Terrible waste of food

[Karen]

I'm looking for ideas, or maybe I just need to vent, because maybe there's no good answer...

I feel that in trying to feed my 2yo dd I am constantly wasting so much food. I am trying to stay away from the "clean your plate" mentality that I grew up with, but want to instill a respect for eating what you take or ask for. (I think she's probably too young for these concepts, but I want to introduce them.) I am forever throwing away leftovers. If we get a cheeseburger at a fast food place, I'm throwing away at least half of it. If I make her a waffle or french toast, same thing. It's starting to really upset me. The solution my dh uses is to eat her leftovers, but I'm trying to take off pounds, not put them on.

We don't eat together as a family enough - that's probably part of the problem. I end up making something lower cal for me, feeding her anything I think she'll eat because she doesn't each much at all. My dh works a lot of hours, so he does his own thing or takes leftovers of the meals I do make.

So, I guess I'm looking for advice on 2year olds, as well as when do you start talking about eating what you take, etc.? And, what are your eating philosophies in general???(

[KathyT]

Ah the wonderful world of a two year old!

A child's stomach is only about the size of her fist, so when you consider that, it doesn't take much food to actually fill it. For example, a cheeseburger is enough to fill most adults, therefore it is way too much food for a 2 year old.

I think you should start by giving her only what you know she will eat in terms of portions. If she will only eat 1/4 of the cheeseburger, cut it into quarters and start with that. Start small, and then she can ask for more if she wants it. This way, you will become aware of how big or small her appetite is and maybe become less frustrated with the amount of food left on her plate. IMHO, you want to avoid battles over food.

As for eating as a family, it is a struggle at our house too. Dh travels a lot and when he isn't travelling he is home about 6:30 which is too late my my dks, particularly now that their activities have started up full force again.

We have started having breakfast together at 7AM which, although it took some getting used to, is working out really well.

[Jeff]

I get worked up over wasted food too, BUT if someone is eating it just so it doesn't go to waste it is still going to waste. You or your dd is becoming the garbage disposal. Your body is going to store or void the excess. I like Kathy's idea of just giving her smaller amounts and then you can refridge the rest and heat it up at another meal for her.

[Cathy]

I like what Kathy and Jeff have said. I also think too large portions on a plate can be overwhelming for a 2yo. 'Where do I start?' Plus if she never finishes what you give her, she's setting a pattern. Just a couple of bites of each food is probably the way to start. Besides it's good for her language skills to ask for more......

[AnnW]

I have read that we adults are all so distorted on what we think is a "portion" that we can't tell what we are supposed to be feeding our children. In this super sized world, it looks like our kids aren't eating enough. Like Kathy said, their stomachs are so small, that a realistic serving is something like a half banana, a few green beans and a couple of slices of meat.
Like Cathy said, too much food on a plate could be really overwhelming.
My dh and his family did family breakfasts so they could have meals together. We are able to do dinner most nights cause my dh has a fairly flexible schedule. As far as my eating philosophy, we ask our kids to be tasters...to try a new food, but we don't force them to clean their plate.

[Lynda/WA]

I have to agree with everyone else. What seems like a small amount of food eaten to us is probably more than enough for her. My 5 yr old DD only eats her whole kids meal burger half the time. At age 2 KathyT is probably correct in starting out at 1/4 and giving her more as she wants. Maybe it would help to give her a tiny plate at meal times. Less of a temptation for you to give her to much. When serving veggies try spooning out 4 tablespoons. Or measure out 2 ounces of meat. 1/2 cup cottage cheese. Looks tiny right? Those are all child size portions.

[kat]

Yeah 2 year old portions are hard to visualize in the Super Sized mindset most Americans have. Don't base anything on portions you get at a restuarant. Simply put: our portions are too big. Don't make her clean her plate. I got that from my mom along with the "starving kids around the world" and wondered how my eating too much helped them. Today I clean my plate no matter what the portion size and am overweight.

Kids have this wonderful ability to listen to their bodies tell them I've had enough, I'm full. She's not wasting food. She's full. Just fix less. When my ds was little I used to always complain about buying him a meal because I said he didn't eat 25cents worth of food. So I quit. He'd just eat 25cents worth of my meal. :lol: