Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

Just curious, I always feel like she can improve in her proportions.

So, how much (typically, or on a "good" day):
- milk per day
- dairy (besides milk) per day-- yogurt, cheese, etc
- protein
- veggies
- fruits

Anything else I'm missing?

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

milk 3 glasses per day (maybe 20 or so oz total)

dairy - she has yogurt a few times a week and she LOVES cheese

Protein-ummm, does PB count?

Fruits - she eats grapes, bananas and apples

Veggies - only corn and broccoli

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

I have the worst eater ever.

She barely drinks milk. But when she does, she will have 3 cups in a row.

When we have it in the house, she will eat yougurt. But she will not eat cheese. not even grilled cheese. she will eat bits and pieces of mine, but not enough to make her own.

she likes meatballs and chicken nuggets, and bacon. she loves bacon. (but she gets it a few times a month, if that)

as far as fruit, she will eat a banana or an apple. sometimes strawberries.

veggies, same as PP, will eat corn.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

Milk - anywhere from 2-3 sippy cups so maybe 20 oz. or so.

Dairy - he was on a yogurt kick where he was eating 2 a day but apparently got bored of it Does the cheese in a grilled cheese and chocolate puddings count?

Protein - the only meat he eats is chicken so maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

Fruit - he eats grapes, bananas and apples. I try to give him fruit daily but he doesnt always want it.

Veggies - NONE He won't even eat sweet potato fries anymore.


ETA: I forgot he LOVES scrambled eggs so add that to protein maybe 3 x's a week.

Message edited 1/24/2010 1:21:17 PM.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

So, how much (typically, or on a "good" day):
- milk per day: 3 cups. 1 cup (sippy) at every meal

- dairy (besides milk) per day-- He eats yogurt for lunch a lot. He eats grilled cheese for dinner. If we go out, does ice cream count? LOL He eats Grilled Cheese about 2-3x a week

- protein: I hope Chix Nuggets count!
(3x a week)

- veggies: Veggies? What are those?

- fruits: Applesauce, Bananas, Mandarin Oranges. I alternate these for snack and dessert. If I send in apple juice for snack, I will give him fruit for dessert after dinner.

I have a very picky eater! Very Picky!

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

seriously i couldn't tell you! it's such a whirlwind and i don't battle mealtimes anymore so she basically eats the following foods and then we rotate:
grilled cheese
chicken
pizza
yogurt
rice
cheerios and anything else dry or cracker-like/cereal
pancakes
strawberries
p/b and jelly
bananas
raisins
applesauce
veggie burgers
mashed potatoes
milk at night and in the morning only-and maybe half a cup each time?

i am so focused on DS's (6 months) eating now that DD's has kind of slid to the wayside i am embarrassed to admit

Message edited 1/24/2010 1:34:10 PM.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

DS is 3 1/2 and super picky!

He drinks NO milk!

Eats the following foods:
Ketchup, tons of ketchup!
Chicken (fried, breaded and baked or nuggets)
Pizza
Pasta w/sauce
Pasta w/broccoli, garlic and oil
Pancakes
Cheese, cheese and more cheese
Eggs (I put milk or pureed broccoli in them for calcium)
Wheat thins
Toast with jelly
English muffin with Peanut Butter
Just about any fruit
Bagels dipped in ketchup (yuck)

A typical day is something like this
-a lowfat poptart or cereal bar (when he wakes)
-scrambled eggs or bowl of bran flakes or chex or other breakfast(hour or so later)
-snack (raisins, graham crackers)
-lunch wheat thins, american cheese he wants this for lunch every single day!
-snack fruit or goldfish or fruit snacks
-dinner chicken and raw carrots or pasta and bread or pizza
-dessert
-fruit

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

This is pretty easy since he hardly eats anything.

He will drink milk all day long if I let him. I would say he gets about 20ozs a day.

He also gets at least one yogurt shake a day (now he gets two a day since that's how I sneak in his meds)

He doesn't eat any cheese (unless it's on pizza, and he really doesn't eat pizza all that often)

He does love steak. Will eat chicken nuggets occassionally now.

Loves sweet potato fries, and corn. That's about it for veggies lately.

He loves fruit. Will eat grapes, watermelon, cantelope, apples, pears, plums, peaches. Pretty much any fruit out there.

Do cookies and cakes have any nutritional value? If so, my kid is one of the healthiest eaters I've ever met!

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

Milk: about 1 sippy cup and usually he asks for chocolate milk

Dairy: he really slowed down on yogurt but he eats at least one serving of cheese a day...probably more like 2.

Protein: 1-2 servings per day in the form of chicken nuggets or meatballs for the most part

Veggies: Not enough...if they are green he wants nothing to do with them.

