How much to feed toddlers

annie

annie

Well-Known Member
I wonder how much mummies here feed their toddlers? ive heard of frens saying they dun really give their kids meals.. just give them wat they are eating here and there. so pratically they snack on just a bit of food here and there.. but this way, wont they be taking too little food?? like just some snacks throughout the day and then a few mouth of food during parents' meal time? isnt tat too little? i give my girl 2 meals and i try my best to cheat her into clearing her bowl and she snack throughout the day as well. i sometimes wonder why some parents can be so relax on the food intake of their kids.. i keep worrying she is not getting enough nutrients if she is not eating well.. so i try to make her eat as much as she can...
 
Priya Diva

Priya Diva

Member
Hi Annie

Yes even i too am concern about my girl's[13mths] food intake. Yes some of my relatives who have young kids around her age give their toddlers, their meals like snacks. No fix meal time. Or evening snack at 6 plus and dinner at 8pm!!

My concern for my daughter is how to make her meals a healthy and variety. She eats well at certain times. Other times she will gag or spit out what i make for her...

So unpredictable and tiring [ plus coming home to cook for her after work]....
 
S

STmummy

Member
my boy is 12.5 months now. sometimes I wonder am I feeding him too much. haha.. these are what I gave him daily.

BF: will give him milk when he wakes up in the morning. an hour later breakfast (e.g bread, cereal etc).

Lunch: Between 12+ to 2+, depending on what time he has his afternoon nap

Teabreak: milk around 2-3 hours after lunch, plus some biscuits, bread or fruits etc.

Dinner: between 7.30 to 8pm

Supper: milk before he sleeps around 9.30 to 10.30pm


:werolleyes:
 
C

camom

Well-Known Member
My kids' meals are at fixed timings and are proper meals. This is 1 thing I am really anal abt. I strictly don't allow snacks before meals.

My toddler can really eat but bcos he's very active, he looks thin.
 
meiteoh

meiteoh

Well-Known Member
Annie, I think your friend's babies are grazers - eat very little but frequently; somewhat like the adult recommendation of 6 small meals a day instead of 3 main large ones.
 
S

stonston

Well-Known Member
My boy has fixed meal times and I monitor the quantity too. He's allowed to snack throughout the day but he has to finished his proper meal at the proper time.

My boy eats alot but is very skinny. His breakfast is usually one and a half chinese bowl of cereal (oats, dry cereal, etc) or 2 slices of bread with ingredients (tuna, cheese, etc).

Lunch and dinner is usually 2 chinese bowls of rice or noodles. Sometimes my maid will give him 'western meal' of 1 large fish or chicken fillet (size of adult palm, including fingers) with baked potatoes (around 1 large potato). Plus he gets fruits after meals (1 small bowl of cut fruits)

Usually at 10am (in school) he will snack on biscuits or sandwich. In the afternoon he'll snack on fruits or biscuits. He usually likes fruits or cut vegetables like cucumber. Sometimes he'll ask for coleslaw (home made).

During CNY he grazed. Cos we were very busy with visitation, very hard to give him proper meal also. End up he was so hungry when we got home, he wolfed down everything he could get his hands on.

His appetite is usually bigger after his swimming lessons. He can finish 1 medium fries (no salt) on his own (rare treat my hb give to reward him for being a good boy during swimming)
 
annie

annie

Well-Known Member
wow stonston, your boy really eats alot! if he dun clear his bowl or refuse to even start taking the first mouth of food, do u force feed?

justina, there is a period of time my girl likes tofu and hard boil egg alot too and i always put tofu into her porridge hehe.

hmm.. wondering if mummies here experience toddler not willing to open mouth big enough for the meals? my girl will open but only a bit and get only a few grains of rice/porridge into her mouth cos she only take from the tip of the spoon.. and i need to feed her for at least 1.5-2.5hrs! wondering if this is normal too?
 
diymummy

diymummy

Moderator
My boy also open his mouth small small. I use distraction to get him to eat faster and open his mouth bigger.
 
C

camom

Well-Known Member
I get the don't-open-mouth-wide treatment once in a while from my toddler. Usually that happens when he is not feeling well, is not hungry, is sick of the food, or simply distracted by other going-ons. This is also why I do not allow snacking at least 30 before a meal.
 
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S

stonston

Well-Known Member
annie said:
wow stonston, your boy really eats alot! if he dont clear his bowl or refuse to even start taking the first mouth of food, do you force feed?

justina, there is a period of time my girl likes tofu and hard boil egg alot too and i always put tofu into her porridge hehe.

hmm.. wondering if mummies here experience toddler not willing to open mouth big enough for the meals? my girl will open but only a bit and get only a few grains of rice/porridge into her mouth cos she only take from the tip of the spoon.. and i need to feed her for at least 1.5-2.5hrs! wondering if this is normal too?
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When he refuses his food, my maid will offer him something else. So at the end of the meal, my maid will make sure he has finished the same portion. No force feeding. Sometimes he leaves like 1-2 spoons cos he is full, we just leave it.

