My 2 year old does NOT eat this much.

LucyPevensie

This is from healthychildren.org - an AAP website - I was clicking around looking for a definitive statement on when to try peanut butter - couldn't find it - but DID find this.  According to AAP - this menu shows a typical day of healthy eating for a 2-year-old who weighs about 27 pounds.  I feel like Jack eats about half this much.  The kid eats like a bird these days, I swear.  Here's their typical day menu:

Breakfast

• Cereal (1/2 cup, iron-fortified) or 1 egg
• Citrus or tomato juice (1/2 cup) or cantaloupe or strawberries (1/3 cup)
• Toast (1/2 slice)
• Margarine or butter (1/2 teaspoon)
• Jelly (1 teaspoon)
• Two-percent milk (3/4 cup)

Snack Crackers (4)

Cream cheese (1 oz) (1 oz = 2 tablespoons)

Juice (1/2 cup)

Lunch Sandwich (1/2 ):Whole wheat bread (1 slice),meat (1 oz or 1 slice)

Margarine or butter (1 teaspoon) or salad dressing (2 teaspoons)

2 tablespoons dark-yellow or dark-green vegetables

Low-fat oatmeal cookie (1 small)

Two-percent milk (1/2 cup)

Snack

 

• Apple (1/2, sliced), grapes (1/3 cup, sliced), or orange (1/2)
• Two-percent milk (1/2 cup)

Dinner

 

• Meat (2 oz) (2 oz is about the size of your child?s palm.)
• Vegetable (2 tablespoons)
• Pasta, rice, or potato (1/3 cup)
• Margarine or butter (1 teaspoon) or salad dressing (2 teaspoons)
• Two-percent milk (1/2 cup)

*****

dundasgirl

OMG, I think I am trying to overfeed Reed!  He used to eat so much more and is eating much less these days...I am always trying to get him to eat more...but when I look at this, he's okay!  Whew!

 

Mouseygail

dundasgirl:

OMG, I think I am trying to overfeed Reed!  He used to eat so much more and is eating much less these days...I am always trying to get him to eat more...but when I look at this, he's okay!  Whew!

 

  lol!!  that was my thought when I read this...that I'm totally going to have to becareful not to overfeed Jones...that didn't seem like much food to me!  (dinner sounded ok)

KYRN

I would say Mark definitely eats this much some days, some days he eats like a bird.  I don't force it, if he doesn't want to eat much one day then he must not be that hungry, I don't let him snack (crackers etc.) between meals if he's not eating much.  I don't think that seems like much fruit for a day though.  

LucyPevensie

Man - Jack is just going through a picky stage I guess.  I try not to obsess over how much he eats but I wish he'd pick it up a little bit. 

GuitaristsGirl

The only part that sounds really crazy to me is breakfast - 1/2 cup of oatmeal, plus 1/3 cup of fruit and a 1/2 piece of toast?  That seems like a lot.  The rest?  Eh  

dundasgirl

Reed and Penny both eat a full piece of toast and a full banana...they wouldn't be interested in toast and oatmeal..If I give oatmeal, I put berries and granola on top.

I seriously have been trying to get Reed to eat a whole sandwich including crusts at lunch because that is what he used to eat...plus fruit!

DavezWife

"Worry not what they eat in a day, worry what they eat in a week." Or a month, lol.

Ava eats much better when she doesn't snack between meals. We kinda get away with it b/c of her schedule - she gets up about 8am and has her smoothie, then breakfast around 10am. (she's just not hungry till then) Then lunch around 1pm, nap at 2pm till 4-5pm, then dinner.  But "snacks" to her means she gets to pick an apple or orange out of the drawer and "open it" herself. Whoo hoo! lol.

That list sounds pretty accurate on a "good eater" day. Which are rare at age 2. ;-)

dana316

My one year old eats more than that...as a matter of fact, most days the kid is a bottomless pit.

This morning, for example, she had FOUR cottage cheese pancakes and half a YoBaby yogurt.

For lunch, she had orzo with mushrooms and sugar snap peas (not exactly sure how much...but more than a cup).

For snack, she had 3/4 of an orange and 3/4 of a piece of string cheese.

Supper is baked fish and veggies...she'll eat her fair share, and probably mine too

I'm beginning to think she has a hollow leg

 

hclavalley

Wow, I don't think a single day has gone by in Sean's life that he EVER ate that much.  Oh well... he just eats like a bird. 

sommerrayne

LucyPevensie:

Man - Jack is just going through a picky stage I guess.  I try not to obsess over how much he eats but I wish he'd pick it up a little bit. 

Around 2 I started the dreaded google'ing to find out how much DD should be eating and I read somewhere 1300 calories a day....she was eating ~450 and I FREAKED! No matter what I did, she wouldn't eat more. If I added cream to the scrambled eggs, she's just eat less fruit (or whatever). I talked to her pedi and she said "kids are kids - as long as she's thriving, which she is, don't obsess. She's getting what she needs".

She still eats like a bird but is over 50% for height and weight (on WHO charts too!) so I stopped obsessing but its hard!

RoxBride

That's about what DD eats on an average day, amount wise.  There are days she eats far more and days she eats less, but she seems to know what is best.

roaringrock

to be honest, I'm not at all shocked by that list. ginny tends to eat more than that!

laura1

hclavalley:

Wow, I don't think a single day has gone by in Sean's life that he EVER ate that much.  Oh well... he just eats like a bird. 

Ditto this! 

MayDayGirl

Honestly I think Brighton eats more than that!  The kid has started eating so much lately! i think they just change so much!

PsychedForBaby

Granted Megan is only 19 months, but I think I would probably die of a heart attack if she ate that much in a day.  

Since 18 months I swear she is on a food regression and all she wants is milk again.  Every food is like an experiment.  What was a favorite yesterday she probably won't touch tomorrow.  Makes meals a major challenge.

 

Sometimes I wish she went to daycare so they could deal with her for at least one meal a day!     

howleyshell

LucyPevensie:

 The kid eats like a bird these days, I swear.  

 

Sometimes mine do too!

Hang in there.  I promise he's gonna have a crazy growth spurt one of these days and he'll eat like a teenage boy.  

Then... just as magically as the ravenous eater appeared he'll go back into hibernation and your "eats like a bird" kid will reappear like he never left.

Toddler eating is full of ups and downs! 

SeaSoul

Yeah, that's a little much.  More importantly, what is the AAP doing recommending margarine? and cookies??  Wow.

desabean

Someone else has probably already said this but what is up with all the butter/margarine?!?!

Under normal circumstances I would say Garrison definitely eats this much.  Not usually the cookie or the pasta/rice/potato(well, at MIL's house she may....)

But the past 2 months have been different and she usually has one good meal and two other meals of us playing "let's make a deal" to get her to eat something that isn't just junk.

here4u

That sounds like a typical day for Sophie!  She does have picky days sometimes, where she doesn't finish her dinner.  I don't push it b/c I know she'll just make up for it the next day or whatever. 

jenber77

This thread makes me feel so much better. I've been so worried and stressed about Andrew's eating. We have an appt on Feb 1 to make sure there's nothing wrong with him, since he's been slipping on the percentile chart for weight since birth. Today I decided to start a food journal of everything I offer him and everything he eats, to record how much he's really eating and to evaluate myself, as well, to make sure I'm offering enough, often enough. It just freaked me out more. He does have a cold and an ear infection, which I know can affect appetite, but there are so many days when it seems like he barely eats a thing.