https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 19 Jul 2026 23:27:54 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246428 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 20:27:59 +0000 Pirouette 2246428@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ScarletBegonia: haha it takes time! I still have to remind myself not to stress about it. The past few weeks she's been eating way more than usual, and this weekend she has a bad cold and not much appetite and i had to stop and remind myself that it's ok! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246390 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 19:45:40 +0000 ScarletBegonia 2246390@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks everyone so much for your replies. Its been a stressful weekend this one in particular - last night while he was refusing to eat my husband noticed he has a couple of ulcers on his tongue - we're wondering if maybe that has something to do with it as well. </p> <p>@Foodnerd81: Yes we transitioned him because thats how he eats at daycare and basically just loves his little table - but he's been back in the high chair as of last night. </p> <p>@hummusgirl: Thanks for the suggestion, his paediatrician made most of those as well when we were really struggling, and they did make a difference. Eating with him can be a challenge as it usually means I have two dinners! I'm gaining plenty of weight, him not so much ;) No one seems too concerned at the moment about his weight as he's gone from off the charts to between the 15th and 20th %ile - I'm just scared of backsliding. Its taking all my strength not to weigh him! He's hit milestones on or ahead of time so developmentally we seem to be on track. </p> <p>@Pirouette: Thanks - I think relaxation is sooo key!!! Just wish i could will myself to be relaxed!</p> <p>@Cherrybee: @Mae: @PurplePeony: Thanks. Kids hey??? Just when you think you've got them figured out. Avocado used to be a sure thing but now not so much. Hoping he'll go back to loving it soon! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246218 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 13:19:07 +0000 PurplePeony 2246218@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our DD is the same way, but she's a little on the chunky side (60th for weight but only 40th for height) so it doesn't worry us as much. We tried skipping snacks but she didn't eat more at mealtime -- in the end, we basically let her have healthy snacks through the day if she asks for them (but we don't offer them) and if she only eats a couple bites of a meal, so be it. I think in your situation I'd try to make every bite as nutritious and calorific as possible -- add butter or olive oil, bake a batch of protein-packed mini muffins and freeze them so they're always easy to grab. Avocado actually works well in a lot of baking recipes as a substitute for part of the butter, so you can maybe get some additional nutrients in him that way (just google baking with avocado). Basically, anything you can do to make whatever he does eat "count" more might be easier at this stage than trying to increase the actual volume of food he takes in, if that makes sense... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246208 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 13:03:48 +0000 Mae 2246208@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I feel like kids just eat differently in different circumstances. My LO isn't in daycare but we go out to eat most weekends and she always eats SO much better in restaurants (even though I pack food from home for her so it is the same she'd get at home) than she does at home. I suspect it is something about the bustle of a restaurant that she's distracted by and she eats without thinking so much (plus we never let her get out of her high chair in restaurants so she doesn't even really try). At home it's boring and she just wants to get down and go play. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246206 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 12:56:37 +0000 Cherrybee 2246206@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have exactly the same issue with E. She eats anything and everything at daycare, and always eats all of every meal, but she is a terrible eater for us and for Nanny &amp; Grandad (where she's goes Mon-Weds). I've tried everything I can think of but I cant fathom it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246165 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 11:25:06 +0000 Pirouette 2246165@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went through this at around the same time with lo, and she's also very small so we were very concerned. But lo isn't in daycare, so for us it was just an issue of her being so structured during the week and more relaxed on the weekends. We found that not offering snacks helped a lot, but eventually we realized she's just not going to eat the same every day and stopped stressing over it. And sure enough, she picked up her food intake on the weekends and eats great for us now! I think it just took us a while to get into a groove with feeding her because it's only on weekends. </p> <p>I know how stressful it is always worrying about the growth chart, but keep in mind that as she gets older, she's going to start following her own hunger cues more and more and will start to gain more that way too. She'll get there! