This feature stems from a really insightful talk we attended at Mabel’s nursery last week, they are further improving their menu choices to include a wider range of options and will be using less (to almost no) refined sugar where possible. Before I begin in detail, my personal experience and choices as a mother with regards my daughter’s diet are exactly that – I’m not here to pass judgment on others or indeed pretend I’m an expert on nutrition. I’m not. I do however find the whole subject of healthier eating really interesting, and I think it’ll make a popular topic for debate.
Unlike me the founder of Mabel’s nursery (they have two in the area) is a qualified nutritionist so it’s high on her list of priorities that the littles in her care are offered what she and the team perceive are the healthiest breakfasts, lunches and dinners possible, without compromising on taste or variety. Taking into account all sorts of restrictions that come with batch cooking and transportation I presume – the food is made by an outside catering firm and not on site. And of course the various cost implications.
Within each “day” there are 7 portions* of fruit and vegetables – I say portions, this is what was stipulated but I have no idea what qualifies as a “portion” for say, a 20 month old. Regardless, the children are always offered 7 different types of vegetable/and or fruit throughout each day. All meals are cooked from fresh without any unnecessary additives or preservatives, they use gluten free produce where possible so incorporate lentils, quinoa and chick peas in place of white pasta and rice. And your regular white granulated sugar is exchanged for natural un-refined sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup.
They ‘hide” vegetables in particular in order to endeavour to encourage the children to eat them – during the meeting we were offered a huge selection of generous samples to try including a courgette brownie and a carrot cake that was distinctly very carrot-y….but delicious all the same. The nursery also offer Thai and Indian style cuisine as well as a vegetarian option should you request that your child doesn’t eat meat. One of the founder’s other strong beliefs is that within the curriculum, children learn about how food is made and that it’s not necessarily from a packet in the supermarket – so they’ll have an activity where they make hummus for example and then well…eat it I guess.
The talk and update to the nursery menu stemmed from concerns raised by various parents on the fact children are offered two “puddings” a day – one after lunch and one after dinner. The nursery wanted to highlight what the desserts actually were, that they were not packed full of nasties and that should you request it, your child can always have the option of fresh fruit and/or natural yoghurt instead. From various notices on Mabel’s classroom wall I was aware that quite a few of the children were not allowed a dessert at all (there are polaroids of each child with any allergies/specific requests written underneath) and James and I did discuss this as a possibility for Mabel. Our conclusion was that we didn’t want her to be in a position where she was seeing another child have something that she would enjoy/wanted to try and not understand why she couldn’t.
I was really impressed with the nursery’s attitude towards healthy eating and their care and consideration over providing nutritious and varied meals. Outside of nursery where possible Mabel enjoys home cooked food and we try to encourage her to eat a plenty of fruit and vegetables. Like most children, she can be fussy and faddy – one week she’ll have seconds of a certain dish and the next minute she will refuse to eat it full stop. And I don’t deny her anything. On occasion as a treat I might offer her some cake, chocolate buttons or good heavens…..maybe even a custard cream biscuit. I believe in balance and everything in moderation. Of course I would much rather she requested an orange than a slice of Victoria Sponge and at present that appears to be the case. But I also don’t want her to ever feel that she may be missing out.
Some queries I have over the recent nursery menu meeting that I am yet to fathom:
- Apparently the main offending menu item that highlighted was in fact….custard. The nursery sometimes pair it with banana. I had never considered it to be a problem food, especially as they only offer it once or twice a week.
- All this delicious and nutritious loveliness and Mabel still comes home after nursery and has another meal….so I guess she must still be hungry. Go figure.
I would love to hear about how much you know about your nursery of choice thoughts and practices when it comes to nutrition and diet, I must confess to being quite ignorant (naive?) until this point, I assumed quite a lot rather than actually having any real knowledge. With the constant juggle of family life it’s truly challenging to try and fit all of this new information in my sleep deprived brain.
My son is only 3 months old but I’ve bene looking at nurseries for next summer, and one of them Said to me that the children get a small dessert with lunch and tea, and we can decide for Noah not to have it but it’s only a small portion. Your nursery sounds very conscious of sugar etc but from what i understood this is just cake. I was really shocked that they give little children cake every day! I personally want cake to be an occasional occurrence, and for him to see fruit as a treat at the end of his meal. When I was little if I ate up my food I was rewarded with strawberries or something along those lines. So I think I’m going to be the grumpy mum who says no cake, but he will only be one so I’m hoping he doesn’t feel left out!
I feel exactly the same. Now our babies are 10 months, some of the friends I’ve spent my maternity leave with are starting to return to work and their babies are starting mursery. I was surprised to discover that in our local, highly regarded and ofsted outstanding independent nursery chain, a pudding such as crumble/ice cream/trifle is offered to UNDER ONES as the default option every day and should you prefer your child not to have refined sugar and processed puddings, you must opt out. Personally, I think this is unecessary at best, but actually, verging on damaging and irresponsible. My friends are divided over opting out, but respect each others choices.
I am amazed that in these days of enlightenment about nutrition a childcare institution is still practicing in this way. Their argument is that the majority of parents expect it – but when my friend pressed that point they admitted that it’s mainly parents of older children who expect traditional puddings to be offered and that many toddlers won’t eat savoury food without the bribe of a sweet. Which I think is bad parenting but then that’s another topic!!
Mabel’s nursery sounds fantastic in this respect. I would have no issue with Fern being given fruit and yoghurt or on occasion a sweet dish made with unrefined natural sweetener – as she has at home. The sugary splurges should remain solely for occasional the journey only, outside of nursery and after the age of one at least.
It seems on chatting to other friends that Mabel’s nursery’s approach is rare. Sugary, refined puddings are the norm rather than the exception and it infuriates me. Thanks for highlighting this, Charlotte, my daughters nutrition is a topic close to my heart and this is actually one of the reasons I’m holding off using nursery for a while!!
Aargh apologies for mad autocorrects (journey? Eh?!) but trying to type and feed, ironically!
