraps, sometimes squares of toast with beans, I have tried a large variety of foods but she just wont eat.

If I happen to give my daughter a few crisps, my mindee will go crazy trying to get them so clearly she is used to junk food but I am not happy giving mindee these foods as that will be all she will eat. Once I did put some cheese puffs out with lunch and she ate them and nothing else.

However she does like drinks, any drinks at all. So recently I have been putting out a selection of fruits and vegetables and letting her 'chop' them up and put them in a blender. Then we watch it mixing it all up and then she will happily drink most of it! So she is getting lots of veg and fruit this way is this ok? I feel bad that she isn't eating anything.

Her mother says she isn't a big eater at home but that is all she has said.

Also she would happily eat raisins all day long but I know these aren't great in large amounts. I also feel terrible that the daily diary has very little written under meals and I don't know what else to do!

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I would put a small amount of food on her plate and the crisps on the table so she can see them and say "once you have eaten this" and point to her plate "you can have that". She will soon get the message

Once she starts to eat you can up the quantities bit by bit

[loocyloo]

I have an 18mth mindee who currently is eating very little.

mindee has a big breastfeed at home first thing and then once with me, although mum says LO eats toast & scrambled egg for breakfast; rarely eats more than a 1/4 of toast and spoonful of egg. LO is not interested in cereal of any type.

snack time; LO will eat a breadstick or biscuit, and sometimes one slice of banana but that is it ( we don't often have the breadstick or biscuit! its usually fruit ) LO pushes the fruit around the plate

lunch time; doesn't matter what I give, LO barely eats a mouthful! sandwiches/toasties/soup/baked potato/baked beans.

teatime; sometimes eats a bit more - likes peas & corn and fish. but still doesn't eat much.

HOWEVER, I am now putting that down to the amount of water LO drinks. ( will only drink water ( and breast milk ). LO will happily empty a full beaker at every meal time/snack time and in between and hold it out for more. so I am rationing the water and last week, LO didn't particularly eat much more, but did eat! !

[smurfette]

Do think filling up on liquids is sometimes the problem ., I had one like this who drank squash all day at home and once I only gave him water he did better. I now have a new start 22 month old who seems to eat nothing too.. But she arrived this am with three bottles of milk!! I think mum thinks she will at least have the milk but I think it's the wrong way around!

Mum supplied all little ones food last week and she did eat the dinner she sent though not much else.. Is that an option for you?