Fruits: 2 - 3 servings per day mostly strawberries, grapes, oranges

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

Milk-1 cup in the morning, 1 cup at night. Allegedly the cups are 9oz, I don't buy it though.

Dairy-This kid could eat cheese and drinkable yogurts til he was blue in the face.

Protein-He will eat peanut butter and chicken nuggets, that's it.

Veggies-What's that? He does like peppers though

Fruit-He LOVES fruit, his faves are watermelon, mango, apples and cantelope.

He eats a lot of cheese, cracker and apple meals for lunch

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

I don't know that any day is typical for DS as far as eating goes, he is 25 months, pretty picky. But this is what he has generally:

- 3 cups of milk a day (about 18 ounces)

- dairy--he has yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, or some other dairy product almost every day.

- protein--what's that? Hummus, 2x a week, fish sticks once a week. Lately no to chicken nuggets, eggs of any kind, and no other meat. We try, but he won't eat it. Hopefully he's getting enough with his dairy.

- veggies--none, absolutely none. He was eating purees still until recently, now no to those also. Though, he does eat tomato sauce and ketchup if those count!

- fruits-the one bright spot in his diet. He will eat any fruit except cantaloupe and blueberries.

Message edited 1/24/2010 4:46:42 PM.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

Sabrina is pretty good. She alternates between milk, orange juice and water during the day. She likes Cheerios and a banana for breakfast unless grandma makes her French Toast or pancakes or waffles. She likes bacon with those dishes.
Portion: kids bowl full of cereal. One slice of French Toast or one waffle or one pancake.

For lunch, she is still a Yo Baby girl at almost 3 Usually two Yo Baby's and some crackers, chips, pretzels, etc. Or she likes chicken cutlet sandwiches (my parents' doing ).

She is pretty good with dinner. Chicken, pork, hamburger, meatballs...LOVES STEAK and not just any steak. She REALLY enjoys filet mignon. Side dishes: mac n' cheese, Italian pasta with tomato sauce, brown or white rice. French fries. Italian bread (semolina for her, thanks Mom).
Portion: one chicken cutlet, 3/4 of a pork chop or hamburger, A WHOLE STEAK! A serving spoon of a side dish, unless she asks for me.

She is great with veggies. Broccoli, corn, green beans, peas, sometimes spinach.
Portion: Serving spoon of veggie unless she asks for more.

BUT, she also likes cake, ice cream and candy!

Message edited 1/24/2010 4:37:29 PM.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

Guess I should finally answer my own question, huh?

So, how much (typically, or on a "good" day):
- milk per day
- dairy (besides milk) per day-- yogurt, cheese, etc
- protein
- veggies
- fruits

Milk: gets 2 cups of about 9 ounces each (18 oz total) per day

Dairy: stopped eating yogurt (which I am so bummed about), she'll eat cheese slices or in grilled cheese, eggs, etc.

Protein: she actually loves protein. She LOVES scrambled eggs, hotdogs, meatballs (beef or turkey/chicken), any kind of chicken as long as the sauce is on the bland side. She gets a protein for dinner every night, and I actually wanted to start giving her deli turkey with her lunch every day but didn't know if that was too much protein/day if I still give her a protein at night (and that's the reason I started the post ). She also loves burgers-- beef, turkey or veggie burgers.

Veggies: she's gotten better at this lately, a little. On it's own, she'll eat squash, sweet potatoes, spinach (put in eggs); but otherwise she'll eat broccoli and spinach Dr. Praegers patties. I'm on a mission to get her to eat more things, like carrots and peas. But she gets 2 servings of veggies a day, though the variety isn't so great since she doesn't eat a ton of things.

Fruit: all she will eat is a banana (which she loves) and an applesauce cup every day. That's it. I realllllly want to diversify her, but she's stubborn I even bought a bunch of different organic applesauces that are mixed with blueberries, or peach, or berries; she has a FIT if I try to give it to her. Too smart for me

We belong to a fresh organic veggie/fruit co-op in the spring & summer, and I swear she WILL be eating fresh fruits by then

Message edited 1/24/2010 5:04:48 PM.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

- milk per day - 3-4 full cups. MD suggested I scale back but he still eats a lot of "adult" food so I'm not concerned.

- dairy (besides milk) per day-- yogurt, cheese, etc - probably 1 portion - slice of cheese

- protein - 2-3 servings. He eats whatever meat we have for dinner - and usually a big portion (full burger, cutlet) and for lunch usually 4-5 nuggets


- veggies - picks at them but eats them daily (corn, carrots, pickles LOL, etc.)


