So MIL, who is a pediatrician - but not ours, thinks we aren't feeding DD enough (we think we are). It's really hard for us because 1) she hardly tries anything new and 2) she isn't very active and not very hungry. Can you guys give me a good example of what your 2 year old eats in 1 day (from breakfast through dinner, including portion sizes)? Thank you!
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Re: What does your 2 year old eat in 1 day?
We aren't 2 yet, but we are close so I'm going to answer anyways.
Breakfast - 1 egg and a slice of bacon, a greek yogurt, or about 1/2 cup of cereal w/milk
Lunch - pb&j and 5 carrot sticks w/ranch, 1/2 - 1 plate of leftovers, toddler bowl full of mac and cheese, etc.
Dinner - Usually she eats a whole plate worth of food. Most dinners have a meat, vegetable, and a starch (usually rice).
Snack - cheese stick, 1/4 cup crackers, 2 cookies, 1 cup of blueberries or other fruit, etc. She usually has two snacks a day, sometimes three.
DS is almost 3 but he's been eating pretty much the same amounts for the last year. Since I'm not totally sure how much he consumes at school, I'll just tell you what he ate the other day when I was home with him.
B - blueberry waffle, about 1/2 cup applesauce, milk
S - banana and raisins (maybe 1/4 cup raisins? not sure)
L - 1/2 peanut butter sandwich, a few slices of tomato, about 1/4 cup mixed veg, and a few pretzels
S - 7-8 Kashi pita chips and a cheese stick, milk
D - pasta with chicken and pesto sauce (maybe about 1 cup total), about 3/4 cup sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, 1/2 a pear
A ton! She is 26 months and this is a typical day for her;
Breakfast: 2 eggs, piece of toast with Jam and a yogurt with half juice/water to drink
Lunch: She'll eat anything her brothers eats and he's 4.5. This is usually a pretty big meal. Like half a turkey and cheese sandwich on wheat with either 5 strawberries or a banana. or a big serving of our homemade spaghetti. Usually almost a cup cooked.
Dinner: She tends slow done but will eat a good portion of whatever I cook for the family. She tends to pick through things and eat her favorites first and leave the rest which I'm ok with since she eats so much during the day.
She has a ton of water and a chocolate milk also throughout her day
A bowl of cereal for breakfast (about a half a cup, maybe closer to a third) and orange juice
Orange for snack with milk or water
lunch is either grilled cheese and grapes, mac n cheese (1/2 cup), pbj and crackers with milk or apple juice
dinner is usually a 1/4 c meat (chicken, beef, whatever we're having), a serving of veggies, a serving of fruit and either a pasta, a rice or a slice of bread.
one last snack is like a dessert, frozen cherries, peaches or a blackberries.
Breakfast: small banana or waffle or breakfast bar and 4-5 oz. milk
AM snack: small bowl cereal with milk or toast and milk
Lunch: mini ham and cheese sandwich, 4-5 baby carrots, 2-3 apple slices, 8 oz milk
PM snack: cheese and crackers or cheese and fruit slices at daycare and water
Dinner: small scoop tortellini, 2-3 piece broccoli, 6-8 oz milk
Treat (sometimes): 2-3 mini choc chip cookies or handful goldfish or tortilla chips
I'll respond to this since ds is a terrible eater (has been since birth due to severe growth restriction) and will barely eat anything, but is doing great development- and weight-wise regardless. So this will make you feel better compared to the other responses, lol.
Breakfast -- 5-7 oz of pediasure, 1-2 puree fruit/veggie/oatmeal pouches (he refuses most foods, but still accepts packets, so that's our main source of fruits and veggies in any quantity.
Snack--crackers (quantity varies) or nothing
Lunch--at daycare--yogurt and a fruit pouch with maybe a few sips of pediasure or apple juice but often not, and crackers. At home--pretzels with hummus, fruit pouch, and 5-7oz of pediasure (so eats way more at home)
Snack--sometimes nothing. When he opts for a snack, it can be 2-3 cut up grapes or crackers or about 1/8 cup of cashews and sometimes apple juice (1-3 oz).
Dinner--2 laughing cow cheeses with veggie chips, 1-2 chicken fries (the small skinny fingers), 1-4 mini tator tots, and 5-7oz of pediasure. Sometimes he will try a bite of what we are eating, but rarely and if so, only a bite.
