This kind of blew me away because LO (2 in a couple weeks) eats way more than this. Pretty much every category, but especially the fruits and veggies. If she only ate that amount of fruit or veggies at a meal, I would consider that a meal where she was picky and expect her to want a snack sooner than usual.
http://babyology.com.au/food/much-food-toddlers-prechoolers-really-eat-visual-guide.html
Does your LO eat more or less than this or is this about right?
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
More! she would eat 5-6 slices of ham/turkey if we let her. I try to limit it to 3 so she eats other things. Veggies...well she sucks at them so that's probably spot on, but everything else she eats way more.
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
@LuLu Mom: I guess it should be encouraging that when our LOs barely eat veggies they are still getting a full portion apparently! I would never consider one broccoli floret "enough" veggies.
GOLD / papaya / 10166 posts
Both of my girls ate WAY more than this as toddlers... now DD1 hardly eats anything - it's a wonder she survives!
pomegranate / 3127 posts
Ok no way! I guess none of those pics is a meal, because there would be some protein and some carbs and some greens together... but still seems like these servings are tiny. Sometimes DS will eat that much after three solid meals in day care, but usually he'll put away almost as much as an adult. And he's smaller than other kids his age!
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
@BabyBoecksMom: I guess she is using portion control? 
@Mama Bird: Yeah, I guess 4-5 total servings from each category would be a meal but that is still way less than LO eats!
honeydew / 7667 posts
@daniellemybelle: way more. DD is 20 months and regularly eats 2 or sometimes 2.5 eggs.
pomelo / 5093 posts
Six pieces of chocolate but only three grapes? That is just bizarre. An entire piece of bread, but, again, four slices of cucumber? Two pieces of sausage? Just, no. My daughter eats five to eight adult sized servings of fruits and veggies daily, which is way high, I know. But I would certainly not consider a few grapes a serving.
nectarine / 2180 posts
Umm, 4 tablespoons of jelly? That seems like a lot of jelly...especially when paired with 3 green beans.
grapefruit / 4418 posts
My daughter can and will eat way more, but I generally follow the fist rule when serving her. A serving is the size of the persons fist. Helps me not freak out when she eats basically nothing. I'll have to show DH because he always thinks she should be eating way more.
cherry / 168 posts
I think its about right. We give our son (2.5) about that amount of each food for meals/snack time but we give him a variety of say 5-6 foods at a time.
It's set up in the article as groups so I read it as giving your child a selection of food each meal from fruit, vege, protein, carbs, dairy etc. which is what we do and we would do about the size the article says.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22276 posts
Wow...my youngest just ate about 12 times that amount of pasta, she ate more than I did!
watermelon / 14467 posts
@daniellemybelle: H are four slices of pizza last night. I'm not sure where she put them. But today she barely ate anything. It comes and goes.
pear / 1593 posts
I consider my little man a really light eater and stress all the time over it, but he actually eats very much in line with that chart, so maybe I shouldn't worry so much.
papaya / 10343 posts
Well the visual representations there are the low ends of the ranges. If you read them, I'd say my LO is in line on portion size for protein and grains. She does eat more fruits and veggies though. Also she doesn't drink any milk so all calories are coming from food. Like I thought she ate a lot at lunch today and she ate 1 egg, 8 stalks asparagus, a handful of oyster crackers, and maybe 1/3 cup sliced strawberries. On the low end for that she'd eat maybe half of that.
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
He eats way more than this even if you put 5 of them together. For lunch he ate 4 chicken nuggets, a small bowl of carrots and corn mixed, an apple, a fruit/veggie pouch, and a cheese stick. He eats about that every day. He has a lot of energy and is skinny but tall. I have no worries that he will be obese. These doesn't account for different sizes and calorie needs. And if he likes broccoli and wants to eat a whole bowl of it, I'm not going to limit him!
grapefruit / 4455 posts
It depends on what the food is. I tend to offer a lot more because I'm giving her options. We always try to think about what she's had for the week.
pomegranate / 3411 posts
sometimes my toddler eats like that chart and other times he eats less, other times he eats more. i sometimes stress in the moment that he is not eating enough, but also constantly remind myself that he is listening to his body and only he knows when he is hungry and full and i don;t want him to lose that by insisting he eat more all the time! soooo much easier said than done though!
persimmon / 1328 posts
Well my LO doesn't really eat any meat at all, and the carb amounts are quite accurate for him - but he would be pretty pissed off if I presented him with 3 grapes or one floret of broccoli!
pomelo / 5258 posts
The pictures look like small amounts but I think they are fairly in line with our "servings" if "serving" = the amount put on a plate at one time. LO may have 3-4 servings of something but I usually start small in case it's a picky meal and so I can fit a balanced meal in her bowl.
cantaloupe / 6751 posts
@sarac: the article indicates that sweets/confectionaries should be limited to one serving a week. It's not like they're suggesting chocolate with every meal.
pomelo / 5093 posts
@pinkcupcake: If the servings of fruits and veggies were the same size as the bread servings, I'd be less horrified. But even if you offered something from several different groups, you'd be way over represented in carbs and way under in plants.
cantaloupe / 6751 posts
@sarac: the article also mentions you should aim for 1-2 servings of fruit/veggies at each meal and snack. Half a slice of bread with 1/2 a banana doesn't sound too horrible to me.
cherry / 127 posts
My 13 month old eats more than suggested, other than the meat. He has a sensitivity to beef, so that's out.
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
@sarac: @pinkcupcake: Maybe it's because they are following the Food Pyramid which is grain heavy?
@travellingbee: We don't limit healthy food really at all! Our pediatricians have always made a point to say that young children don't really overeat like adults so just give healthy food and let them eat as much as they need.
@avivoca: Haha! LO is not crazy about pizza which is so weird to me. Yet, she loves spaghetti!
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
@daniellemybelle: right, us either. Except today he took the container of grape tomatoes and was CHOWING down and I did tell him enough of those because I was worried he'd get a stomach ache. But overall, my kid is healthy and eats healthy and a good variety so I'm not at all concerned.
pomelo / 5093 posts
@daniellemybelle: Yeah, I'm sure. I eat about as many carbs as the food pyramid suggests, and honestly it makes me miserable. I'm working hard to change my diet. I wish I ate as well as my 4 year old!
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
3-10 berries. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
E's hit and miss. She can really put some food away, or she can totally skip dinner and eat nothing all evening *shrug*
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
@blackbird: LO eats 3 berries at a time. Like, that's how many she tries to stuff in her mouth at once. Before stuffing another handful!
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
@daniellemybelle: ha, sounds about right to me! E would eat the whole pint if I'd let her.
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