Feeding FAQ: 12-18 months – Other

I am having a testing time with my 17-month-old boy.

He is quickly changing from a terrific eater to a real fusspot. He will eat brilliantly at nursery – sometimes even seconds – and I am regularly told when it comes to food time, he is the first in the queue! Yet when it is suppertime at home he is always pushing the spoon away. Any ideas? He does like feeding himself, but when I get in from work I just want something quick and easy, otherwise it gets too late and he is really tired and irritable. Any ideas? Also, I was just wondering what everybody else’s babies of similar age eat and drink in a day and how much they weigh? I am not particularly worried, but I am curious about toddlers of a similar age. My son is 17.5 months and weighs around 26lb and is about 86cm. Not sure if this is good or bad.

Don’t worry too much if your son is not really hungry after nursery. It sounds as if he eats very well while there during the day, possibly because it’s more like a fun game to eat with the other children. While adults often eat from habit, and will eat supper just because it’s suppertime, even if we’re not hungry, young children naturally tend to regulate their intake to match their calorie requirements more closely. Thus, if your son has eaten a lot earlier in the day, he may not have a great appetite at night. Getting food on the table quickly can help matters at this time of day though. As you mentioned, children can get tired and grumpy in the evening, and this can make them less likely to sit and eat. If your son has already had a cooked meal at nursery, you could try tempting him with soup and toast (especially in this colder weather) or a simple sandwich. If he needs something more substantial, here are a few quick and easy meal ideas to help get supper on the table earlier:

• Pasta with a commercial tomato pasta sauce (check for those with little or no salt added) and grated cheese
• Pasta or rice with a spoon of cream cheese, protein food such as chopped chicken or tinned salmon, and vegetables including chopped tomato, tinned sweet corn (without added salt) or frozen peas
• Pita bread wrapped around tinned tuna, chopped tomatoes and a little cheese, maybe warmed in the oven or microwave
• Baked potato (cooked in the microwave if time is short) with beans or tuna mayonnaise, and carrot and celery sticks on the side
• Scrambled egg with added finely sliced red and green peppers, served with toast fingers

You can find many more delicious meal ideas for toddlers, such as Fruity Chicken Salad and Neapolitan Macaroni, in The Gina Ford Baby and Toddler Cook Book.

The amount toddlers eat in a day can vary widely, but at your son’s age as a rule his diet would comprise three small meals and two snacks daily, including three or four portions of carbohydrate or starchy foods (bread, other grain foods and potatoes), five portions of fruit and vegetables, two portions of meat and meat alternatives, and 500 ml/17 oz (minimum of 350 ml/12 oz) full fat milk per day or equivalent dairy foods*. Do note that many energetic children will eat more than this and that appetites go up and down.

herefore, don’t be concerned if your son’s intake doesn’t match these guidelines every day; think about it as an average intake over three or four days. Your health visitor or GP will be able to check his progress if you have any concerns about the rate he is gaining inches or pounds. However, you can be reassured that your son’s weight and height are well within normal ranges, with his height a little over the 91st percentile and his weight at about the 50th percentile.

*You may wish to consult The Contented Child’s Food Bible or look out for a feature article on the website in January 2006 for more information about portion sizes for toddlers.