Pleasure Philippa, I’m finding it really interesting in general and have been experimenting with a few new recipes at home too – if the nursery can do it then so can I x
I’m exactly the same Philippa! We’ve decided for now, at least to avoid as much as possible, refined sugar in Heccy’s diet. He’s allowed natural greek yoghurt with some blended fruit or stewed fruit (again made without any added sugar) which I make myself at home. Other than that we’ve vetoed sugar completely. That said I completely respect others’ decisions to give their kiddies whatever they feel is right for them. At the moment I feel that Hector isn’t aware of ‘sweet treats’ so the longer I can keep him away from them the better. I fully appreciate that when he’s older and going to his friends’ birthday parties etc he’ll have his fair share of jelly and ice-cream and on special occasions that’s ok and I’m not going to prevent him from having a bit of fun!
I should say that when I was looking around nurseries I did get a few strange looks from nursery staff when I enquired about non-sugar dietary requirements – I feel that there’s still a long long way to go when it comes to education and school meals.
It’s difficult isn’t it Anna? We already knew the puddings were mostly fruit based (so a fruit “fool” for example is essentially mashed strawberry with whipped natural yoghurt) but we may have decided to restrict Mabel if it was sponge pudding and cream. My Dad was a dentist so we were encouraged to eat lots of fruit as a kid – we were also allowed the odd biscuit too but as you say it was a an occasional treat, not expected.
This is so interesting and I think your nursery sounds ruddy fantastic! When Molly was at nursery I have to admit to not really knowing too much about what she ate. They wrote it in her book every day and it always seemed healthy enough. I do try to give the girl’s healthy meals but despite my best intentions they still manage to get through a daily quota of party rings and are always there as soon as I’m making buttercream for cakes! Perhaps I should never have given it to them but I don’t think I’ve been strong enough to say no. Despite them being given a lot of fruit and veg as babies they changed at about 18 months and became a nightmare. I always give them fruit but they aren’t big fans other than berries and if they get the merest whiff of veg in their dinner they won’t go near it. I despair!! x
I can always rely on sweet potatoes and peas – most other vegetables Mabel goes through fazes. Some fruit as well actually – she used to love raspberries and for the last week has refused them. And even though we restrict her/she doesn’t necessarily ask for sugary foods she can sniff out a digestive from 100 paces if I’m eating one!!! x
B’s nursery seem to give them sooo much food! She has shreddies and crumpets for breakfast, followed by fresh or dried fruit for snack mid morn, a giant lunch from a very varied menu and then dessert (like banana and custard!). If she did afternoons, they have a high tea and more fruit and veg. She’s become very fussy at home lately, so I’m just happy she’s being nourished!
I like the fact we see our nurseries menu and love the sound of Mabel’s even more…!!!
When we left the meeting my husband asked for the recipes (!) – the lentil cottage pie was amazing!
High Tea sounds rather fancy – and it does sound as though B is getting lots of fruit and veg x
We’ve been weaning for 2 months now and this process, along with Jamie Oliver’s new superfood book has made me really interested in nutrition and what actually makes a balanced diet. Previously I’ve done fad diets or very restrictive diets like giving up sugar completely but now I try and approach things in a more balanced way, as I do with Juliet’s diet.
She starts nursery in 6 weeks (sob!) and I’ve not had a chat with them about food yet but this has prompted me to send an email. I think everything in moderation is the route we’ll go down, unless they are offering cake every day. If that were the case then when would it be a treat?!?
A friend of mine has older children in primary school and she has said that although she’s grateful for the free school dinners, the daily dessert means her son expects the same at home and it’s taken a battle for him to realise at home it will mostly be fruit or yoghurt and not something with custard!
We have been combining weaning with JO’s Superfoods book too! Every recipe has been a winner with Fern!
Hi both, our nursery mentioned that some of the new recipes are from JO’s superfoods book, I don’t have it myself yet but we have been watching the YV show. One for the Christmas list I think! x
I’m a childminder and mum of 2 (1 and 3). I find the whole eating / healthy eating thing a total minefield. I try to feed all the kids home cooked proper food and include lots of whizzed up veg in main meals so they can’t see them but the honest truth is the meals that get eaten best are the once a week easy supper I do of things like fish fingers mash and peas or sausage, waffles and baked beans. I despair with the amount of food I throw away each week – and that’s my kids included. My daughter is currently at 15 months only eating pretty much cereal and Ella’s fruit pouches and has been for 3 weeks. She throws an absolute wobbly food on floor if I dare give her anything else ( except of course the junk food nights)
As far as pudding is concerned I offer mine all fruit first – they must eat a little bowl and then if they are still hungry they can have yogurt, custard, jelly and yes cake or crumble or ice cream. I figure the majority of the time they have had enough and they are busy and growing and it’s a balanced ish diet.
I am jealous of the mums who can be strong enough to not give their kids a biscuit / treat to shut them up occasionally when they are making a scene in public or you are just totally knackered at the end of the week.
X
Karena every child is different and no-one is judging you for giving in to ice-cream or crumble. I’m lucky as Mabel seems to enjoy fruit and (some) veg but if she didn’t and refused to eat I’m sure I might cave too if I thought she would go hungry. The “hiding” veg in dessert type foods is a good idea – you can batch cook lots of things so it might be worth a try. Deliciously Ella has some good (and fairly easy) recipes on her blog x
Don’t be jealous of other mum Karena. You are doing a great job as both a mum and a childminder by the sounds of it! You don’t know what those parents do when you’re not around, and honestly if you enjoy a sweet treat every so often as a pick-me-up when you’re feeling grumpy or rubbish, then my feeling is why shouldn’t your child? In moderation of course (both mum and kids!). We often have crumble as a pudding – I put oats in the topping and it’s always over 50% fruit, serves with plain yoghurt I think it’s a fantastic choice. My mum makes it with brown flour to be even healthier but I draw the line at that!
x
I put ground almonds and oats in mine ( with white flour) it’s yummy!! X
Mmmm ground almonds is a good idea – will be trying that one!
Until fairly recently Juliet was looked after at home but because our setup changed we have recently sent her to nursery (which she absolutely loves).
