Food for Toddler

[sumsum2202 0]

Hi All,

I would like to check with all mummies that what kind of food that you give to your toddler?

My boy is 16 months now and he has more teeth to enjoy more food (instead of porridge). I started to give him rice plus soup when he was 13 months. he ate and enjoyed. however, i still feel that i do not give him much food because he looks skinny.

below is my schedule with him during weekend. (weekday take care by babysitter).

8am - milk (5oz)

9am - breakfast (bread/chu cheong fan/char siew pao)

12pm - porridge (pork/chicken/fish)

2.30pm - milk (3oz)

4pm - biscuits (sometimes only)

6pm - rice/porridge

8.30pm - milk (3.5oz) then sleep

i am very seldom give him junk food and am not sure this scheduled is sufficient to my boy or not. what do you think?

What about you? Please share.

Thanks!

[tinkerbelle 0]

i see no fruits? there should be 2 servings of a small cup of fruits (unless the kid is allergic to a certain degree towards a specific fruit) given before 10am and in the evening at 4-5pm.

then you can also introduce pulses in his diet too.

the 8am breakfast can be daily oat with a splash of milk. best of both world.

and the introduction of beancurd. grinded flaxseeds. nuts, moderately, though i wont recommend peanut until after 2 or 3, speak to your paed.

these are just the basics what a kid his age can be eating.

[meiteoh 0]

Agree with Tinkerbelle. I see a lot of meat and grains but very little fruit or veg. Would suggest that you offer things like dried or fresh fruit as a snack, yogurt with or without fruit, cornflakes with dried fruit, as well as lentils, beans or things like soy. Even cheese as a snack is fine. For breakfast, try offering things like pancakes, muffins and cakes.

Note that after they hit 12 mths, weight gain slows down considerably as they become really active. :)

[kaiekai 0]

Hi All,

I would like to check with all mummies that what kind of food that you give to your toddler?

My boy is 16 months now and he has more teeth to enjoy more food (instead of porridge). I started to give him rice plus soup when he was 13 months. he ate and enjoyed. however, i still feel that i do not give him much food because he looks skinny.

below is my schedule with him during weekend. (weekday take care by babysitter).

8am - milk (5oz)

9am - breakfast (bread/chu cheong fan/char siew pao)

12pm - porridge (pork/chicken/fish)

2.30pm - milk (3oz)

4pm - biscuits (sometimes only)

6pm - rice/porridge

8.30pm - milk (3.5oz) then sleep

i am very seldom give him junk food and am not sure this scheduled is sufficient to my boy or not. what do you think?

What about you? Please share.

Thanks!

3-5oz milk is it too little? maybe you can try to increase the milk intake to 7oz. yea... add some veges & fruits...

[sumsum2202 0]

Thanks!

I also found that my kid lose weight especially this week onwards he doesn't take any milk before he sleep. He refused to drink his milk, not even talk about icnrease his milk consumption.

sometimes i feel sad that i really do not know how to take care of my son. i do not play to him and talk less to him too. I feel that he is more happier when stay with babysitter and her family. :(

[lyven 0]

how about give him yogurt (not low fat type), cheese and avocado? They're pack with fat..

[tinkerbelle 0]

Thanks!

I also found that my kid lose weight especially this week onwards he doesn't take any milk before he sleep. He refused to drink his milk, not even talk about icnrease his milk consumption.

sometimes i feel sad that i really do not know how to take care of my son. i do not play to him and talk less to him too. I feel that he is more happier when stay with babysitter and her family. :(

maybe he's bored with the same food/milk? try new food. 1st - it encourages an adventurous eater, 2nd - well balanced diet.

i think at this age, most kid are too busy exploring that they lose interest in food for a while. happened to my kid too. but good to know that phase has passed and now he's back to being a scoffing monster, so much so, i have to stop him once a while. it's a phase, speak to your paed for a peace of mind.

why spend the energy feeling sad knowing that you dont play or talk to him often? why not start now, today, tonight and google for fun activities with your kid? recently i decided not to renew my contract, so i know my last day of work was coming to an end last month. somehow i felt "lighter", so every saturday is some sort of outdoor activities for my kid. took him to the fishing village, to the park, got him to go into the stream, took him to the pool, perhaps this week we're taking him for a train ride either on the komuter or the lrt. monday to friday, there's just a limited time we can do together with our kids, after coming home from work, we're probably too tired to do much especially so with mounting chores awaiting for us. the most anyone can do is to rush through the chores so that we have some quality time to cuddle up and some basic conversation, what did you do in school today, what did you play with or learn from your friends today etc.

dont think about things you dont/cant do. think about how you can make it better. i think it's very important for moms to stay focused and positive at all times coz we are our kid's role model.