Mine not only dun open mouth, he also can't sit still during meal times. No choice we let him watch TV to attrach him to sit down quietly. If his mouth is not opened big enough or he is eating too slowly, my maid SWITCHES OFF the TV. And it works. He will eat fast cos he wants the TV to remain on.
Now that he's older, TV during meals is cut down. Sometimes he'll play with his toys, sometimes he'll be doodling. As long as he sits down to eat, I'm ok with TV/activities.

My boy used to take 2 hours to finish his dinner. After my maid switch off the TV when he's chewing too slowly, his dinner time cut down to 45 minutes. :)
 
Phoebii Cheng

Phoebii Cheng

Well-Known Member
My son recently refuses to eat his dinner....no matter we eat out or we cook at home, cracked my head on what to cook for him most times ended up in dustbin

His mouth will open very small, sometimes eat one or two mouthfuls and he pushes it away, want to force him to eat but hubby say don't....next time he won't eat his dinner, and he say throw dinner if he don't finish cos' don't want to develop habit

In the CC, he will finish his snacks, lunch & milk ....wondering is it due to peers?
 
Ting

Ting

Well-Known Member
phoebii, yah i think its due to peers..
i also not sure, in sch pin can eat 2-3 portions of food during each meal..
but at home she grazed alot.. haha eat snacks thruout the day.. but she can continuously eat alot.. bread, biscuits, fruits, etc.

but pin finishes her food fast. within 1/2 hr she will finish.
in sch she lagi fast.. within 15-20 mins she can finish 3 portions.
there was once i was in sch to fetch her n i was early so she was having dinner. so i spoke to her teacher as she ate.. after she finish 3 portion (abt 15-20mins) her classmate who started off same time as her, still haven finish her first bowl..
but at home, she very busy lahs eat half way go kaypoh here n there, so always gotta catch her to the table to finish up.
 
Phoebii Cheng

Phoebii Cheng

Well-Known Member
But what I am afraid of is tht if he is not full then will wake up middle of the night for milk.....

So how did you make pin eat? cos' my son even eat bread, biscuits oso don't want
 
eissacsirhc

eissacsirhc

Member
I find it very hard to give them fixed mealtimes becuz they tend to wake up and nap at their own timing.. or at least my daughter does.. and when its meal time she is quite picky wif food.. juz wondering if its possible for kids their age to actually choose their food? Certain things tat she likes she will eat alot.. and things tat she doesnt like she tend to spit it out once it goes into her mouth.. currently I'm feeding her rice.. cuz she doesnt like porridge.. isit normal for tods to eat very little and be picky abt their food? Suggestions anyone??
 
annie

annie

Well-Known Member
wah.. seems like many mummies are having the same problems hehe.

my girl only does tat for her dinner.. i give her either rice or porridge.. maybe she sick of those.. i also try to distract her with tv during dinner.. i know its not a good habit but as long as it gets the kids to eat, i guess thats more important hhe.

stonston, my girl also same.. she ran around the house for meals.. but i dun mind tat much for her lunch cos she will come to me, eat that particular mouth of her udon and then ran off to play and come back after she finish chewing for her next mouth. so i just sit there n wait for her to come back for more.. hehe. she love udon and can finish her lunch in 10mins! but dinner.. its always a battle.. i got to make her sit on her high chair and then switch on her fav program or dvd to make her eat but still she only open her mouth a little to take in a few grains of food! i wonder how to make her open her mough bigger...diymummy, how u make your boy open mouth bigger??

ive tried the switching off tv method but it dosent work for my girl so far.. with tv, she eats but super slowly and dun open her mouth big enough but once tv is off, she will fuss, cry, scream and push off my hands and reject eating totally! i tried letting her cry there while i go do my things. she will stop fussing or crying once i walk off but when im back to try to feed her (without tv), she will start to fuss again.. so no choice i got to switch on the tv for her again in order to continue her dinner...hai~ on some days she will eat with mouth big big and clear the bowl very fast (20-30mins) but thats sooooooo rare.....
 
annie

annie

Well-Known Member
eissacsirhc said:
I find it very hard to give them fixed mealtimes becuz they tend to wake up and nap at their own timing.. or at least my daughter does.. and when its meal time she is quite picky with food.. just wondering if its possible for kids their age to actually choose their food? Certain things that she likes she will eat alot.. and things that she doesnt like she tend to spit it out once it goes into her mouth.. currently I'm feeding her rice.. cuz she doesnt like porridge.. isit normal for tods to eat very little and be picky about their food? Suggestions anyone??
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yes very very normal! lol. jsut find your toddler's fav n cook that for her. my girl loves udon so i give it to her everyday! lol. for lunch..so far so good, she haven get sick of it yet. have been doing so for almost a mth...but i dun wan to give her udon for her dinner as i tried once and she wake up 2hrs earlier than usual at night hungry! think udon digest too fast.. so dun dare to give her tat at night...
 
diymummy

diymummy

Moderator
Hi Annie,

Whenever I distract him he will auto open his mouth big big... I think he cannot multi-task. Haha...
 
annie

annie

Well-Known Member
lol so good.. my girl will only open a bit when i distract her n totally dun open if i dun distract her... faint:embarrassed:
 
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