They have a kitchen on site so we know that everything is made from scratch, with no nasties or preservatives included, they have a full time cook working there. While they don’t go as far as trying to go low-gluten, the kids there are definitely offered at least 7 varieties of fruit and veg a day, starting with their morning snack (a selection of chopped up fruit, prepared by the preschoolers no less, with breadsticks), and that theme is continued throughout the day – encouraging them to engage with making food and making healthy decisions.
They do offer pudding every day, which we said was fine (if the child hasn’t made much of an effort with their lunch they get fruit instead) and It’s not all cake – I just checked and they have cake maybe 1.5 times a week (it’s a four week menu!) with fruit salad, strawberry mousse, low sugar fruit jelly, etc all making an appearance. It did make me sad the number of children that had ‘no pudding’ under their names in the allergy section too.
I think our attitude is that it’s all about moderation. Having said that, it’s amazing how quickly a 3yo can wear you down with incessant demands for a lollipop…!
Hi Sara! Thanks so much for sharing your nursery info, sounds fairly similar to Mabel’s. I drew the line at the custard thing – it’s literally a few table spoons once a week and as everything else is so nutritious/ low sugar I figured it was a nice treat for her. I think the engagement with making/learning about food is a really great idea – and so important x
Definitely – we looked at a lot of nurseries before choosing this one and although it wasn’t as shiny and new looking as some of the others, I really liked the focus on developmental skills – taking themselves to the toilet, helping prepare food, things like that, whereas the other ones I saw really pushed that they’d get the preschoolers writing before they started school – which baffled me, isn’t that what school is FOR?! I’d rather she could put her own socks on, that would make my life far easier…!
Ha ha ha!!!! They do a lot of outside play at Mabel’s nursery – in most weather conditions (her bag is bigger than the one I take to work as you have to send so much stuff!) and learn a lot about nature, animals and the weather…as well as doing a lot of creative crafts. We were so impressed with it when we went to visit initially, and it just so happens it’s 2 minutes down the road (!). The developmental skills are also a big focus, Mabel is doing so many things for herself now x
I have two very hungry boys who eat pretty much whatever they are offered, they love broccoli and kale (yes really!) and eat plenty of fruit. I do however have quite a relaxed attitude when it comes to treats, I found that as they started going to more parties (especially at soft play centres) I’d be heard uttering ridiculous things like “please finish your pizza and crisps before you start on the cake and biscuits”!
we have wholesome home cooked veg filled meals in the week with plenty of exercise at various sports clubs (swimming, rugby, football) and then pizza tea on Saturday in front of a film!
Hi Amy, it’s all about balance isn’t it – I’m under no illusions that as Mabel gets older she’ll be faced with all sorts of decisions with regards her diet, I just hope she’ll make the right ones more often than the wrong ones. And of course that she enjoys healthy food – and at the same time feels she can try Pizza! x
Indeed! we are lucky that our nursery (youngest is 3.5yrs) have a ‘healthy’ approach – lots of outdoor activities, grow their own fresh produce, have chickens and ducks who lay eggs which they collect on a daily basis etc. They do not offer pudding to children under 1 year of age. However, Seth now happily enjoys a good mix of fruit salads, Treacle sponge, flapjacks etc…balance is key and I do think that sometimes making something ‘not allowed’ can just increase the desire to have it and lead to unhealthy associations/ relationships with food one way or another later in life. Plus, who doesn’t love a it of cake!
Nursery food is a rather big issue for me at the moment, even though my nursery are fantastic when it comes to food.
I had to hunt hard for a nursery that didn’t serve cake or biscuits twice a day as standard.
Thankfully my nursery usually serve fruit or yoghurt with meals, as a dessert substitute. I think cake or biscuits are offered twice a week on a rotating basis.
I love the idea of swapping refined sugar for honey or maple syrup, and think it’s a great idea but it still needs to be only a couple of times a week. Cake is just cake to my two, they aren’t able to differentiate between refined sugar and maple syrup.
I have an incredibly sweet tooth, which is more than a bit of a sugar addiction. I often diet by replacing meals with chocolate (I know, it’s pretty horrendous).
I’ve reached my pre-pregnancy weight three times in the 20 months since Lincoln was born and always gained again as soon as the chocolate and cakes make a reappearance.
In January, at my healthiest and fittest I’ve ever been (green juice every day and loads of veggies), I gave up chocolate and cake. In the following two weeks I lost 4kg, which tells you exactly how much cake I was actually eating before!
I don’t want my two to get in the same place as me, but already Seren is showing signs of the addiction. We have almighty meltdowns every time she asks for chocolate and doesn’t get it (several times a day).
She is refusing everything at nursery, so yesterday she ate one piece of toast and three crackers all day….. she came home ravenous and crying because she was so hungry, but had refused to even take a bite of the nursery food, which is lovely,
We’ve had no kitchen for eight weeks and so the kids have had nothing but freezer food for most of it, which is taking it’s toll. Plus potato waffles and fish fingers also seem to be a bit addictive. My boiled potatoes and fish are not going to go down well!
Once the kitchen is in next week, we are going to get back to baking with unrefined sugar. That way they can have treats, but they have to go through the exercise of baking first, rather than thinking it’s a quick fix for hunger, by just popping to the shops.
It’s more of a minefield than I was expecting it to be, especially as Seren ate anything and everything up until 2 and a half, including white fish as a favourite meal.
Thanks for sharing Lora. I’ll admit to being very much the same – for years my breakfast was either nothing or a four finger kitkat. I have never wanted to encourage Mabel to think this is in anyway ok so James and I have made a conscious effort to eat/cook a wide variety of nutritious meals. At the same time not trying to hide from her the fact kitkats exist in the first place – Christmas is going to be interesting with all those tins of celebrations….!
Have you tried using sweet potato? It works for Mabel it would seem – peas too. There are also quick and easy recipes on line for making your own chicken nuggets/fish fingers so might be worth a try – at least you will know exactly what’s going into them and can cut our preservatives and salt x
Ha, I don’t mind Christmas so much, the fun of it overtakes the worry over too many sweets.
