Should I worry about protein and snacks?

[CharlotteandCharlie]

Hi ladies.  I am worried these days about dd and her snacking habits and lack of protein in her diet.  Any advice would be appreciated.

Here is our basic day:

Wake 7.30 - sippy cup 3%
8.30 try for breakfast ie, cereal and banana or pbj sandwich and banana or egg with melted cheese on it and banana
10.00 snack of fruit leather or granola bar or cereal depending on what success we had for breakfast (she's not a big breakfast girl)
11.30 lunch of soup with crackers and try for 1/2 a grilled cheese or tater tots and hot dog (wieners seem to be the only "meat" she will eat and it bothers me) followed by tomato or grapes. I would love some other suggestions for lunch here!
Nap from 12.30 to 2.30/3.00 wakes hungry and wants to be in the fridge or pantry all the time
After nap snack is almost always Cheese, pickles and olives.  Yes, she loves them all and is a salt girl. 
I usually end up giving her another fruit leather or yogurt or cottage cheese and she still wants in the fridge.  Holding her off for 5.30/6.00 until DH comes home is tuff.  I will give her fish crackers or crackers with melted cheese as well to tide her over.
Supper - she hardly ever eats what we do.  She will usually have pasta, loves veggies, and cottage cheese or bread and butter. 
6.30 sippy cup of milk
7.30 bed routine

She loves loves fruit and veggies and dairy but isn't so big on breads or meat. 

Should I be concerned about her wanting constantly in the fridge/pantry?
Should disallow the grazing in the fridge?
Should I be concerned that she doesn't eat tuna, salmon, chicken, beef, pork or eggs unless covered in cheese?

Oh the worries!

Thank you.  Charlotte

[tylersmommy]

Does she eat all her snacks/meals sitting at the table? If not, that might help with the grazing. It's really up to you whether or not to be concerned about it...

As for the meat eating, I wouldn't worry about it. It's really common for toddlers to turn their noses up at meat. The texture is different and lots of kids don't like it for a loooong time. I don't think my DS took a bite of chicken until he was 2.5 yo. Your DD's protein intake actually looks great. Dairy (esp cottage cheese) and peanut butter are great sources of protein. Iron intake is what you might want to keep an eye on, though. Most of us get iron from meat, but if your DD doesn't want to eat it, there are plenty of other ways to keep her iron up since more and more foods are iron-fortified. Egg yolks and iron-fortified foods (like cereal, etc) are good sources.

It looks like she eats lots of healthy foods...good for you!

[lilmonkey]

Looks like your lo likes soup for lunch.  Do you make your own broth?  I use chicken or ribs with veggies to make the soup base for dd and load it up with the shredded meat, veggies and noodles.  I found that if I cut the meat into chunks, she does not like it as much.  Good luck.

[CharlotteandCharlie]

Thanks for responding ladies.

Tylersmommy I do worry about iron.  I heard once they hit a certain age they don't benefit from it like they do when they are young.  The cereal we have all the time is multigrain Cheerios.  I will check the iron levels in it or search for something higher in iron.  Thanks for the kind words about dd's diet.  Between the fish crackers, olives and fruit leathers I feel guilty but guilt seems to be prominent in my life as a mom now. 

Hey Stacy, nope no name yet.  Probably won't be named until the hospital or at home if they let us go home without one.  I have tried milk after breakfast but it didn't seem to help.  THat was a while ago tho.  I will try again.  Selfishly I like her to drink it upon wakeup because we sit and snuggle while watching the news. 

Yes, she does walk around.  For xmas we bought a table and chairs and she sits at that table for snacks but not always.  Sometimes I feel like if I made her sit in her high chair everytime she'd spend most of the day in there ... but I realize that she might not graze as much if she had less snacks and better meals.

Charlie eats watered down ckn noodle soup, cream of mushroom, and tomato with crackers.  She is pretty good with a spoon but we use the big bibs for soup.

I have tried tofu (other than the sweet stuff) many times but can't get her to eat it.  I have made smoothies with Soy milk.  Does that count for iron or protein?

Wow!  Kaleb's day is so not food orientated like Charlie's.  Snacks in the diaper bag, in the van, at the grocery store, at home all day.  What a difference.

Thanks again ladies.