Food Ideas for 18 Month Old

Oh those fickle toddlers! I used to sneak in some vegetable juice into spaghetti sauce, bananas in a milkshake treat, a cup of frozen peas to carry around was a real hit. Making it LOOK fun helps too. All toddlers go through this even to the point of you wonder how they are operating on so little. As long as you keep it healthy, who cares what it is? This too shall pass!

By 18 months he should be able to eat whatever you eat. Do you eat your meals together as a family? I think that is very important because you are setting the example for them right there in front of them. I have fed my kids the same as us since they were about a year old and they eat all kinds of foods..italian, chinese, mexican, indian etc. They have the food put in front of them and they eat what they eat, they do not get given any special meals, they simply eat what we eat. I understand there are some things they don't like but I still put a little on their plates incase they want to try it, their taste will change as time goes on. I don't really push them to eat certain foods, that can get too stressful at mealtimes but they understand there are are no substitutes for them. With the fruits and veggies you can try putting something like v8 veg juice in sauces or making fruit smoothies as a "treat". I used to boil broccoli and mash it, then add it into a sauce to disguise it. You can mash carrots in with mashed potato to make it colorful and more healthy. For breakfast you could give him oatmeal and mash bananas or apples in with it. My kids did get picky on certain foods but I just kept putting them on their plates without pushing the point and in time they ate them again. If he is eating something one day but not the next it is a control issue (which is totally normal at this age) so you just need to stand your ground and let him know this is the only meal he'll get until the next mealtime, no child will starve with food put in front of them.
If you're worried about him getting enough nutrition you can suppliment with a multivitamin. Ask your doctor what he can have at this age. I do supplement my kids diet with flintstones and they eat all foods groups very well, I just want to be sure their bodies are getting what they need. You do have to remember that you can only disguise foods for so long so it would be better to try teach him to want to eat healthy by setting that example for him.
Good luck, it can be tough sometimes but it will pass.

Read DECEPTIVELY DELISCIOUS by JERRY SEINFELDS WIFE. You can buy it or borrow it from your library.
She tells you how to puree certain veggies and put them in foods. For example cook and puree cauliflour and freeze in ice cube trays. When frozen put them in a freezer bag. When you make mac n cheese add two cubes of cauliflour puree to it. He will be getting his veggies and won't even see or taste them.

Also know this too shall pass.

Try plain old beans just rinse and serve or warm slightly.

My daughter did this at times and other times all she would eat was fruits and veggies. Try giving him what everyone else is eating, try regular cereal for breakfast, or oatmeal. Try other sandwiches for lunch. I also give my daughter soup, but with out the broth. Try maetloaf, salisbury seak, tri colored pasta with a sauce or just olive oil. In our house a big hit is anything with ketchup on it, she even wanted ketchup on her baked potatoe the other day, I thought it was gross, but she loved it.

You can also try spinach nuggets, which my daughter loves (and so do I).
2- 10 oz frozen choppen spinach cooked
1 egg
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup parmesean cheese
3 tbls butter
mix in a bowl, form into balls, flatten out, cook at 450 for 15-20 min and enjoy.

You can also freeze the leftovers and microwave them later.

This is very normal for his age. I usually make spaghetti and add zuccini, carots, peppers, etc., to the sauce. You can even puree it. My son loves sweet potato fries. Just slice sweet potatoes, lay them on a cookie sheet, and sprinkle with olive oil and sea salt. Bake them in the oven for about 30 minutes on 350.
Also, my son loves string cheese with whole grain triscuit crackers, yogurt, grilled chicken that I cut into chunks, apple slices with peanut butter and honey, grapes, strawberries, raspberries (his favorite), granola bars, brocolli with cheese, etc. If you need any more recipes, feel free to contact me. Smoothies are another great idea. You can always sneak veggies in there. :)

Hether,

Something easy is to put fruits or veggies (pureed) into a quick bread, like banana bread except change out the banana for zucchini, apples, pumpkin, carrots, or whatever you want to use. Most toddlers love bread, so its an easy way to sneak good things into thier diet.