Lincoln will eat peas, but Seren thinks the devil made them.
Sweet potato is fine, as long as I can find the white skinned ones, if it’s the orange ones, neither will touch it, even though it tastes EXACTLY the same!
Yes I’m going to look into making my own chicken nuggets and fish fingers. Chicken nuggets especially as Seren won’t touch chicken breast (but chicken sausages are fine….. argh).
I will probably be a lone voice by the looks of it but i don’t have a problem with nursery puddings, or puddings at home for that matter. Sugar is sugar – it’s the same molecular structure whether it’s in an orange or in a party ring. In fact you would have to eat 3 party rings to consume the equivalent weight of sugar that is contained in an orange and IT IS THE SAME SUGAR! It’s the same calories and the same affect on rotting your teeth and making you put on weight if you don’t burn it off. Now I’m not suggesting *for one minute* that you substitute fruit for biscuits but this anti-sugar drive at present is making me mad. I have a BSc and PhD in Biochemistry so I can tell you for a fact that sugar is sugar in the majority of cases (with the exception e.g. of manufactured high fructose corn syrups, mostly found in soda). Babies and small children need lots of calories and these should come from a range of foods, not exclusively from sugary items but there is absolutely nothing wrong (in my opinion) with children eating puddings at nursery. At my daughter’s nursery pudding consists of yoghurts, fruits, banana and custard, eve’s pudding, crumbles, flapjacks, sponge cakes etc., all homemade. I feel utterly sad and despondent when I hear of children who aren’t allowed to eat these things, I believe it teaches our children nothing about nutrition or a balanced diet to restrict certain food groups and certainly doesn’t encourage a healthy balanced diet or (heaven forbid!) an enjoyment of food.
One of the things I like about RMF is the intention not to “judge” others on their choices but I fully expect to be judged by others on my choice, as apparently it’s not very fashionable to let your kids eat anything which “contains sugar”! And yes I am aware that I am being a bit “judgy” about those who think puddings are the work of Satan but I don’t see how else to get my (strong) opinion across.
Oh and my daughter is a very good eater, who eats more variety, including fruit and vegetables, than most other toddlers I know!
Hi Sophie. Nothing wrong with pudding in my eyes either! Although I knew fruit was sugary I didn’t actually know it was the same. My girls are obsessed with sweet treats and I do try (but fail miserably). One is stick thin and survived for 6 months on pasta and biscuits and the other is cuddlier shall we say so no rhyme or reason to it. Both have perfect teeth according to their dentist. I very much live by everything in moderation and really wanted them not to see chocolate/puddings as a bad thing. I do wish they ate more fruit though. Thank you so much for sharing with us and I think there are plenty of mums out there who don’t mind the odd pudding for littles (or themselves!). xxx
Definitely agree with everything in moderation. I guess my ranting was just a symptom of being made to feel recently that sugar is evil, when I do not believe it is, based on my scientific training. There is a difference in some sugars but in the majority of cases there is no real (molecular) difference. We also have to remember that fruit sugars can be seriously damaging for teeth so good dental hygeine is key, as well as plenty of exercise for the littlies!
Nice to know I am not the only one with this outlook as I feel a bit ostracised sometimes!
Nope, we’re the same.
I also allow my daughter to eat raisins, which in some circles is the equivalent of giving your child crack. I just roll my eyes, I can’t be doing with it.
Though she’s not allowed any M&S Belgian chocolate covered raisins. They’re mine. I hide them under the cushion on the sofa when she comes in. .
Haha Sara you are awesome!! 🙂
The irony is that Evelyn actually has a really brilliant diet in my opinion, loves eating at the table with us, eating out and trying new foods but I am treated like a bit of a pariah in some circles for my acceptance of cake!!
This has made me LOL!!!!
I now feel rather cool/rebellious in my inclusion of raisins in my otherwise virtuous porridge…
“Dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar free…..but with a generous sprinkle of crack”
How do you take yours?
🙂 x
Not judging at all, people have to make their own choices for their kids.
For me, it’s the fact that I will happily substitute real meals for chocolate of cake, and so not getting a proper diet with all the things my body needs.
Seren is also this way, and has regularly refused her favourite foods and seconds later said “I’m hungry mummy, I NEED chocolate”.
So treats are fine, but I prefer to limit them, so that they don’t become replacements for actual food with the nutrients they need/
x
….. sorry, another thought….
which was why I chose a nursery that didn’t serve cake that often. I don’t think it’s fair for other children to get cake, while they don’t – I’d rather it just wasn’t served at all, than mark them the odd one out who wasn’t allowed them.
Everything in moderation….. I’d be a big fat liar if I didn’t pretend that I ate Quality Street for breakfast, that were left over from the Halloween trick or treaters…. oops.
I sent our left over Trick or treats in a plastic bag with James to take to work, those fizzy sweets sat in the cupboard were far too tempting!!! x
Well said. I’m with you all the way Sophie! No judgement pants on here ?
Yay! These comments have cheered me up when I was having a “crappy mother” day. Thanks folks x
Completely agree with you. The world is becoming obsessed, yet we are becoming more and more unhealthy??!
Sitting with children at school, I see so many fussy eaters and children who barely eat anything and have no energy to work. It’s so upsetting. A bit of cake and custard is sometimes all they eat- but it’s fuel and kids are so active, they soon burn it off.
I think you have to set your children an example at home by eating a balanced diet yourself and showing an enjoyment for all different food groups.
So far my little boy eats anything and everything. Chocolate buttons included.
I don’t have a PhD in biochemistry so I may be wrong, but surely glucose and fructose are different? The sugar in fruit is naturally occurring, whereas the sugar in chocolate and biscuits isn’t. It’s refined and added. And often lots of it. I have a friend who is lactose intolerant (a trype of sugar) but is totally fine with a bowl of grapes or an apple. I think the point is that fruit contains lots useful minerals and vitamins that are good for us. Chocolate and sweets are just junk. By all means give it to children on occasion if you want to (we all enjoy it as adults every now and then so why not?), but it’s about getting the balance right and realising that really, it offers no nutritional benefit whatsoever. Separately though, I think artificially sweet pudding every day is a bit bizarre. Most adults don’t eat like that, so no idea why anyone would think it was a good idea for children.
