Originally Posted by SunflowerMama:
I'm sure I do give 2nds and 3rds of foods way too often. I'm a sucker about that. I never give 2nds of fruit until they have at least made a dent in their veggies and main dish but I'll dish veggies and other sides out until they are completely gone.
For lunch today they went through a whole large tub of organic yogurt and a large bag of frozen organic corn and that was in addition to a large cantaloupe and whole wheat pasta with ground turkey veggie sauce. They are just all big, big eaters.
They have water bottles available to them all day so I know they are drinking some H2O but could probably drink more. I think I'm just going to start making more and more heavy/whole wheat muffins/breads/tortillas to pair with other things to keep those little bellies full!
I'm sorry - but if you had 6 daycare kids that ate all of that for lunch today - that's simply overeating - not big eaters! I strongly encourage you to educate yourself on healthy portions and begin teaching your dc kids about healthy portion eating. You're currently doing your dcks and your family budget a huge disservice if you always serve the quantities that you did today.
If you're not on a food program, you can still follow their guidelines for # of servings and serving sizes. For a 3-5 year old child, their lunch today should have looked like:
6 oz fluid milk
1/2 cup corn
OR 1/2 cup vege sauce on their pasta
1/2 cup cantaloupe
1/4 cup pasta
1.5 ounces of turkey in their sauce
OR 6 oz yogurt
The previous poster was correct that when these kids get to school, their school lunch will follow the same USDA guidelines (age adjusted). No seconds or third servings on school lunches. There's really no reason that a child should eat to that excess.
And remember that a snack is a snack - not a meal. There are great guidelines from the USDA for snack servings and portions too.
Just my very most humble opinion.