Healthy Snacks for Toddler

My 12 month old loves pineapple. I cut them into bite size chunks and he loves how juicy it is (great cold too when they're teething). Bananas are also a must in my home and he likes the freeze dried apples too that come in 1 serving size packages at COSTCO.

I used high fiber o's from Trader joes mixed with freeze dried peas and corn. There is a company that makes all kinds of freeze dried fruits and veggies that are perfect for toddlers. If you haven't tried them, they are crunchy but not at all hard, similar to the gerber products in the stores but without any preservatives or added sugar. There is a whole line of products at Whole Foods, or you can look on line.

I'm a big fan of fruit. Blue berries and cut up strawberries are easy for snacks. You can cut the berries in half or fourths depending on how well she can chew.

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My daughter is just turning 1 and also only has 2 teeth. Some things we have been using are the obvious Gerber puffs, wagonwheels, cheerios, etc. Also the new Rice Kripies jumbo multigrain krispies are good. She LOVES the veggie puffs that they sell at Costco (big bag of puffs that look like french fries, but have spinach and tomato puree in them). We also bake sweet potatoes, refrigerate until cold, then dice into small cubes. These are great in a little snack container to take to playdates. Peas are good too. She loves them because she can pick them up on her own. Hope these help!

Hi,
I am sure you have received a lot of emails for this one but I have been buying the 100 calorie granola bars. The ones I buy are by Nabisco. They are a good price. I purchase mine at the Commissary for 1.50 a box of 10 but I don't know what they cost at other grocery stores. They have different flavors such as chips ahoy chocolate chip, peanut butter,and two flavors of a cream cheese bar. I also buy flavored applesauce. Good Luck with your decisition on snacks. I hope my info. has helped.
Have good evening.
S.

When I pack a lunch for my 18 month old son when we go out I usually always make him a scrambled egg and hide a myriad of veggies in it, mainly ones I can mash and mix in. Make sure not to add too much veggie puree as the egg won't cook completely. Then I just toast a peice of bread, cut it and the egg in bite size peices, and put it in one of those disposable sippy cups. I find my son can hold these without spilling them. That's just one idea. :o)

Hi R.! My kids are a bit older so I'm trying to remember what the little ones could eat. I know my girls really loved those drinkable yogurts that you can put a straw into. Now they love the yogurts that come in a tube, but those were a mess when they were really little. This might sound silly, but I sometimes I put shredded cheese (the kind you put on tacos or whatever) into a baggie for a snack. It can be messy, but if you're at the park who cares, right? They like string cheese now, but I can't remember if little ones can handle that. One of my daughters LOVES Nutrigrain whole wheat low fat frozen waffles. I would toast it and put a little butter on it and bring it wherever we were going. She'd even eat it cold (I know, gross) Be careful with the fruit snacks, they're terrible for teeth (this coming from someone who packed a fruit roll up in her daughters lunch box! LOL) Oh I thought of one more - at Traders Joe's there is a cereal called Mighty Bites - both girls LOVE it!

I've made my daughter french toast, and also grilled cheese sandwiches, and then chopped them into tiny bite size pieces. They fit great into her snack cup on the go.

Also, the confetti vegetable - the mixed with corn, peas and carrots in the frozen food section. Let them defrost, and then they make great snacks. Uncooked, they are still starchy and sweet, and having been frozen are a little softer than they would be raw. my children love them. Sometimes we call them mini-pops and when they were younger I told them they were little popcycles!