Our nursery doesn’t give ‘puddings’ as such – it’s always fruit. I think they do give cake as an occasional treat, once or twice a month, however as my son has a milk allergy he doesn’t get given the cake! We also have high tea which means he does eat 4 times a day!
Our council has a ‘golden apple’ award for nurseries and their food, which most of the ones I looked at had been awarded.
At home we make all his food with the odd Ella’s kitchen pouch. We are lucky that he it’s a gutsy little soul who eats anything and everything! There hasn’t been one fruit or vegetable he doesn’t like. I’m waiting for this to change!!
Claire Ella’s Kitchen pouches are great – we always have stock in the cupboard. Mabel has liked them all, like your son Mabel will at least try everything and seems to favour lots of flavour and spices. On Tuesday evening she happily tucked into some chicken fajitas (!) x
This is a really interesting read – I might send a link to my daughter’s nursery!
My little one is just over 2 now and she started nursery a year ago. I’ve always made clear that I don’t want her to have any refined sugar. She just doesn’t need it and she doesn’t know what she is missing. The nursery buys Petit Filous (or the like) which is full of sugar. I have asked that they buy her the Yeo Valley / Ella’s Kitchen refined sugar free alternatives. Now that she is older, she refers to her yoghurt as “big girl” yoghurt. As you say, it is hard to impose rules such as “no puddings” when others are tucking in – which is why I think it’s more important that care-givers adapt their offering. I’ve asked the nursery why they don’t buy the same sugar-free yoghurts for everyone, it seems like a no-brainer! It’s also relatively easy to bake sugar-free cakes and biscuits. The Annabel Karmel carrot and pineapple muffins are delicious! My little one is still happy with the Organix range of biscuits. With a little forethought, I think it can be quite easy to cut out the nasties but for children to still enjoy treats.
You’re right that the key is balance – I don’t want to be a total refusenik and find that she binges on sweet things when she can. Now that my daughter is a bit older, she has cake at parties or the odd biscuit or chocolate treat. She understands that it’s a treat but is equally happy with some oranges or grapes.
About food more widely, I take a note of the menu at nursery at the start of the week and then ensure that my daughter’s dinner that evening is something in a different food group, e.g. if she has had a vegetable pasta bake for lunch, I’ll ensure that she has some protein in the evening. I’m sure I’m over-thinking it and our parents’ generation weren’t nearly as conscientious!
Hi Shelly,
It’s worth clarifying (I’m sure you’re aware) that the Yeo Valley yoghurts are not sugar-free. I have heard other people say that are but it’s incorrect. The “Little Yeo” ones contain over 4g of sugar in each tiny pot, slightly less than petite filous. Yes the sugar comes from fruit but all sugar comes from a natural source (i.e. sugar cane or sugar beet) – so yes they are free of “refined sugar” (sucrose) as you say, but contain “natural” sugar (fructose). Some studies have actually indicated that fructose (fruit sugar) could actually be more harmful to health than sucrose (refined sugar).
The only option that could be regarded as “sugar-free” is plain natural yoghurt although of course that also contains sugar in the form of lactose (plain greek yoghurt is around 5% sugar). Similarly Organix biscuits do contain sugar – it’s not added but all fruit contains fructose which is why the biscuits do have a sugar content.
Hope this helps clarify some points for other readers.
Sophie
So this is our first week at our new nursery (so far, not really so good on the being left front. Heart. Breaking.) and I’m yet to get to grips with their menus. I was pretty happy with the previous nursery, lots of fruit and veg, which he apparently always ate… although there did always seem to be a lot of parties including cake… and also malt loaf which I didn’t realise contains loads of sugar. But hey ho, I figured he only had it sparingly and in comparison to all the things he ‘should’ be eating, it was fairly infrequent.
Anyway. I have a feeling that the new nursery is more nutritionally focussed than the previous and this post has spurred me to have more of a conversation with them about it. When I dropped Leo this morning his teacher asked me if it was ok for him to go on a trip out with them this morning… To the market… To look at real fruit and veg… To touch it and to learn about buying fresh produce and then on their return they would learn about cooking it. Turns out they have ‘cooking school’ every Thursday. My heart was overjoyed. The don’t even play with fake food at the nursery, they use all real produce. They were pretending to cut open a real life coconut on Monday when I went to collect him.
So, so far so good and I have really high hopes for some new ideas from their menus. We’re pretty good at getting our 5 fruit and veg in a day at home but only until recently really. I have always offered him fruit and vegetables but it’s taken him a long time to warm to them. I watched a documentary when he was much younger about a child’s natural instinct to disregard anything that might be green or resemble a leaf for fear of poison, so I wouldn’t worry too much if it takes a while to get littles to enjoy all the ‘good’ things.
I’ve just tried to make things more fun for him. He is currently obsessed with oranges. And I’m talking like, big person size oranges because I quarter them and just let him bite into them and suck all the juice out. Messy, yes on occasion but fun on every occasion. It’s kind of become routine that we have a fruit salad when he gets in form nursery (as like you say with Mabel, he is still always hungry – or so he says) and so we have a nice bowl each of everything from carrot sticks, to grapes and bananas and oranges. Helps me get some of my 5 a day in too.
