J.S.
I used open a can of vegies (I.e. lima beans,green beans carrots,..) & put some in a snack cup and VOILA! Its a snack! My kids still love their vegies.
I have another food question. Since my daughter has become more picky, I am having a hard time packing snacks that she will eat when we are out since almost everything she does eat needs to be cooked or refrigerated. She is only 15 months, so peanut butter or hard foods like raw carrots won't work quite yet. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated, and if the food is hard to squish rolling around in a diaper bag (unlike fruit bars that are always in crumbles by the time I open them) that would be an added bonus. Thanks!
I used open a can of vegies (I.e. lima beans,green beans carrots,..) & put some in a snack cup and VOILA! Its a snack! My kids still love their vegies.
I don't think you have a problem with what to take, it's just how to take it. Invest in a small cooler bag, lunch bag or six pack size and a freezer block. That way you can take items that need to be refrigerated.
For the things you want to keep in the diaper bag, put them in a plastic container so they don't get squished.
cherios
crackers (gold fish)
pretzels
apple sauce
banana
small pieces of cheese
yogurt
My fav's:
*Gerber yogurt melts (stock up when they go on sale)
*Bagels (whole wheat)--put one in a zippy bag and stuff it in your purse! tear off a piece at a time when you or babe are hungry--couldn't be easier.
*Freeze dried/dehydrated fruit--(these are soft, unlike fruit "chips") Costco sells these in a box of single serve pkts (Mrs.May's)--both my toddlers LOVE them!
Other go-to items:
-O's and raisins
-Goldfish or Earth's Best cheddar crackers (Elmo & Big Bird)
-Gerber wagon wheels
-Applesauce
-Toddler trail mix: any combo of O's, goldfish/Elmo cheddar crackers, pretzels, raisins/craisins...
-Ritz peanut butter sandwich crackers (a small amt of PB, most 15mo olds should be fine)
String cheese is also easy if you "super-cool" it in the freezer before you leave and eat w/in an hour or so OR use a super small insulated pack (like ones they make for bottles) with a blue ice.
You may need some small hard plastic container to hold the food. Tupperware sells a banana-shaped plastic thing for just this purpose -- you can carry a banana in your purse or diaper bag without it getting squished.
goldfish crackers, graham crackers, really any type of cracker is good. also vanilla wafers, cereals like froot loops or apple jacks or cheerios...... you can just put them in ziplock bags or get those snack carriers
I got one of those containers that the kid can put their hand through and pull food out. Even though my daughter still spills sometimes, she loves being able to feed herself and actually eats more of a variety of food now. She loves all flavors of goldfish, ritz bits cheese crackers, and sometimes I put the Mini Teddy Graham cookies. My daughter still loves puffs, but I don't put them in the container because they dissolve when they get wet and creates a big mess. Also, my daughter loves the fruit in a pouch that she can feed herself. Where I am, I can only find them at Babies R Us, but Plum Organics and Ella's makes them. Also, I haven't tried them, but I see the Gerber yogurts on the shelves with the baby food not in the fridge.
I carry around little pudding and jello cups. They don't need to be refrigerated and you can just keep some plastic spoons in the diaper bag all of the time.
applesauce cups are a handy staple to keep on hand. And if you store other snacks - crackers, cheerios, etc. in plastic containers they won't get crushed (I reuse plastic jars that things like jam or parmesan cheese come in, or you could use Gladware type plastic containers. )
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Dear Melodysmommy, you have some great answers. here are some more ideas:
1. whole wheat pretzels (no salt) -- even to teeth depending on her stage.
2. tiny rice cakes (low salt)
3. plain toast cut up
4. sandwich cut up into small shapes or animal shapes (with avocado or cottage inside)
HTH Jilly
My son is pretty picky but when we are on the go, I pack sliced up apples or pears, soft pretzles (he prefers them warm but will eat them room temp as well) and Earth's Best Vanilla cookies. Lots of kids like crackers like gold fish and I think anything Earth's best makes is good.
I always am always looking for little tupperware containers and other things I can put in my bag to keep snacks from getting crushed or spilled. Go to the baby food aisle in the grocery store and there is a ton of toddler snacks. My daughter's favorite have always been the yogurt melts, apple wheels, and freeze dried fruit.The wheels come in carrot and cheese flavor too but my daughter won't eat them. They also have biter biscuits(can be messy) and hard toast (both of these are good for teething). One of the first ones she ate were these little cereal like things that melt in their mouth. I forget what they are called but they come in a tall plastic container. I don't know what we would do for snacks without this little section in the grocery store. You should definitely check it out. In my experience wal-mart has the largest variety and some cheaper generic brands. I have also found some of these snacks like the biter biscuits at the organic grocery store (Earthfare here). I hope this helps!
gold fish! you can buy little cups at walmart to keep them from crushed
Yes, at her age, hard foods are a choking hazard. Its a safety issue.
And they often do not know how much to put into their mouths, nor can they 'chew' well. So supervise always.
Even a 2 year old can choke on hard foods, or soft/gummy foods.
How about pasta? Just plain cooked pasta? Like bow-ties/macaroni/ spiral pasta etc. My picky son likes that.
Puffs?
Cheerios?
Breakfast bars?
Bananas that are sliced already in bite size pieces.
Crackers
Cooked sweet potatoes that are cut up in small pieces
(dried fruit is hard to chew & can get lodged in their throat).
Yogurt
Apple sauce cups
ALSO, for on the road, what I used to do is keep snacks in the car, in a small portable ice cooler. With blue-ice in it. That way, you can keep cold things cold and not spoil... and you can even keep milk in there in sippy cups too. And yogurt cups.
The cooler bags, often come in smallish sizes, like lunch bag sizes.... so it is easy to carry around or keep in your car. For on the go.
Anything that you did cook and she will eat, and that has to be refrigerated, can then be kept in the cooler bag/box, in your car. Without spoiling.
That is what I used to do. And still do. With kids, I ALWAYS have an ice-cooler in our van. So I can keep any foods/snacks in there, even nice cold water. When we are on the go... it is REAL handy.
all the best,
Susan
puffs, cheerio's, ritz,string cheese (if it can be eaten in the first half hour), goldfish, banana
cheerios (they now have banana and chocolate)
gold fish
oyster crackers
graham sticks
ritz crackers
in the stores they sell ready made snacks that are like air and melt in their mouth, in the baby food aisle
teddy grahams