I spend most of my week answering messages from parents, and the same handful of questions come up again and again. Usually around the one year mark, when appetites change, nursery starts, and everything you had worked out stops applying.
So here are the ones I get asked most, with straight answers. Where a question is really one for a dietitian rather than me, I have said so.
Is it normal for my toddler to be hungry all the time?
Yes, and it is one of the most common things parents raise with me.
Around 12 to 18 months a lot of children go through a stretch where they eat constantly. They finish a meal, seem completely done, then spot food half an hour later and want that too. Parents often describe children who are slim, active, walking early and apparently bottomless.
Appetite varies enormously from day to day, and it is affected by growth stages, tiredness, activity levels and whether they are coming down with something. Most children regulate this reasonably well across a week rather than within a single day.
The thing worth holding onto is that what they are eating matters more than how much. A big appetite met with balanced, varied food is a very different situation from a big appetite met with whatever is easiest to hand.
When should I move from baby meals to toddler meals?
Our baby meals are designed for 6 to 12 months, and our toddler meals for 1 to 3 years. So the switch point is around your child's first birthday.
That said, quite a few parents get to 13 or 14 months before it clicks that their child has outgrown the baby portions, usually because everything else about that period is chaotic. If that is you, you have not done anything wrong. A hungry toddler eating baby portions plus extras from your plate is not a nutritional problem, it is just more work than it needs to be.
The practical signal is simple. If you are routinely topping up every meal with something else, you are probably ready for the bigger portion.
What is the difference between the baby and toddler portions?
For baby meals, mains are typically around 100g and boosters are 40 to 50g. Toddler meals are typically around 200g, with snacks around 90 to 100g. Portions can vary slightly, because everything is cooked fresh in our Battersea kitchen rather than filled to a machine weight.
The toddler option is the same texture as our bite-sized meals, just double the portion, so you are not changing what they eat, only how much of it arrives.
My toddler does not finish the whole meal. Is the portion too big?
Probably not. Our toddler meals are portioned for the average 4 year old, so if your child is younger, it is completely normal for them not to clear the plate. Portion sizes are also on the bigger side to allow for the amount that ends up on the floor, which at this age is considerable.
Keep any untouched leftovers in the fridge, or eat alongside them, which is useful role modelling anyway.
What we would not suggest is encouraging them to finish everything. Appetites fluctuate, and letting your child stop when they have had enough is generally better than a clean plate.
Do I need to add snacks, or are the meals complete?
Each delivery day includes two mains and a snack, which covers lunch, dinner and something in between. Breakfast is on you.
From around 12 months, most children are having one to two snacks a day alongside their meals. Plenty of the parents I speak to add fruit, yoghurt, or extra finger food vegetables around our meals, and that is a sensible way to do it.
If your child is at nursery part time, the pattern most parents settle into is breakfast at home, a mid-morning snack, our lunch, a snack after the nap, then our dinner. On nursery days, nursery covers the middle of the day and our meals fill the ends.
How do I feed around part-time nursery without doubling up?
You mostly do not need to worry about this as much as it feels like you should.
Nursery days genuinely do look different. Children often eat a full nursery day and then come home and eat again, and that is normal rather than a sign something has gone wrong. Rather than trying to calculate the total, it is usually easier to keep the shape of the day consistent and let your child regulate the amount.
What does help is telling nursery what your child's eating looks like at home, particularly around milk. If they are having a lot of milk in the morning or overnight, that can affect their appetite during the nursery day, and staff will not know unless you mention it.
My child has stopped drinking milk. How much dairy do I need to add?
This is the one I get asked most and the one I am least qualified to answer precisely, so I am not going to guess at numbers.
What I can say generally is that our dietitian Jo advises against going overboard on milk anyway, because nutrient dense drinks can fill children up and reduce their appetite for food. Bottles are usually best phased out after the age of one, for dental health as much as anything. Most children are also recommended a vitamin and mineral supplement up to the age of 5.
If you want an actual figure for calcium at your child's age, that is worth getting from a dietitian rather than a rough calculation. Jo does quick catch up calls with parents through us, and this is exactly the kind of thing worth booking one for.
Why did you replace wholewheat pasta with white pasta?
We rebalance the menu every season, and fibre is analysed carefully as part of that, because it is a fine balance for young children.
This season's menu includes a lot more dishes using beans and pulses, and more spelt in pasta and baked goods. That raised fibre elsewhere, so we took out some of the wholewheat and higher fibre elements to keep the overall balance right.
It is not a downgrade. It is the same total picture arriving through different dishes.
Can I change texture or portion size after I have started?
Yes, any time. If your first delivery is not the right texture or portion, you can change it in time for the next one.
You can also alternate. Some parents have two deliveries a week at one texture and the third at the next one up, which works well if your child is between stages. Email the team and we will set it up.
Our general advice when you are unsure is to go for the texture up from where they currently are. You can always mash it down with a fork or blitz it if it turns out to be a bit much.
How long do the meals keep?
Our regular baby and toddler meals arrive fresh and should be refrigerated. They are best on the day of delivery but keep in the fridge for up to two days. Rice dishes should be eaten within 24 hours.
The Ultimate Weaning Kit is packed differently, in vacuum sealed pouches designed for the programme, so those keep refrigerated for up to seven days.
Still stuck?
If your question is not here, email us at help@vandme.co.uk. If it is a feeding question rather than an ordering one, say so and we will point you to Jo.