- fruits - 2 servings a day I would say - bananas or orange with breakfast and something for snack - apple, grapes

and plenty of carbs

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

- milk per day - 2-3 cups a day .

- dairy (besides milk) per day-- loves yogurt...eats it everyday for lunch or a snack. wont eat cheese alone but will eat it if its melted/cooked (like in pizza) or on a sandwich like turkey and cheese

- protein - loves meat...will eat chicken nuggets, chicken breast, turkey and hamburgers, hot dogs, turkey (both reg and lunch meat), pork chops, chicken noodle soup,peanut butter and jelly, etc

- veggies - this has been diffucult...will eat broccoli, peas and string beans. HATES carrots

- fruits - loves fruit normally but has been not wanting it the past couple of days. Will eat banana, strawberries, blueberries, apple, pears, applesauce, melon. Loves smoothies LOL

and plenty of carbs/snacks- fruit snacks, pretzels, goldfish, animal crackers, etc

So with all I listed you would think he was a great eater...nope he has been so picky the past month. He doenst like things more then one day in a row (e.g. has a banana today, wont want it tomorrow ) and he only likes meat thats fresh! So if i make chicken breast, most of the time he will only eat it that day and will refuse it the next. He drinks water or applejuice during the day. Also he has been giving us a really hard time at breakfast...he just doesnt seem to be a breakfast kid. Will eat oatmeal, eggs, and toast...doesnt want cereal anymore and has been refusing pancakes and waflles. Its so fustrating and I hope he's getting enough nutrients.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

Milk- none. She was allergic to milk for two years and we just never switched her from soy when she tested neg. for a milk allergy. She drinks probably 12oz. soy milk a day.

dairy-on average, probably one to two servings a day that include yogurt and or cheese.

protein-she gets probably 3oz of protein a meal. I'm guessing here. Probably a little more for dinner.

veggies- I try to give her a big portion for dinner every night.

fruit- she eats 2-3 pieces of fruit a day, sometimes more

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

- milk per day: One small cup in the morning and a small cup of low fat chocolate milk at night...no more then 12oz a day
- dairy (besides milk) per day-- yogurt, cheese, etc: cheese and yogurt probably once a day.
- protein: turkey, chicken, turkey meatballs, turkey meatloaf, port
- veggies: green beans, potatoes, spinach, artichokes
- fruits: any and all..the favorites right now are strawberries, blueberries, oranges, pineapple and bananas

My kids also eat whole grain bread and english muffins.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

Milk- About 3 cups a day, sometimes 4 (between 24-28 oz.) depends how much water she drinks that day (some days she'll be on a water kick)

dairy- She'll have yogurt maybe every other day; lots of cheese to snack on or grilled cheese for lunch or pasta w/ cheese

protein-not sure but she loves meatballs, chicken, hamburgers, turkey burgers & sometimes steak or pork

veggies- She'll just keep eating & eating...seriously I think she eats almost a head of broccoli; she loves any & all...tomatoes, string beans, corn, sweet potatoes, spinach, carrots, zucchini, peas...generally she'll get servings w/ lunch & dinner

fruit- she eats 2-3 pieces of fruit a day, sometimes more


I've been blessed w/ a super eater...I only hope it continues...I have a feeling it'll be her brother that is the problem

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

DD (2 1/2) eats basically nothing.

--- milk per day
Pretty much, none. She won't drink it, hasn't in at least a year. We try with chocolate milk, and a good day is her taking a few sips.

---- dairy (besides milk) per day-- yogurt, cheese, etc
Yogurt, not so much. Again, like with the milk, we TRY, and she has a few sips here and there (the drinkable kind), but not much. Cheese, she eats. At least a few pieces a day, or in macaroni and cheese.

---- protein
Not a ton. She gets eggs a few times a week (is that protein? ), and chicken nuggets a few times a week. She'll eat turkey and turkey dogs, as well.

---- veggies
She'll eat veggies with her eggs (omelet) and mixed vegetables on the side of her meals. She also LOVES carrots and eats them all the time.

---- fruits
DD loooooves fruit! It's her favorite thing in the world! She eats mangoes, grapes, apples, pears, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, melon etc. It's the one thing I don't have to worry about!

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

I am very lucky DS is an amazing eater, he will eat just about anything and everything.

Milk - 2 sippys a day 8-16 oz but he generally leaves some behind just because he is too busy playing to bother with it.

Dairy - He doesnt liek to just have a piece of cheese but loves grilled cheese or mac & cheese etc. He has yogurt probably 2-3x a week. I also give him OJ with calcium just for a little extra.

