What Are You Feeding Your Toddler Today?

My son ate today: (he is 4)
cut up oranges.
Banana
hash browns
ham
Milk
water
left over lasagna from last night
nuts
dill pickles

Mind you, my son is a "grazer." He only eats until 'full' and not in big amounts... nor all at one sitting. Versus my daughter eats all at one time.

You might try:
blueberries
cut up fruit
cheese chunks
bananas
peas
Carrots...but slice it up, saute in a pan with a pat of butter until soft. My family LOVES this. Otherwise, they do not like, carrots.
crackers
rice dishes... add in bits of 'veggies' in it minced up real small... and cook it all together in chicken broth... until done.
Mashed sweet potatoes
Baked acorn squash

Eating is fickle with kids... no worries. Because their "likes" and "dislikes" are NEVER EVER permanent.
It always changes. Thus, I do not battle about food/eating with my kids. It is so... temporary and always changes.

all the best,
Susan

DS is 4-1/2. For lunch he had grilled cheese, chick peas, blueberries and a clementine. For dinner he is having bouillabaise (sp?) and asparagus, probably either avacado or grapefruit to start. Pears for dessert. We feed him what we are eating - have since he was 6 months when we just stuck it in the blender. Perhaps we are lucky or maybe it's that we never offered food that we don't eat.
Good luck.
D.

uggh, my 2.5 yo is such a poor eater.

today her food has been:
1 weetabix
1 cup of milk

2 bananas
an apple
some grapes
a piece of bread and butter
a jar of baby food
some m and m's
more milk
thats about it
she will eat fruit till it comes out of her ears, which I thank God for, as she won't hardly eat anything else, and she will drink milk.

My daughter is 14 months old and I give her apples, strawberries, rice, black beans, grilled chicken, meat, pasta with meat sauce, dry cereal (like cheerios, froot loops and corn flakes), grapes (cut in pieces), raisins, corn, broccoli, green beans, etc.I always try to add a lot of spinach to anything I make for her (I put it in the blender with tomatoes and onions and make a tomato sauce for pasta, meat or chicken just to try to make it more nutritive). I mean this little girl eats almost everything I give her, she would even eat the spicy meats my husband likes :)

Well, that lunch routine sounds all too familiar! My approach is this...for breakfast and lunch,she pretty much gets to choose what she wants and most of the time it is items you listed. For dinner she gets what we're eating and if she doesn't eat, oh well. I stay at home so I don't really care about fixing "kid" things for breakfast and lunch, but at dinner my husband and I want a "real" meal so that's what I do. She gets what we get and there's very little exception. I will, however, always try and make something I know she'll eat, side dish or main course, and then I also usually offer pre-made supplements like yogurt or applesauce or string cheese if she doesn't feel full. I kind of feel like this is the best of both worlds. I know she's getting enough to eat during the day and if she chooses not to eat dinner, so be it. I feel good about offering a variety of dinners with healthy options and if all she eats is yogurt, oh well. Good luck! It is hard!

My daughter will be 2 on Sunday. She eats what we eat at this point. Here is what was on our menu today:

Breakfast - bagel with blueberry jam, OJ and Milk
Snack - Kashi berry snack bar and two small bowls of cherrios
Lunch - cottage cheese, pears, 3 whole grain chips, a small piece of Calfornia Pizza cheese/tomato pizza and milk
Snack - an orange - I cut it into bite sized pieces
Dinner - Diced baked ham, green beans, whole grain bread and milk.

if she likes sweet potatos, i slice thin sweet potatos, butternut squash, zucini, califlower and put in the steamer until soft. then make mash potato add little butter and very little brown sugar sometimes. you can make it in the oven too, just put butter right away in the pan. i make it for my 14 month old, but my 2.5 loves it too. since sweet potatos dominating in taste she wont even know that it other vegetables there, and you can put any vegetables you want, you dont have to stick with this. you can start with just sw potato and squash.

