What do you feed your toddlers?

LaCi - posted on 04/08/2010

lately: mine loves quesadillas, chikn (soy) nuggets, green vegetables, potatoes, mini bananas, he will eat pretty much anything if I give him some (organic) ketchup, muffins, soy crisps and rice cakes, green smoothies, and pizza and spaghetti. I think pizza and spaghetti are his favorites, although I usually do pineapple and red peppers on pizza and he removes all that before he proceeds.

*I suppose I'm one of those "pathetic" health conscious people as well who would rather not poison my son with food high in mercury, also a vegetarian so he eats a ton of soy*

Alison - posted on 04/08/2010

I make one meal for everyone. Typically a protein (meat), a couple of vegetables, and a carb (rice, or bread or potatoes) is available. I also give them each a glass of milk. Some nights both kids eat great sometimes they don't, but they typically will find something on their plates to eat.
When they don't eat a ton at dinner, they usually eat more the next morning at breakfast, it will balance out. Remember that what they eat of the course of a week is more important than a single meal.

Bethanie - posted on 04/08/2010

Melissa Sotelo: Didn't realize caring about what you put into your families body made someone pathetic. You can continue to be unenlightened as to what the very best things are for your child to eat. I'm glad I'm not and can lead my son to eat the right things by example.

No - posted on 04/08/2010

our daughter is given what the rest of the family eats. i think its always a little trickier when you have an allergy to contend with and if the child is given different meals from everyone else i think this can compound fussy behaviour. but an egg allergy doesnt mean you are restricted in terms of a wide range of food. for instance; meatballs dont need egg to bind them in my experience. my daughter eats pork, fish, chicken, risotto, pizza, indian food (without too much spice and add plain yoghurt) well you name it. she's never eaten 'baby or toddler food' from about 7mths. there are days when she eats less than others. its perfectly normal. my advice is to reduce the snacks between meals that she is given, eat with her, no pudding unless her meal has been eaten and dont fuss.

Melissa - posted on 04/07/2010

sounds like bethanie lundgren is one of those health freeks that are so pathetic

i fix all kinds of stuff for my daughter & if she dont eat it then she dont get anything else
you eat what i fix or nothing at all & i do love the graduate meals they are more healthy for the toddlers than our kind of food that we eat. & my daughter loves them as well. & if you try going to different stores they have different kinds than the other store. my daughter of course alwayz goes for her veggies be4 her main dish but she does eat some of her main course & if she says shes done i tell her your not getting anything else. & she also loves loves homemade fruit juice as well.

Stacey - posted on 04/07/2010

Our daughter eats well but she will go through stages of only eating one-pot meals -- so lasagna, soup, stew, or rice and beans. Rice and beans or beef barley soup may be good options for you to try -- barley and beans are packed with great nutritional stuff and are affordable. Some folks mention quinoa, which I like, but rarely buy because it's expensive. Good luck!

Elana - posted on 04/07/2010

My daughter doesnt like chicken or beef so a really easy food she loves is chick peas or garbanzo beans, just as is out of can, or even the beans in tomato sauce, also she loves veggies and fruit but as for protein I also give her salmon salad or tuna salad... also give baked potatos, sweet potatoes or squash, These are easy to prepare just put in microwave for about 5 mins. she loves loves pickles which i have to watch for the salt intake and she tried a teaspoon of vinegar this week when she asked me for some and then she said more more... funny for a toddler to like

Amber - posted on 04/07/2010

I have a very similar problem. My daughter will not even touch pasta(except for mac and cheese). She eats grilled cheese,chicken nuggets,hot dogs(though I buy the turkey dogs a little healthier). I have a cookbook for toddlers and in there is a recipe for chicken and apple bites. Its very healthy and my daughter actually likes them. We feed her only healthy stuff but she seems to be picky as well. To respond to Jessica I do give my daughter the graduate meals, she loves them. But is it a bad thing if they eat the same thing over and over again? There is the few things I mentioned that I can feed her for dinner. Well Clare I hope I helped a little bit. Im sorry I couldn't do more as Im in the same position.

Amanda - posted on 04/07/2010

I feed my 3 year old and 22 month old what me and my boyfriend eat. If they don't like it then tough we don't fix 50 things until we find something they like. Either they eat what we eat or they don't. My 3 year old is a picky eater but knows that what we serve is what she gets and if she's hungry she'll eat it. They both also know that what we serve is all they get till snack or the next meal.

Carmel - posted on 04/07/2010

My 21-month old daughter is also picky, but she has improved a lot from a few months ago. She likes meat so we can get her to eat almost any kind of meat. She likes some dark green leafy vegetables that we have to cut up small enough for her to eat. She also loves corn and olives. She loves rice & pasta. I still can't get her to drink milk, but she likes YoBaby Organic Drinkable Yogurt http://www.stonyfield.com/yobaby/whole_m... so I'm glad she's getting some milk.

Teresa - posted on 04/06/2010

I'm lucky that my 21 month boy/girl twins are very good eaters. Interestinly they eat many of the same things that Bethanie mentioned. I also wanted to suggest the Whole Foods turkey meatloaf. It's a little pricey, but they love it and it's easy.

Bethanie - posted on 04/06/2010

If you're going to put ketchup on your child's food, which I'm not opposed to, switch to Annie's brand Organic Ketchup! It has less sugar and no HFCS!

Bethanie - posted on 04/06/2010

Rachel Gibson: I'm interested in the Angus Beef hotdogs that are free from nitrates/nitrites as I don't think the hebrew national ones are. What brand are these?