This is a really interesting post Charlotte and has got my brain ticking – thank you! I feel I’ve been a bit in the dark about what Freya’s nursery actually offers as from day 1, I have always prepared her lunch and snacks myself (does anyone else’s nursery charge for meal’s?) I already pay a fortune per day for this nursery and they request an extra £4 a day for lunches, or else you just have to take your own in. The only thing with this is they won’t heat anything up so Freya has a cold lunch when she’s there. I don’t mind so much as it’s only 2 days pw at the moment, however, there’s only so many cold options you can do without getting bored quickly. There have been only two occasions where Freya has had the cooked lunch (prepared in house by the chef’s) and both times she refused it. In the morning’s they offer toast, fruit and water and in the afternoon, it’s usually oatcakes / fruit / breadsticks etc. Regardless, I still prep fruit every day to pack because it always seems to get eaten. I’d be interested to know if anyone else packs lunches and what you pack? I need more inspo!! 🙂
Hi Sarah – that’s interesting, at least you do know what Freya is eating every day. We have lots of features in the pipeline for healthy/nutritious recipes and snack ideas for children. Cold wise Mabel loves a wholemeal wrap with cheese and tomato in, she’ll dip it in Hummus (usually getting most in her hair and on the floor…) but she does like cold cooked chicken with some kind of tomato/spicy-ish coating too x
The kids I mind eat cold egg ‘muffins’ it’s basically an omelette with whatever you like added chucked into a cupcake tin and cooked in oven for 15/20 mins . You can freeze and then defrost, blast in microwave or eat hot or cold. The kids I mind tend to eat 2 for lunch with a selection of veg chopped up alongside.
Also have you heard of the little thermos food things. Jojo sell a specific child one but you can buy from John Lewis etc. You can put hot food in and it stays warm really well so could be an option?
Some kids I mind bring lunch sometimes if we are doing a day trip and they bring all sorts – cous cous salad / pasta salad / soup in thermos / sandwiches / cold boiled eggs / sausages wrapped in foil that stay warm / breadsticks with dip pots. Hope that helps X
Very helpful Karena! Thank you! I’ll look into jojo thing! This opens up a lot of options for me! 🙂
Oh that sounds great Charlotte – I look forward to that! Thanks for the wrap idea too! I did try this a while ago without success but you’ve inspired me to try it again! x
Sophie- thank you for pointing out in a far better way than me that sugar is sugar whether it comes from blueberries or donuts! The current band wagon of restricting refined sugar and replacing it with honey/maple syrup/agave syrup drives me crazy! I’ve watched friends brag about how their child has never had sugar and then feed them “sugar free muffins” that contain half a jar of honey! In fact my dentist (herself a mother of two young boys) said the worst offenders for tooth decay in pre-schoolers are raisins and fruit smoothies!
With my 2.5 year old I stick by the principles I grew up with… no food is banned, but everything is in moderation. Her nursery has an on site chef who is trained in nutrition and I love hearing the diverse things that E gets to eat when she’s there (she eats far better than me!). They don’t offer puddings every day, but tend to have some sort of cake at least once a week.
As it is she loves biscuits and chocolate, but would choose a plate of broccoli over anything else in the world.
My favourite story of how crazy us parents can be is from a weekend away years ago, which my friend brought her then 2 year old to. One of the girls had made some yummy millionaires shortbread and asked if the 2 year old was allowed any… the Mum then took the piece delicately nibbled off all the chocolate and passed it to her son… apparently they didn’t want him to “taste chocolate until he was at least 5″… but obviously the caramel and shortbread were perfectly ok!!!
Said little boy is now 5… and it turns out his grandparents had been sneaking him chocolate on the side for years and guess what…he’s not obese, still eats his veg and is a 100% normal little boy!
Sounds like a great attitude Sara. I too hate the “sugar-free” craze as it fools people into thinking some things are healthy when they are far from it. A balance of broccoli and biscuits is the way forward! 🙂
Sara, I’m pretty ignorant on this subject but I remember watching one of those (generally pretty awful) “Eat Well for Less” shows on the Beeb with that annoying man from Masterchef. They had one ‘test’ that was very interesting in my view looking at how much sugar there was in kids drinks – one of the worst offenders was Innocent smoothies and other ‘healthier’ options – worse than many fizzy drinks. Obviously fruit has lots of beneficial things in it but it was really surprising because the reality is that if you’re looking at SUGAR as the enemy then lots of these apparently ‘healthy’ products on the market (and often marketed as health – cereals are pretty bad also) just aren’t at all.
I still find it hard to pull myself out of that mindset that sugar is bad but natural sugar isn’t – but I completely agree with you about how the messaging here has got really mixed up and is confusing people (including me!). It’s naughty really.
My favourite story of how crazy us parents can be is from a weekend away years ago, which my friend brought her then 2 year old to. One of the girls had made some yummy millionaires shortbread and asked if the 2 year old was allowed any… the Mum then took the piece delicately nibbled off all the chocolate and passed it to her son… apparently they didn’t want him to “taste chocolate until he was at least 5″… but obviously the caramel and shortbread were perfectly ok!!!
Said little boy is now 5… and it turns out his grandparents had been sneaking him chocolate on the side for years and guess what…he’s not obese, still eats his veg and is a 100% normal little boy!
I went to a 1st birthday party recently and said mummy had made a mini sugar free cake for her daughter and sugar free goodies and then had a table FULL of junk food for everyone else’s kids including gigantic chocolate cake piled with sweets – go bloody figure !!
The diet at Frankie’s nursery is super varied and really healthy, the focus being being that it’s a balanced diet. In fact, she eats better than I do… When she was weaning I was keen that she didn’t eat anything that wasn’t healthy – she didn’t have chocolate until she was 1. She simply didn’t know what chocolate was, so didn’t know what deliciousness she was missing out on!
But I have to admit, it is harder now that she is older. Now that she’s 3.5, I do let her have SOME chocolate and sweets on a weekend. I don’t believe in a blanket ban, everything in moderation. She knows that these are a treat, just as she knows that veg is good for her tummy.
She does have cake and “party food” at nursery now too, they have little tea parties for special occasions and that’s fine. I don’t want to be the mum that makes her miss out on something when her friends are sat there tucking in – I’m not sure what message that sends. Plus, they make up for it with the other food that she eats during that day.
Her nursery send out a monthly meal plan too and when she was smaller I got tons of inspiration from it – now she eats what we eat. I think the key is in education, she needs to know that treats are just that and that healthy food is just that too.
I’m trying not to think about what she’ll be eating when she’s 15.