I'd be careful with some fruits/berries. They can be a choking hazard. The daycare my son went to when he was young said seedless grapes were OK if they were cut in half first. My son never had a problem with choking on pop corn, but the daycare banned it for anyone under 3 yrs old. If you have a hot air popper, you can control the salt and butter content rather than using the microwave stuff. The cheddar fish are very popular and portable, as well as saltine crackers. You can put a little peanut butter between two of them (if no one has nut allergies). Bananas in small pieces are great. My son simply loved French fries. The baked ones from Ore Ida in the frozen section of the supermarket are great and much less oily than anything from a fast food place.

i give our 16 month old veggie puffs, peeled and sliced apple (soak in some lemon juice to keep fresh), canned pears and mandarin organges without any added sugar or Splenda. He also loves to eat whole wheat toast, Kix, bananas, blueberries, grapes. you can also microwave potatoes for a few minutes and cut them up into pieces.
I try for "whole foods" NOT processed ones.
For my son I've found that his teeth (or lack of teeth) really isn't that important, as long as the food can be easily gummed in imitation chewing. food with high water content such as fruit, and high air content such as Kix or puffed vegetables are really good.

Hi, for dry snacks such as animal crackers, cereal bars, honey sticks, I buy the organic brand called Earths Best, http://www.earthsbest.com/. The ingredients used are better than Gerber brand. You can find Earth Best products at Target and Whole Foods Supermarket. I also like the Nature Promise Organic line at Giant Food Supermarket or Trader Joe's the organic grocery store for snacks for my 17 month old son. For fruit and veggies, I give him sliced bananas, strawberries, steamed carrots or sweet potato to munch on. For dairy, he loves the Stony Farm Yogurt for infants and toddlers, http://www.stonyfield.com/OurProducts/YoBaby.cfm and chedder cheese you can buy in stick form instead of sliced form.

Kix and Cheerios are always a good and healthy snack for the little ones.

How about either the Gerber or Earth's Best cereal bars? They are very soft so she could mash those with her teeth. They are similar to Nutri Grain bars only smaller. The other Gerber snack items (crunchers, wagon wheels) are probably soft enough for her to mash with her gums.

Bananas, kiwi, other soft fruits. Cereal (without milk, obviously) like cheerios, kix. Have you tried string cheese? Not sure about that one, but it is pretty soft. Yogurt melts by Gerber are also great. Fig Newtons makes bite sized newtons in strawberry and fig, both of those are small and soft. Individual cups of applesauce, cut up fruit like peaches and pears, etc.

Best of luck!

My son loved chunks of ripe avacado and diced fresh tomato starting when he was about 8 months old. And continues on loving those to this day. The avacado is really great for brain developement and function (it's the good fat everyone needs for the brain) When he got teeth he began with a whole bunch of different dried fruits we can get at Trader Joe's (especially the apricots, prunes, and the jumbo fancy raisin mix). Once she's old enough and you determine if nuts are safe for her (my Dr. said not till 2 yrs old)those are really great snacks in combo with the dried fruits mixed with cereals and popcorn too. Oh and cups of all natural apple sauce - great for no teeth. They are much cheaper from the fruit section than the baby food section and travel better since they are in plastic instead of glass.

All of the ideas here are really good ones, and there is one more option that doesn't require special prep most of the time. At babies r us, there is this food holder that looks like a ring with a net attached. You can put fruits and veggies in it that are "squishable" and gummable and the kids can eat it like a popsicle because the net doesn't allow any pieces through that are big enough to choke on. I will say that you will probably want to get a few spare nets because some of the stuff if harder to wash out of the net. I hope some of these ideas help you!

If he is able, you could always buy those little fruit snacks like raisins....they are pretty small, but he may have a hard time chewing with only two teeth! Peeled grapes, cooked whole wheat pasta like ziti or smaller bite sized noodles, peas, corn, etc...

My 17mo adores bananas, apples (even before he got all his teeth, he would suck on apples), string cheese (full of protein which is good for cranky babies), Mini-nilla Wafers, Graham cracker sticks, dry cereal, Gerber Fruit juice snacks, Gerber Crunchies (loves these in zesty tomato and won't touch the other flavors), Quaker Chewey bars (can be chewed up even by two teeth with a little determination), sliced hot dogs (only at home), Lunchables, Jr. (has crackers, diced lunch meat and cheese), etc... Just walk through the grocery store ailes and see what you can find that seems appropriate. Use your imagination.