Protein - he is not a big eggs eater but will eat them if I feed him. But he eats what we eat for dinner so he may have meatloaf one night, burgers another, meatballs etc

Veggies - He loves green beans, corn, broccoli, and tomatos. We have to make sure to take our serving before he notices the bowl because he will grab the bowl and just eat directly out of it!

Fruit - I am bad with fresh fruit but thankfully my ILs show at Costco and are aways giving me fruit! He loves Clemetines and often eats 2 at a time. HE also enjoys peaches, strawberries, Loves bananas, raspberries. I try to make sure at least 1x a day I give him a fresh fruit. I also buy jarred peaches from Costco so I always have something in the house and he loves those.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

Milk- around 3 glasses a day.

Dairy- string cheese or a yogurt smoothie

Protein- he usually has protein for lunch and dinner

Veggies- 2x a day

Fruits-1-2x a day

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

it's weird my ds has feeding issues (gets oral motor therapy) and we always work on and have issues with meals but it seems he eats a much bigger variety of food that the other kids his age.

milk- he gets 16 oz. of pediasure and maybe 3-4 oz. of milk

dairy- always a yobaby with breakfast and eats a lot of cheeses

protein- meatloaf/meatballs (chicken,beef, and turkey), chicken dogs and hotdogs, chicken legs, sausage, chicken nuggets, gefilte fish, white fillet, salmon, fish sticks, ham, turkey and bologna meat, peanut butter, tofu, eggs, beans.

veggie- eggplant, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, carrots, mushrooms, squash, corn, peppers, green beans, edemame.

fruit- grapes, bananas, melons, berries, manderines (canned), pears (canned), apples, seasonal stuff.
----
breakfast is a carb(cereal, 1 pancake, 1 waffle , 1 french toast, 1 struddel, etc.), a fruit and 1 yobaby yogurt.

lunch is usually a sandwich and a fruit.

dinner is always a protein with a side of veggie and a side of carb.


editted to add: he'll eat most things if there is a sauce to dip it into. mostly ketchup, duck sauce, a brown sauce.

Message edited 1/25/2010 9:22:42 AM.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

I have a picky eater too (she will be 2 in April) and she typically eats:

Milk - about 15-20 ounces a day
Dairy - yogurt (Stonyfield 3-in-1 meals are great), she likes string cheese and the cheese off pizza
Protein - chicken nuggets, baked chicken or steak
Veggies - sweet potatoes, corn and peas
Fruits - apples and pears only

She loves goldfish, animal crackers, french fries and vanilla pudding.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

you know my DD is still picky and not a great eater at 3.5 but Ill give you a basic run down:

she will drink 2-3 cups of milk a day. she loves milk. sometimes she will ask me to put some choclate syrup in it.

other dairy: she likes slices of cheese or grilled cheese and will have that 1-2 times a week. She likes yogurt and yogurt drinks and will have them 4-5 times a week, she likes pizza and will eat that 1, sometimes 2 times a week so thats a good serving of choose. LOL

protein: this is a problem area, she doesnt like many meats. She wont eat any beef really. She likes hot dogs, sausage, turkey burgers, chicken nuggets. But some days each of those things are hit or miss. Portion wise..when she does eat them, she will eat 1 hot dog. 1/2 turkey burger. 2 sausage links. 4 nuggets. She doesnt eat eggs at all. she will eat a handful of peanuts sometimes but doesnt like PB.

veggies: she likes brocolli, corn, carrots but will only eat a very small portion at a time.

fruit: this is not a problem area. loves all fruits pretty much and eats them atleast 1-2 times a day usually. she will have a whole banana. a whole apple.5 or 6 large strawberries. a cup of cut up cantelope or pineapple.

she likes dry textured things like toast, cereal (usually asks for it with no milk in it), crackers (she will eat wheat thins all day if I left her so I get the multi grain ones), bagels (usually with nothing on them)

Message edited 1/25/2010 9:08:27 AM.

Re: Toddlers (2-3 years or around): how much are they eating & drinking?

Dd is an amazing eater!! I have never seen anything like it!!!

She eats:
Milk 3 meals, water during the day
scrambled eggs and cheese omelets, yogurt, cerrios (dry and wet), yogurt, dannon smoothies, nutrigrain bars, loves cheese (especially monery jack), mozzerella, american cheese.

As far as meats: there is nothing she won't try...hot dogs, hamburgers, meat loaf, meat balls, loves sausage, chix cutlets.

She calls those crustalbe sandwiches her special lunch!!! She loves potatoes: mashed and make fries plus baked and with peppers.

Veggies are tricky: Mainly peas and carrots (usually make a mixed veg)

and for snack and fruit: Strawberries, grapes, blueberries. She loves friut snacks and gold fish.

HTH