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246101 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 08:43:57 +0000 hummusgirl 2246101@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Some suggestions:<br /> - Instead of offering food constantly, skip snacks to let him get good and hungry for meals<br /> - Everyone eat together. Can you go back to the high chair or use a booster seat at the table? Maybe you and your husband can be the "peer pressure" he needs.<br /> - Try to not pressure him to eat. Just set out a few bowls of different types of food, put some on his plate, and make meal time relaxing and stress free. Play music. Trust that he's not going to starve himself (easier said than done - but if he's eating well at daycare then at least you know he's getting a significant amount of food most of the time). </p> <p>Good luck. Is his doctor concerned about his weight. My LO is pretty skinny (around 1% the first weeks of his life, now at almost 3 is maybe around 20%), but his docs aren't concerned and he's healthy overall. Some kids are just small! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246092 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 08:19:56 +0000 Mamasig 2246092@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS1 is the same way. Apparently, he eats really well at school and much pickier at home. I think it's positive peer pressure that helps. We try at home but it's hit or miss. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246085 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 07:57:19 +0000 Foodnerd81 2246085@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ScarletBegonia: why did you switch out of the high chair? My LO eats so much better strapped into her high chair. If she can get down, she is way more distracted and can't focus on eating. Is it possible to put him in a chair he can't jump up out of?</p> <p>Eta: in guessing he is in a little chair at daycare but there he has peer pressure of the other kids sitting too probably. At home too much temptation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246049 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 06:01:47 +0000 ScarletBegonia 2246049@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: I don't know exactly what the serving sizes are like at daycare, but they are well aware of his weight gain issues (he started with them at 10 months when the problems were at their absolute worst and he dropped below the 1st %ile) - we were clear with them that we needed to know all the food he ate and mLs of milk. They are very forthcoming, for a long time they would write "3/4 eaten" or even "5/8 eaten" when he was still being picky with them - now we've rarely had a report thats not "all eaten" or "all eaten + seconds". They have also been commenting heaps on how far he's come and how into food he seems...just wish it was the same with us :sad: </p> <p>We sit with him at his little table and at least one of us eats with him. He has a couple of bites then gets out of his chair, we put him back, and then it becomes a power struggle and the meal is basically lost. I swear he just isn't affected by hunger..even as a newborn/baby he never got upset if I couldn't feed him, barely fed through the night, and generally just seems to enjoy everything in life more than food. For two parents who enjoy food more than almost everything in life its so frustrating!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246042 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 05:45:39 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2246042@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ScarletBegonia: have you confirmed with daycare he really is eating that much? Also how does the food you offer differ from daycare food? We found that we kept tying to feed our daughter fresh green beans. But daycare served canned. When we switched at home to what she was used to sure enough she ate them. Also are you sitting at the table with him? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/eating-on-weekends-vs-at-daycare#post-2246019 Sun, 26 Jul 2015 00:45:21 +0000 ScarletBegonia 2246019@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just wondering if anyone has experienced this - my son eats well at daycare - every day his report says he ate all of every meal, and more often than not has seconds. He has breakfast at home then another breakfast at daycare, snack, lunch, and 2 snacks in the afternoon, plus 2 cups of milk spread out over the day. </p> <p>At home on weekends (and Fridays, he's only in care Mon-Thurs), he is so picky and sometimes it feels like he eats nothing! He'll sometimes eat a decent breakfast if we delay it - if we try to feed him soon after waking up he flat out refuses. He won't eat before his nap but he'll have milk, will pick at some food when he wakes up from his nap, and have a small dinner. We offer him food constantly but he seems so distracted by being at home with us and all his toys and the cats that he'll have a bite and want to run away (we've just transitioned out of the high chair and into a little chair and table). He's 16 months, and really small - I think that's why I'm stressed - feeding has always been an issue. He's on about the 15th %ile now but we've been working hard to get him up from the 3rd....I'm scared we're backsliding now. </p> <p>Any advice on how to make food more appealing? Keeping him sitting at his little chair? Not losing my mind while trying to feed him/have him eat? </p>