My son loves veggies with cheese, or with hummus. I just roast them in the oven with cheese and he eats them up. He also loves dipping. He doesn't like them much plain.

Here's what my 19 month old had today:
Breakfast: 2 Nutragrain Bars and milk (we were in a hurry)
Lunch (with all my daycare kids): Turkey subs with lettuce, tomato, sprouts and provolone, asian pear slices and milk
Snack: Peanut butter filled pretzels and milk
Dinner: (raided the fridge for leftovers) Spinach and ricotta dumplings, beef and asparagus in hoisin sauce, pineapple and milk

I would strongly recommend not making separate meals for her of foods you know she likes. If your goal is to teach healthy eating habits that will remain with her throughout her life, she needs to learn to eat everything that the rest of the family eats. She won't starve herself, so if she doesn't eat right away, don't panic and give her something you know she likes. She will eat eventually, but if you keep making separate meals for her, she will never try new foods because she knows she doesn't have to.
Good luck!

Today is my "I don't feel too hot so kids are getting whatever I have that is easy to whip up" day :)
Breakfast was mini bagels-my toddler will eat them plain unless they are toasted then I put a little butter and cinnamon on them.
Snack was some honey kix.
Lunch was a peanut butter sandwich- he doesn't like jelly.
Dinner will be pizza and since he is very picky and doesn't eat much I puree spinach into the sauce and I will also make some breadsticks that he will dip into the sauce so I know he's getting something!

My 2yo will be 3 in Dec and he is so picky. I've taken to making things look like other stuff (mashed potatoes? Nope, mashed cauliflower, you'd be surprised how similar they taste!) I may only get one serving of veggies into his day but he is really good with fruits like apples, grapes and bananas.

Todays menu for my 2 yr old and 4 yr old....

Bowl of oatmeal with honey, milk and strawberries
Snack of apples dipped in peanut butter mixed with honey
1 1/2 all beef hot dogs
Pudding
Steak and salad
and then still hungry after dinner so....YoToddler yogurt, frozen Simply Gogurt yogurt stick, and pulled out a spoon for more yogurt but I decided he had enough food for one day!

Today I fed my 3 year old a high fiber granola bar for breakfast and "coffee"milk (spash of mostly decaf coffee in cup of milk with a splash of flavored creamer), low fat Kettle corn and yogurt for a morning snack, pbj for lunch on whole wheat bread with some sliced up cucumber on the side, a cone at mcdonald's in the afternoon, for dinner rice with this creamy meaty gravy that I make and veggies. Drinks were milk and water thoughout the day. I usually do "kid" food at lunch time because alot of it is portable and he likes it, I find at lunch as he is in the throws of his day just getting food in him is the key. I do like ravioli, or pbj or mac n cheese or nuggets. I try to always serve a veggie or fruit with these items though and use whole grain wherever I can. I try to do something high fiber in the morning and often slice up an apple in the morning for a snack. At night I make healthy meals and he usually eats whatever we eat, unless it is something like chili, he doesn't go for them cumin season too much, although he will do tacos now. He absolutely loves fish, it was actually the first meat he would always eat if served. I found that just by continuing to serve him different kinds of foods his pallet increased and that after crossing the age of three it was amazing how much more variety he would eat. He will now eat salad, fish, beef, chicken...he was funny about meat for a long time. If I offered him something and he was just not having it, I would offer him a pbj or something more his speed and he has still grown up to like more things. I also try to respect when I can see that he actually doesn't like something. Like he is just not a bean fan, never eats them. So I don't force it. He also doesn't like sweet potatoes, never eats them. So if I want to make those things I just make him an alternate, like a little rice or something I know he will eat. I would hate to be forced to eat something I didn't like. I hated hot dogs as a kid and you can imagine how many people just could not believe that and tried to force them on me, so I do try not to do that once I see that he doesn't like something. I just wait a while and try it again and see if his tastebuds are ready for it and if not, I do make something else even if it is "kid" food. Good luck!!!!

