Toddler meals - starch
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Anonymous
| Do you offer your toddler a starch at every meal? Just curious - I was shocked to read on the teen forum that one parent only offers a starch for dinner a couple of times every week and it got me wondering whether I give my young child too much of it and I’m creating bad habits. |
Anonymous
| Oh man no, I would not worry about your toddler’s starch intake. They need carbs. I feed my toddler a starch at pretty much every meal. |
Anonymous
| I have a strange toddler who doesn't like mac & cheese, pasta, or rice. So I can't say for sure starches get offered/eaten at every meal, but they're certainly never withheld. And if fries are available she gets her starch intake right up there with the best of them! |
Anonymous
| Most meals, yes. Yogurt and oyster crackers and fruit is a popular one these days. |
Anonymous
|
What? My kid eats lots of starch -- pasta, rice, fruit, bread. I mean, she's getting veggies and proteins, too, but if I just gave her a meal of broccoli and chicken, she'll pick at them. If I mix them with rice, she'll eat all three. Same with rice and beans, fruit with peanut butter or other protein sources, etc.
I do try to limit super processed breads and crackers, but other starches that either have other vitamins and nutrients she needs OR that serve as really useful vehicles for something nutrient rich? I don't even think about it. She's normal weight and active, I think it would be silly (and possibly damaging long term) to obsess about this at this age. |
Anonymous
| I do. Bread, crackers, pasta, something. I'm not going to make him subsist on lean protein and veggies like a DCUM mom |
Anonymous
|
Honestly…that’s most of what my toddler eats. I then try to dump a lot of veggies or fruits on top. I’m really not that worried about it- if they’re running around all day and the doctor hasn’t flagged any weight/growth issues.
Now for myself, a 30 year old woman, I try to limit my starchy carb intake. But I’m also not growing and running around with the insane energy of a 3 year old. |
Anonymous
| Yes, I actually try to always off protein, veg/fruit, and starch/carb. She didn’t always want the starch, mind, but it’s there. That’s what I eat too. |
Anonymous
| I don't think about it that carefully. Probably most meals? I mean, he has a main dish, a fruit, a veggie, a cup of milk and a cup of water at every meal, but exactly what the main dish is I don't focus on, it's generally whatever we're eating. Most main dishes include carbs and protein - his last few meals have been a turkey wrap, tacos, beef stir fry over rice, pizza, oatmeal, and shrimp lo mein. It's pretty varied. I honestly don't think about it that much. |
Anonymous
| I would worry much more about the parent barely giving starch to their teen. Children and teens are not 55 year old women, they don’t need to eat lien them - they need carbs, fats, protein, fruits, veggies all the things. I mean we all do but kids especially. You’re doing great op |
Anonymous
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This is making me wonder if I don’t give enough to my older preschooler.
I think today he had: B: Scrambled eggs, 1/3 croissant with jam, strawberries Greek yogurt with peanut butter and grapes L: leftover chicken nuggets, breakfast leftovers Popcorn, maybe a few crackers D: Chicken bone broth with chicken wontons and veg like broccoli, edamame, corn, carrots Apricots I guess today was fruit heavy. |
Anonymous
Seems fine to me. Croissant, breakfast leftovers (?), breading on chicken nuggets, popcorn/crackers, wontons all have starch so that’s 4/5 meals with starch. Unless he’s asking for it that sounds like a totally reasonable menu to me. |
Anonymous
| There should be protein, fat and carbs at every meal and at least one item should be calorie dense. And they should have access to as much as they want |
Anonymous
| Your baby does not need to be on Atkins/Keto |
Anonymous
No. It’s not necessary. She was happy with just scrambled eggs and few spoonfuls of yoghurt this morning. But other mornings she just gets puffs which are primarily carbs. She is also still breastfeeding. Daycare food is more protein and fat heavy. (Avocados, meat, yoghurt, leftovers, etc.) I don’t think it’s bad to offer a toddler carbs every meal. Probably one of the reasons I don’t is that I’m gluten free and that has shifted my meals away from carbs and I don’t have the time/energy to make extra carbs just for her. (She does get gluten containing foods though but only when it’s not too much extra work.). Ugh writing this makes me feel like a lazy parent. |