Jessica - posted on 04/06/2010

Have you tried "pigs in a blanket"? A friend told me to use Lil Smokies and Cresent Rolls. I use the whole bag of Smokies and a can of Cresent Rolls. Break pieces and streach out the dough to have enough for all the Smokies. My son LOVES them and I can make the whole pack and put them in the fridge for later.

Rachel - posted on 04/06/2010

We have found experimenting with food difficult as well--not just because our son is a picky eater, but because we are also picky about what we put in his body. He has always been a great fruit and veggie eater; however, any time that we have a veggie that he won't eat for some reason, we can give him a veggie jar and he loves it. We usually get the Earth's Best brand jars as a backup. As for regular food, you can try cottage cheese or yogurt. Cottage cheese is a great source of protein but can be loaded with sodium. Lucerne puts out a cottage cheese with "no salt added." There is only 35 mg of salt per serving. Other things to try--if you go to Whole Foods, they make some really healthy fish sticks, chicken nuggets, and even frozen veggie patties in the shape of animals and stars. The ingredients are all things you can understand. No preservatives or fillers. Other than that, I agree with the person who put some ketchup on her child's food. We do that as well. We use it sparingly, but he loves anything with ketchup (or even a bit of ranch dressing).

Rachel - posted on 04/06/2010

My son is 22 months, he won't eat anything but cheese, cheerios, bananas, apples chicken nuggets (the 100% all natural), mac&cheese (we get the Annies too) and these hot dogs that are made from angus beef (no nitrites or nitrates). Kudos to those of you who have veggie eaters. He won't even eat pizza or spaghetti anymore.
My four year old will eat almost anything (she even ate a philadelphia sushi roll)
It's very strange to have one who won't eat anything and one who will eat everything.
We offer him what we're having at each meal, but I'm not going to force my 22 month old to go hungry because he won't eat what I want him to. It's normal for toddlers to be picky....

Catherine - posted on 04/06/2010

Stinks about the Gerber’s because I am not much of a cook and they are so easy. I’ve been blessed with a son who will eat anything…loves veggies, fruits, grains, meats, fish…I don’t think I’ve come across anything he won’t eat (knock on wood!). My issue again is that I can’t cook, nor do I have an imagination. I am going back to work and the daycare center he’s going to doesn’t supply lunches so I am in trouble!!!

Amanda - posted on 04/06/2010

my daughter is very picky at eatting also..... i tried everything...
i just recently started putting ketchup on everything her veggies her meat everything,
and it worked.... she eats it all now..

Christine - posted on 04/06/2010

here is a link to read about the gerber graduates
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/02/0...

Christine - posted on 04/06/2010

Only thing about those Gerber Gradutes they are packed with salt. I found out on the internet a while back and it said that they have about the same amount of salt that a 2 large fries at mcdonalds. So they are not the best thing to give your kids. I have been told is to try a little bit of everything and they will eventually like it. Right now my son will not eat any kind of meat other then chicken and fish. Alot of it is taste and texture. It just takes time and patience.

Bethanie - posted on 04/06/2010

I would rethink those Gerber Meals. For one, their expensive for what you get, disgusting tasting and are not very nutritious. They are loaded with things I don't want my son eating. My son pretty much eats everything, though he has a tendency to reject some veggies. For this, I grind them up small in my food processor and mix them in with things so he can't tell that they are threre. His favorite foods are: Hebrew National 97% Fat Free All Beef Hotdogs, Annie's All Natural Mac N Cheese or homemade, grilled cheese with velveeta or shredded cheddar on whole grain bread (I've also added shredded cooked carrots in with the cheese and he loved it!), quesadillas, almond butter and All Fruit spread (apricot, seedless raspberry, orange marmalade) sandwiches, Kashi Waffles with All Fruit Spread or whipped Cream cheese, Scrambled eggs with cheese (I've snuck in chopped brocolli, too), Quinoa with veggies, and any kind of fruit. He can be picky sometimes with meat, too but I don't worry about that too much because he gets iron and protein from other sources too. We limit beef intake (I use Ground Buffalo if beef is called for), eat a lot of chicken, ground turkey, some fish (when I can find a healthful and tasty way to make it and my husband will eat it!), pork, brown rice (occassionally white rice, but it doesn't do very good things for your waistline or blood sugar), Quinoa, everything whole grain, etc. Some "preboxed" snacks my son enjoys are the Annies Brand Cheddar Bunnies and Chocolate Graham Bunnies (All Natural, minimal sugar), Barbras Bakery Animal Cookies (All Natural), Veggie Chips and Straws, Toddler Mum Mums and some of the Revolution Foods products that are great while on the road. He drinks Organic Milk, lots of water and minimal juice. I consider juice a treat, so he gets only 100%, no sugar added, All Natural kind (R.W. Knudsen brand is great!). Sorry if I rambled a bit!

Jessica - posted on 04/05/2010

sam's club also has these frozen meat balls that you can make however many you want at a time and our son Josh LOVES these! We have done them plain or w/ marinara sauce and that seems to be his favorite. He had 5 for dinner tonight!

Clare - posted on 04/05/2010

We've tried the toddler meals and she wasn't too crazy about them. I may try them again and see what she thinks. She likes chicken bites as well, but eats them so often she gets tired of them. We did find out she likes chopped beef from one of the barbaque restaurants here.

Jessica - posted on 04/05/2010

Have you tried the gerber graduate toddler meals? they are like tv dinners but it's a small entree and vegetable - our son loves these. We have noticed that our dinner has to be of the same colors so he thinks he's getting what we are, but overall for 30 sec it's a great meal for him. He does love chicken bites, fish sticks and pizza. I have a 22 month old and he's been eating our food for dinners for about 5 months now. If we give him the chicken/fish/pizza we always start with the vegetable first so that way he get's a good serving before filling up on that. Mac n cheese too. Hope this helps!