Holly absolutely – it’s about educating them about food, balance and understanding. I wouldn’t want to deny Mabel anything, who knows – that method may mean she goes OTT in later life or something (!) I’m trying to let her know that a treat is a treat….and kitkats are not appropriate breakfast foods (they were my preferred 8am snack) 🙂 x
My little is nearly 15 months, and has been at nursery for just over six months. What I like about her nursery (although I suspect that she’s too young to be participating in it fully just yet!!) is that they have a little vegetable patch in the outdoors space, and the older children look after the vegetables, and then eat them at snack time once they’re ready!! The nursery is on the university campus where I work, and they recently took some of the children out of the annual ‘fruit route’ events they hold to collect apples that grow on the campus. There were huge piles of them for parents to take home, and they were encouraging the older children to bake with them, and bring in photos and recipes of what they did! We’re trying to grow stuff in our garden, so I’m looking forward to her helping with that soon!!
Amy – I think our children go to the same nursery!! Small world….
Having reread your earlier post, I think I would have to agree – the Eve’s pudding sounds very familiar (and I’d never heard of it before she started at nursery!!). It really is a small world!!
Thanks for your earlier posts too – much more scientific than I could have put it, but I totally agree!!!
It must be the same – the Eve’s pudding is the clincher! Thanks for your kind comment. Hope your daughter is enjoying her time at nursery.
Amy what a wonderful idea! I was writing a press piece earlier about Motherhood and said how I’m looking forward to cooking/baking with Mabel when she’s a little older and can understand a bit more. This has given me some great inspiration thanks – my parents grow loads of lovely cooking apples x
Great post, Charlotte – this is something that I’m quite keen to get ‘right’ if I can because I feel like I’m a little bit of an example of how to get it ‘wrong (hah). My mum is a real health food fiend and, growing up, was pretty restrictive in terms of sweets that we were allowed. McDonalds were pretty much banned except for maybe once a year and we were allowed one or two chocolate things every so often. There were exceptions (Christmas!) but, generally, we were a health-eating household. But that made my fascination with all things chocolate much worse – to the point where, when I was old enough to buy my own sweets (in my teens), I became known as the ‘junk food queen’ at school! Actually quite embarrassing now, it’s written in my yearbook and everything. I think moderation is definitely the key and not making sweet things out to be some sort of forbidden fruit. Having said that – my brother never turned into a junk food devotee so it may have just been me…!
If anyone is interested in reading more about things like the sugar debate then can really recommend The Diet Myth by Tim Spector for a no nonsense scientific (but not too scientific for simple brains like mine!!) take on subjects like sugar and fat etc. Easy to get swept away with the whole ‘sugar-free’ craze when people like Davina mccall (and let’s be honest – she’s a celeb, not a nutritionist!) are publishing sugar-free cookbooks where the recipes are just loaded with ‘other’ sugars. Guess it’s very hard to find the right balance between wanting littlies to eat healthily, but also eat ‘normally’ and not be restricted too much – be able to enjoy sugary treats now and again, especially at parties with their little friends.. I mean, parties are allllll about the cake! My first baby is due in January so I guess I have all these dilemmas to come 🙂 Great post, really interesting reading everyone’s comments too. Loving the blog so far RMF 🙂 x
Lots of interesting views. I agree with the everything in moderation argument and concur that banning foods can be just as damaging as over indulging. Likewise the scientific fundamental truth that sugar is sugar regardless of source.
My stance remains though, a BABY does not need to consume a traditional pudding comprising refined sugar on a daily basis. And as far as I can gather from my peers (I’m in a very active uk-wide Facebook group of over 50 Mums of babies born 01/15 and have encountered countless local Mums since having Fern) this routine offering of traditional sweet desserts to babies at nursery seems to be the norm. Let’s hope the debate spreads!
I was horrified when I started viewing nurseries – some of the food I saw the children eating was less than nutritious! I have always chosen to feed my little girl organic milk and organic whole foods, so putting her into a nursery which offered sugar coated processed cereals for breakfast (and snacks!) and then pudding after pudding was an absolute no no. I have managed to find a great nursery which says it will offer organic milk and a good proportion of organic ingredients. She is due to start next April… Unfortunately many nurseries don’t allow you to bring in your own food for your children to a certain extent you cannot chose what they eat. There is so much work to be done on nutrition in nurseries and schools, I hope they all improve in time. I guess cost is the biggest barrier, good quality fresh organic food is unfortunately very expensive but carries so many benefits for health and animal welfare.
This is such a great article! In the early years with my first daughter, we used a nursery and it was great, they cooked from scratch every day but as you say, they often also had a pudding. They did try to make it fruit quite often but not often enough. It would have been better to have had fruit or just have ‘cake’ making an occasional appearance (everything in moderation). Part of the problem is that there are no specific guidelines for under 5’s so it is a really hard one to follow/police for nurseries etc. What I would say however that I do not agree with giving children under 1 any processed sugar as they simply don’t need it. Speaking to parents I find that they are often scared that their baby/toddler (under 1) will acquire an unnecessary sweet tooth early on if their nursery/carers give them sweetened products; cakes, biscuits etc. I agree with them as this was always my worry. Once a child hits the toddler years and onwards then I too agree with a lot of your commentators that it’s all about a healthy balance. Regarding ‘hiding’ vegetables, my own personal view is quite simple really; children need to see the vegetables and understand that what they are enjoying eating them. Most children will happily eat them if introduced to them early on (I know not all). Whilst it is nice to have blended sauces with veg in, it’s also great for them to have mini chopped up veg that they can identify and not be unsure of in the future. I have devised a range of baby/toddler healthy frozen food and purposefully put mini chopped veg in most of them so children can see what they’re eating. I know it doesn’t work for all children but hopefully this is a good start! 🙂
What an interesting article and brilliant comments!
I think I probably fall, as many of us seem to, between the ‘no sugar at all’ and the ‘eat as much custard as is humanly possible’ stalls. I don’t particularly like my son having too much sugar but mainly for the reason that he goes crazy, then crashes and it’s no fun for any of us.