As you can see, we heavily rely on pediasure for nutrition. Believe it or not, this is better than where we were before! This is also with youtube videos to prompt him to eat and each meal takes about an hour. He is now 60th for height and 30th for weight. He is EXTREMELY active too!
snack: 4 crackers and slice of cheese or some fruit (a whole apple)
lunch: fruit (3 strawberries maybe or a 1/4 c of grapes), 1/4 c veggies, main dish
snack: same as above
dinner: what we eat - fruit, veggie, main dish
about 3 sippies of milk, and 4-5 of water
Breakfast: Eggs and 1 piece of toast and some cut up fruit.
Snack : maybe a cup of pretzels or some cut up fruit depending on breakfast.
Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich on one piece of bread, Veggies, and cottage cheese or something similar.
Snack: Crackers or popcorn about a cup.
Dinner either meat and veggies or about 2 cups of pasta.
Ok, thank you! This is what we basically feed her. Keep in mind that she will be 23 months next week. She is at home most of the day with her grandparents so I prepare her food in the morning. She has motor delay (isn't walking yet and not very active) and she is in the 90th percentile for weight...
This is typical:
Breakfast = yogurt or oatmeal with 1/2 banana, 5 oz milk
Lunch = turkey on whole wheat sandwich, or a piece of fish or tofu and a fruit, 5 oz milk
Snack = cottage cheese or cheese stick
Dinner = home made chicken soup with lots of vegetables and a fruit, 5 oz milk
Snack = 1/2 a pudding (just enough to get her medicine down)
My daughters are 3 and 15 months, but really my 3 year old's eating habits haven't changed much at all. Here's typically what she eats:
Breakfast: waffle & fruit (banana, berries, etc..) or cereal (maybe 1/2 cup) or 1 egg, or a piece of toast
Snack: yogurt or cheese and crackers, sometimes fruit
Lunch: PB & J on one piece of bread or grilled cheese or hummus and pita, veggies, fruit.
Snack: same type of foods as AM snack
Dinner: We eat a variety of things for dinner - chicken (1/2 breast), fish, burgers (1/2 a burger), pasta (maybe 1 cup), tacos, etc... We always have veggies and sometime have other sides like rice or mashed potatoes.
Your sig is NOT the face of an underfed toddler. My daughter doesn't eat a lot, but she eats as much as she wants, when she wants.
Breakfast is usually a whole banana and a bite of a second.
Lunch might be a slice of bread with PB, and a little fruit.
Snack is half an avocado with a few chips.
Dinner might be a chicken tender and a few bites of broccoli.
She probably drink almost a half gallon of coconut milk a day.
Have you seen my monkey?
Emma is 26 months old:
Breakfast: little cup of diced peaches, maybe a piece of toast. Or a scrambled egg with a piece of toast
Snack: breadstick, some Cheerios, or package of dried fruit
Lunch: slice of Elio's pizza, or small cup of pastina, or 3 chicken nuggets
snack: half cup of goldfish
Dinner: usually some pasta, she rarely touches meat unless it's a meatball, then she'll eat half a meatball.
This is what he ate today. We generally try to serve more vegetables but he just tosses them on the floor, so I didn't list what he didn't actually consume.
Breakfast: 1 piece of toast, 4 oz yogurt, 1/2 banana, milk
Snack: 1/4 cup of veggie sticks, water
Lunch: 1 chicken soft taco, 1/2 avacado, milk
Snack: 4 oz applesauce, 1/2 cup mini peanut butter crackers, water
Dinner: 1/2 cup penne with marinara, 1/4 cup grilled chicken, milk
Breakfast: dry cereal while fixing toast, a slice of wheat toast with jam or peanut butter or smoothie, a banana or 1/2 cup fruit with milk or a fruit smoothie.
Snack: watered down juice, dry cereal or breakfast bar
Lunch: pbj or grilled cheese, 1/4 to 1/2 cup veggies and maybe some chips
Snack: yogurt and dry cereal or crackers or chips and salsa
Dinner: a plate of whatever were eating, which varies
Snack: usually apple sauce
He usually drinks what or watered down juice during the day.
Why is MIL worried? Is your DD not growing properly? Is she sick frequently?
Each day is different for us, but she typically eats 5-6 times a day- 3 meals and 2 snacks. She is given milk with each of her 3 meals, but she doesn't always drink it. She tends to eat the most at breakfast and the least at dinner, but there are exceptions to this rule. Her favorite foods for now are graham crackers, scrambled eggs, bananas, strawberries, beans, and taco meat.