This is normal behavior. You can "juice" vegetables with stronger-tasting fruit like berries and hide them that way. Whatever you do, try not to make food a battleground, cause it will be a very long battle. Toddlers like to experiment and assert their power - that's toddlers for you!

My son has always eaten egg beaters for breakfast. He loves them. I just scramble them up in a pan with a pinch of salt. Of course he likes his occasional pancake breakfast. :) I also started buying canned soup for him. There are some pretty healthy ones out there now. If you worry about the packaging you could do homeade. He gets tons of veggies and proteins from that.

My daughter is very picky also. I have had to get really creative with her. She also loves mac & cheese and wants it ALL the time. So I started pureeing up carrots. I steam them and put them in a food processor add a little water so that it is a thin consistancy, or you could just use a jar of baby food carrots. I put some in all her mac and cheese. She eats it fine and has no idea. I don't put alot because then the color will change and she'll taste the difference. But it makes me feel better to know she's getting some veggies.

I also got her to eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches. She is pretty good about fruit though. Maybe try a dip for some fruit and see if that will interest your toddler.

You might want to get a cookbook, I have the "deceptively delicious" one by Jessica Seinfeld. I love it. I made my daughter the brownies with spinach in them and she loved them. There's lot's of good ideas in there.

My baby at this age will eat the veggies or fruits as long as she can dip. It's just fun for her I guess. She likes carrots and all veggies dipped in ranch or greek hummus. She likes to dip apples in peanut butter, strawberries in yogurt, and pretzels in hummus. Try dipping. They really seem to eat better. Good luck.

H.,
Unfortunately, it's completely normal. My grandson, about the same age, is driving his mother and I crazy with the same issue. This is how I resolved my worry over his getting balanced things to eat..

My biggest success is using oatmeal.. cooked with cinnamon and vanilla. I add a spoonful of peanut butter, which makes it so tasty there's no need for sugar, and sometimes a mashed banana. He's full, it's healthy with complex carbs, protein, and sometimes a fruit. Sometimes I'll add applesauce or a contairer of baby food fruit of choice. It's the one thing he Never says no to.

My other inspiration as far as veggies, sometimes meats (with the meat you can only add a little cause its dry-ish and I think must change the taste noticeably) was to add baby food mixed veggies, sometimes green sometimes orange to the mac & cheese, orange or squash to spaghetti, anyway you get the idea.

He loves these things, we can indulge his favorites or his whim of the day, and we feel better about making sure he's getting what he needs. In between we still wheedle and cajole with the chicken legs (one minute he loves them next minute you'd think we were trying to poison him lol), veggies, all fruits which really isnt so hard on the little sweetaholic, etc.

Lots and lots of luck,
L.

This is very normal! All kids go in stages of what they will/will not eat. I say just keep offering them to him, he will eventually eat them. Try them at different consistencies - pureed, whole, cooked, raw- it may make a difference if he is teeting.

Deceptively Delicious cookbook has great ways of hiding veggies in any type of food, including treats!

Hope that helps.
A.

Two things:

1. at this age, your lad's growth is slowing so he is genuinely not nearly as hungry as he was 4 months ago -- and this will last until he's nearing 5. So, just offer and if he's not hungry enough to eat what there is be assured that it's because he's just not that hungry and can afford to wait for the 'good stuff' to come out.

2. I object on priciple to deceptive cooking practices, not only because I'm tremendously lazy and can't be bothered making time for that kind of nonsense, but mostly because people can only respond to the foods they know about -- so if they are really, really sensitive to something (too much of some nutrient, some compound they can't digest at all) you'll take foods they previously liked and associate them with the problem (even if you can't taste the addition) with the net result of *fewer* acceptable foods.

It is also normal for kids to need a particular nutrient that's been missing in their diets for a few days and then be repelled as the deficiency is taken care of, so eating the same thing for days and then not wanting it at all ever is ordinary.