[ashandrea 0]

My kid is now at that phase, would rather play than eat

I've tried everything, changing his food, taken him out of his high chair but he acts as though I'm feeding him poison.

Whatever happened to that happy baby that was banging on his tray because I was feeding him too slowly!

[meiteoh 0]

Thanks!

I also found that my kid lose weight especially this week onwards he doesn't take any milk before he sleep. He refused to drink his milk, not even talk about icnrease his milk consumption.

sometimes i feel sad that i really do not know how to take care of my son. i do not play to him and talk less to him too. I feel that he is more happier when stay with babysitter and her family. :(

At 16 mths, Eva wasn't drinking a lot of milk. During weekends, she would only take about 3-4 oz of milk and even then, it's not every weekend. During the weekdays, because of peer pressure (bbsitter's grandsons), she would drink about 12 ozs. In fact, I find that she overeats at the bbsitter whereas with us, she is more consistent with her food intake - breakfast, one snack, lunch, one snack and dinner. If she wants milk, she'd ask for it but otherwise, she prefers fruit and veg or cereal like cornflakes or other finger foods like pancakes, muffin, etc.

After 12 mths, children are REALLY active and are busy playing so it's naturally that they don't put on weight the same way they do as infants and babies. In fact, this is the age when parents should really encourage good eating habits, not overstuff their kids and make sure that they get enough exercise. It's very easy to raise an overweight child as compared to an underweight or malnourished child.

Also toddlers are known to be grazers at this age - they usually prefer to eat more frequent but smaller meals instead of large, scheduled meals. So it's up to the parents to be more "creative" and figure out ways to make each bite count in terms of nutrition and caloric intake.

Honestly, I agree with tinkerbelle. Instead of expanding so much energy feeling sorry for yourself and your child, why not direct it to finding ways to interact and play with him? Since I tendered in my resignation (will be a SAHM to Eva and my second kiddo), I've been looking around the Internet for ideas on fun & educational play that didn't involve the computer or TV. I saw things like sensory bin, play using finger paint/shaving cream/sand/flour, and so forth. My HB laughed at me (in a good way) when he saw how bonkers I went with buying Eva activity sheets/books and materials like washable markers, crayons and so forth. To me, this is my golden opportunity to spend as much time as possible and I want to make it enjoyable & memorable for the both of us!

Today was my first day off work for good and we spent the morning running errands. After Eva's afternoon nap, I did some writing with her - she basically just doodled with some colour pencils I bought. After a snack and some time helping me with her diaper laundry (she takes the stuffed diapers to her room and pass them to me for me to keep) followed by dinner and her bath, we play toss-throw the ball for a bit, sang some nursery rhymes together (I start with one line and she continues) and that was it (she goes to bed early). When I was a FTWM, we'd do some reading, play with her building blocks, etc, at night and weekends are reserved for the pool and window-/shopping trips where we'd take the bus, train, etc. :)

My goal, as a parent, is to ensure that my child prefers my home FIRST because that's where she'll be spending most of her time.

[ycl 0]

My boy just turned 16 months old and his eating schedule is as follow -

7.30am - 6-7oz milk

8.30am - Breakfast : egg omelette/bread/pancakes/french toasts/oats with raisins and prunes/sometime waffles or cheese sandwich or even tuna sandwich during the weekend.

10 am - Sometimes we will give him banana/apples/other fruits that are available at home.

11.30-12noon - Lunch - Pasta/meehoon/meesuah/shanghai noodles with two veges and one fish or meat. He doesnt like porridge hence we hardly give him porridge anymore. Its summer in hk now and he prefers noodles than rice for lunch as its lighter.

2.30- 3pm : light snack such as biscuits/fruits with yogurt or cheese. If its weekend and we go for shopping or a meal, he will eat again.

5.30 pm -6pm: Dinner - Soft rice with 2 veges/tofu and one meat/fish.

7ish : We come home from work for dinner and he will join us for another dinner. We have light dinner at home such as steam fish /veges and we will give him some and eat together as family.

8.30 -9pm : 7-8oz milk before sleep.

I try to incoporate as much variety as possible so that he wont grow up to be a picky eater. I used garlic and onions to season his food and have started to add a very small amount of seasalt into his food and so far he has no complains eating garlic and onions. There was once we gave him some biter gourd to try and he ate it with no complains! During weekends where our helper is off, sometimes i cook braised chicken with celery carrot and leeks with herbs for the whole family and the little boy loves it. We also fed him with different type of pastas and Japanese food so that he is not bored with the same food repeatedly. I find the internet is an excellent source of finding recipes and maybe you can try google some recipes and introduce new food to him during weekends.

There are times that i worry that i overfed my boy. He loves to eat and does eat quite a healthy portion of food and he always want to eat whatever that we are eating ! He is not fat but is kinda chubby..