Today my daughter had...
for breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled with toast and grapes. half oj half water
snack: dried cranberries and crackers
for lunch: turkey breast, cheese, carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes and pear w milk
and for dinner she always eats what we are having, no short order cook here!!
Tonight w are having stir fry w brown rice
A tip for veggies... i serve like a tsp of dressing/dip w them. She seems more interested in them that way!
Good luck!!

My husband and I have always given our daughter (now 2 yrs old) the very same thing we are eating... she went from baby food to normal dinner... granted now that she is getting picky with what she wants she does push back some... but I would give them dinner (you should only be making one meal) and I'm sure you will get some push back at first... but it does help...

Oh and as far as the veggies... I started making them a treat... my daughter and I eat frozen peas out of the freezer as a treat... she thought I was crazy when I first did it... but now she asks for them...

Well here is what my little one had today... 3 mini pancakes, a handful of triscuts, a "simply gogurt", a cup of oj, an apple, a cup of almond milk, a handful of pretzels, 4-5 pieces grilled chicken, about 1/4 cup of rice, 1/2 cup of peas, a medium piece of salmon, and a mini brownie and water all day. She is two. I think as long as you try to give her some fruit or veggies everyday and try to avoid too many processed things (which is way hard with toddlers- who would prefer to eat goldfish crackers all day if you would let them lol) you are doin fine! :)

Our 22-month old's faves include:
~sliced banana
~sliced apple (plain or w/peanut butter)
~mashed up banana w/peanut butter on an English muffin or 100% whole wheat bagel thin
~2% string cheese
~cherry tomatoes (eats them like candy)
~sliced cheese
~ham
~turkey
~apple juice
~low-fat cottage cheese
~applesauce
~green beans
~broccoli
~corn
~triscuit thin crisps
~goldfish
~Kashi cheddar crackers
~Nutrigrain cereal bars
~fruit smoothies (frozen fruit+light vanilla soy milk+a little sweetener depending on how sweet the fruit is mixed in a blender)
~chicken chili
~spaghetti (I use Barilla multigrain pasta+Barilla spaghetti sauce since it is lower in sugar)
~cornbread (a special treat w/chili)
~various kinds of chicken (depends on how I'm cooking it for dinner, like BBQ or homemade breaded cutlets)
~scrambled eggs
~multigrain honey wheat pretzel sticks
~microwave "baked" potatoes which I put a little butter and low-fat sour cream on
~baby carrots (I put a little ranch dressing on them)
~Danimals crush cup yogurt since big brother eats them, but she eats them with a spoon.
~Pre-packaged ravioli or tortellini with spinach and ricotta cheese. I make my own healthier alfredo sauce to go with it.
~She loves Kraft mac & cheese, Knorr rices, instant mashed potatoes, and Mrs. Paul's beer battered fish filets, but those are things I try not to serve very often, since they aren't really healthy.

*Most of the time I give her a taste of what I'm eating if I'm eating something different than her. We don't have a formal family breakfast or lunch, so I'm often eating something different than her, but at dinner we all eat the same thing, and if our kids don't eat it, they don't get anything else.

I know I feel like I'm serving our daughter the same thing all the time as well, so thanks for asking this question! Good luck.

I'm in the same rut with my 2 1/2 yr old, but at least yours eats a L. more than mine. She will just scrape the cheese off the grilled cheese or quesadilla and won't eat pb & j at all. She hates veggies but likes fruit so I give her the V8 Fusion juice and I try to always give her some fruit with a meal. She really only likes summer fruits but will eat apples so that's what I've been cutting up lately. She always wants buttered noodles so I've started to buy the Barilla whole wheat ones and she really likes them. She doesn't like chicken too much but she will eat a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. I'll make banana pancakes with low sugar syrup and sometimes she'll eat scrambled eggs. I'll be checking back to see what kind of responses you get. Good luck!