A MUM has come under fire for treating her tot’s nursery like ”a supermarket”.
The anonymous mother was slammed after she moaned her kid’s nursery doesn’t offer anything other than ”fancy” food to her son, 17 months, doesn’t eat.
The mum was ”a little irked” that the teachers don’t offer the tot anything else if he doesn’t eat what’s on the menu[/caption]
The woman, who forks out more than £400 for two half-days, said that she was first ”in awe of the menu and how established it was with a variety of foods”.
Although the meals have a ”home-cooked vibe”, the mother found the dishes – such as spag bol made with lamb instead of beef – ”quite fancy”.
However, the little one, she said in the post uploaded on Mumsnet, doesn’t seem to like the nursery food.
She said: ”We’ve changed his diet at home to eating what me & my partner eat and he does really well.
”He’s a bit funny with textures but he has changed drastically and does brilliantly at home.
”He rarely eats at nursery. Out of the whole of September, he’s eaten 2-3 portions of breakfast and maybe the mash from a lunch or the plain pasta from lunch.
”Today, I’ve looked on the nursery app to see if he’d eaten breakfast. Nope.”
The mum was also ”a little irked” that the teachers don’t offer the tot anything else if he doesn’t eat what’s on the menu.
”He’s offered one option of “beans on toast” and if he doesn’t eat it, he’s not offered cereal (which I know he would eat at least some of) or anything else.”
According to the furious mother, the nursery also prohibits parents from bringing their own food in due to the high risk of allergies.
”I’m getting a bit annoyed that we’re paying all the money and he’s not even being offered an alternative and he’s just not eating and their happy with that.
”I’m unsure whether to make a comment to them about just offering him something else.
”Like, today he was given beans on toast. He ate none.
”However, I know that he eats toast with butter all the time and he has had beans before, just mashed into a potato.”
The Mumsnet user, who claimed the family doesn’t get any funded hours, believed ”all children, regardless of financial status, should be entitled to healthy and nutritious food”.
”It just stings a little that we’re paying for the addition of food (compulsory) and he’s not eating anything.”
How can I help my fussy eater?
Whether your child is going through the “no” phase, or is adamant they only want to eat beige fruits, a mum has shared her tips to help fussy eaters.
Fabulous Senior Digital Writer and mum-of-two Sarah Bull reveals her experience with fussy eaters, and the tips and tricks she’s tried…
It can be infuriating, as well as worrying, when you’ve got a fussy child. Trust me, I know, I’ve got two of them! But there are some tips the NHS suggest that I’ve found helpful.
The first is not to worry about what your child does or doesn’t eat in a day. Think about a week instead, and see if their intake is balanced and healthy.
“If your child is active and gaining weight, and they seem well, then they’re getting enough to eat,” the NHS says on their website.
You should aim to include food from the four main food groups for your child – fruits and vegetables, starchy carbs, dairy and protein.
If they don’t seem to like a food the first time you offer it, don’t give up. According to research, it takes between eight and 15 times of offering the food before they will actually like it.
Try to eat with your child, and eat the same food. If they see you tucking in, they’re more likely to do so themselves.
Don’t overload their plate – you can always add more if they clear it, but having one loaded with food can often seem overwhelming.
Another thing to remember is not to overload kids with snacks. Two healthy snacks per day is “plenty”, according to NHS guidelines.
Something else I’ve found useful is to get your kids involved in the cooking process. My daughter has been much more willing to try new food if she’s made it herself.”
‘Your job to get your child to try new things’
The post, uploaded under the topic Am I Being Unreasonable?, has since taken the forum by storm – and it’s attracted huge criticism for the mother.
Many reckoned that the mum was treating the nursery like ”a supermarket”, with one person writing: ”They can’t just keep offering all the kids different foods until they eat something!”
Another chimed in: ”I understand your frustration but if he eats what you and his dad eat at home and you don’t offer an alternative then I’m unsure why you’re expecting the nursery to do the opposite?
”They cannot offer alternatives for every meal and doing so will most likely lead to him expecting alternatives to be offered at home too.”
”It is your job to get your child to try new things not theirs, they don’t have a supermarket out back for all the kids individual tastes,” a user slammed the mum.
Social media users also reckoned she might be better off getting ”a nanny” instead of sending her son to nursery – and pointed out how it was unfair to the teaching staff.
”If they offer an alternative for your child, then they have to do the same for every child and before they know it they have 30 kids eating 30 different breakfasts,”a Mumsnet reader said.
”It’s just not possible in a childcare setting with staff to child ratios.”