I do think it’s great if you’re able to send your child to a nursery that makes all their meals with organic, sugar-free ingredients but in reality this just isn’t possible for a large number of parents – many of whom would love their child to attend this kind of nursery but can’t for whatever reason. I adore my son’s nursery as they have been amazing with him through a difficult operation he had a year ago and a really bad spell of biting and shoving and so when he ‘bakes’ two digestive biscuits sandwiched together with condensed milk, topped with blue icing, I can kind of forgive them as the positives of him being there far outweigh the occasional sugar-laden activity.
However, I feel much more strongly about the amount of salt that children are consuming. It’s hidden in food that I wouldn’t have expected – tuna in spring water (rather than brine), canned tomatoes, oven chips. Even Annabel Karmel ready meals for toddlers have salt added. If toddlers have 2 slices of bread it can add up to the majority of their daily allowance which is crazy. I believe this is far more harmful to young children that crumble and custard!
Bit late to this – I’d also be more interested to hear more about lower salt foods and ideas. I don’t really add salt to any of my toddlers home cooked food but he loves a ham sandwich, mini breadsticks, pasta and pesto, plus toast at nursery etc so I imagine he’s having far too much. It’s really difficult getting the balance right. I try and get ideas from toddler cook books etc but to be honest they are usually rejected whereas pasta pesto never is! He also eats lots of fruit and some veg – cucumber, chopped tomatoes, broccoli, carrots but would live off plain carbs if I let him. However he is extremely strong and active so imagine he just needs the energy!
This is super late to the party but I found this thread really interesting and since my daughter was born at the start of 2015 a big part of our lives!!! We actually took our daughter out of her first nursery after just two weeks, a large part due to the menu (there were other problems). We were/are trying to keep food home cooked, no added salt (accepting there is enough salt in things like bread, cheese etc), high fat (especially as our daughter is on the slim side so we add cream to porridge, avocado is our friend etc etc) and – before around 12 months – no refined sugar (so sugar came in fruit/natural form only). So the nursery we removed our daughter from….she was ten months old and the nursery gave babies of this age biscuits (from a packet, not home made) every single day, on top of a pudding every day after lunch. And pudding the first week included chocolate cake one day, some other cake another day, ice-cream (with fruit) another day, even the yoghurt they gave another day was that artificial fruit flavoured stuff whereas we are sticking to natural yoghurt). We don’t want any food to be banned but don’t see cakes and biscuits as necessary in the very early months – what we decided from when she was around 12 months (and we could see that she noticed if we were not giving her a certain food) was if we chose to have a cake/biscuit/dessert in front of her, she would share a bit with us. It helps us regulate our own choices too. We also are planning on never offering a sweet thing as a treat; we just want cakes and biscuits to be part of our daughter’s diet in the right proportion but never given “special status”. Although who knows if our resolve will break when she properly starts asserting her independence on us or we need to start potty training!!!!! We are really happy with her new nursery now…haven’t spotted biscuits or chocolate on the menu and they give a “cake like” pudding like sponge or crumble once or twice a week, other days it might be rice pudding, custard etc etc, which is the right kind of balance we were looking for.
Hey! I’ve just read through most of the comments. I found this site this evening as I am at a loss with my daughters nursery. The care is fantastic the meals are quite frankly ridiculous or should I say the puddings. T’s key worker writes in her daily report everything she has eaten and how much she ate etc. I have stipulated no refined sugars apart from the odd treat of bananas and custard. Instead Ive asked for yogs and fruit like she gets at home (greek yog with fresh fruit). To digress a little I was brought up in the 80’s by my mum a nurse and dad a decorator. We typically had meat and 2 veg then meat with salad then meat curry when the roast had run out we might get a stew. If we were still hungry after a meal we would have a yog, piece of fruit or a slice of bread! Unless it was a special occasion or a treat for being ‘good’ we might have had a pudding/ice cream cake etc and sweets were never bought we were lucky to get a rich tea unless we went to grandma’s lol. So to bring it back T’s meals are pretty balanced at home lots of meat fish lentils fruit and veg dairy but she does not have refined sugar unless its a treat, family birthdays, meals in restaurants an occasion. Her ‘biscuits’ are plain oat cakes sometimes with peanut butter, ricecakes. Her chocolate is cacao balls (not everyday) Her cake is coconut macaroons with no refined sugar again not every day. So she isnt missing out on her childhood but everything she eats has nutritional value not empty calories. When you look at health issue like diabetes esp the issues with refined sugars and manmade sweetners feeding our little ones and saying oh its ok they wont get fat, they wont get holes in their teeth they wont get diabetes when they are 7 and have a limb amputated at 22 because its only a small amount! Well getting to my point now, when I totaled the amount of sugar T received at nursery in one day (8:20am-5:15pm) on a so called healthier option she had had 23g of sugar which is too high for a toddler her age. The pudding menues last week for weds thurs fri was Angel Delight, eaton mess, chocolate mousse flavoured yogs. I just dont get it. Even the key workers cant believe what is served to the toddlers some days?!?!?!?!?! I find it hard to just say well shes only there 3 days a week its not forever etc but Im finding it hard to stay quiet. Im trying to communicate with the staff at nursery but its falling on deaf ears and Im slowing loosing my cool over this.
At the end of the day sugar is ok as a treat but 3 times a day???? T doesnt beg for chocolate or sweets she doesnt run around like a loon after a treat because it was prob a chocolate ball (cacao ball) and I give my self a little high five when she asks for a rice cake and gets excited when she gets it as would a child asking for chocolate.
I dont judge others.
Im all about nurturing and teaching my daughter and showing her healthy nutritious food is tasty satisfying food.
My day job is extracting 3-14 year olds teeth…….heartbreaking especially the 3-5 year olds 🙁 Buts its not just about the teeth its about their health as a whole.
So yeah Im glad its not just me but also I know what people probably think of my attitudes to diet and nutrition.
We are moving soon so Im already on the hunt for a nursery that can give T are well balance diet as she gets at home. Just a shame I cant get this where she is now.