I recall, for a while, feeling quite angry that my son would eat the food at nursery but would refuse the same meal at home. I took it very personally. How dare he!! There’s no way the nursery’s caterer food could be better than my lovingly prepared, wholesome food, made just the way we like it.

But there’s more at play at mealtimes than just the food. Children at nursery all eat the same meal together and can see their peers eat well, there’s plenty of distraction at mealtimes from lots of chatter and laughter or inevitable spillages, there might be the lure of a friend’s birthday cake for pudding, they work up an appetite from all the play and constantly being active plus they know there’s nothing else if they don’t eat and that they’ll have to wait until the next meal or snack.

At home, children are more likely to feel like they can battle against your boundaries and push your buttons, gamble on whether they can get something else out of you by playing up so much and know that you have a stash of snacks in the fridge and cupboard so they can easily get more food again soon. 

Does your child eat better in a childcare setting/with grandparents/other carers than they do at home?