Toddler eating habits

[rugbywife]

My almost 17m old is driving me insane. She doesn't eat that much at meals and then wants to graze all day long. She was like that with BM and formula, so it isn't surprising, but it is so annoying.

What have people used as snacks during the day? Things that aren't horribly messy if possible. She loves pouches but we are going to go broke. Plus the kid can't live off fruit purée!!! She also loves the yogurt/fruit melts and these fruit roll up style things (twists actually).

The only things she eats consistently are: eggs, ham, Mac and cheese, strawberry Greek yogurt, hummus that she sucks off of baby carrots.

She inconsistently eats: quiche, peanut butter sandwiches, grilled cheese, fresh fruit, crackers, cubed cheese

What else should I attempt?

[rugbywife]

Oh, she eats fish and chicken too, and hamburger meat and sausage but I haven't been good at having these on hand for her. I have to be better.

[CloudBee]

That's a good variety, IMO.

Other suggestions:
- try different berries for a wider array of nutrients (blueberries, raspberries, etc.)
- other nuts butters (almond, cashew, or sunflower seed butter)
- black beans or kidney beans
- when making mac & cheese add in a few scoops of either sweet potato, squash, or carrot puree (buy baby food pouch and squirt in when cooking)

ETA: Early on I also added veggie and fruit purees to yogurt, and even had luck adding it to his milk sippy cup and shaking. Sort of like a smoothie. And what about making muffins from scratch or buying muffin mix and adding purees to that? SO GOOD. DS also likes frozen peas still frozen more than cooked. Same with corn. He thinks it's a treat.

Lastly - Whole Foods now sells carrot orange puree popsicles which claim to have half a serving of produce per pop. DS likes those. You may also want to look at what produce you can get in through bottled smoothies like the Naked brand.

[VillainV]

Wow, your kid is a way better eater than mine is.

Mine eats:

- Crabs: pancakes, french toast sticks, crackers, bread/toast (won't eat rice or pasta)
- Protein: yogurt, cottage cheese, occasionally cut up meatballs, chicken nuggets, or hamburger patties, rarely he'll eat egg.
- Fruit/Veggie: just about anything that comes in a pouch. Otherwise, he will sometimes eat a few bites of banana or some canned peaches

That's pretty much it. It' SO FRUSTRATING. I would love for him to eat what we eat. It's such a struggle.

[CloudBee]

I totally bought my kid Ovaltine yesterday. I was about to buy chocolate syrup because chocolate milk is a favorite treat in our house. Then I saw that Nestle Quick and Ovaltine both have "added nutrients". I let DS pick which one he wanted, and he opted for Ovaltine. LOL

I was surprised by all of the vitamins / minerals added in!

[VillainV]

Sept 3, 2015 21:40:11 GMT -5 swizz said:

Sept 3, 2015 21:38:12 GMT -5 VillainV said:

Wow, your kid is a way better eater than mine is.

Mine eats:

- Crabs: pancakes, french toast sticks, crackers, bread/toast (won't eat rice or pasta)
- Protein: yogurt, cottage cheese, occasionally cut up meatballs, chicken nuggets, or hamburger patties, rarely he'll eat egg.
- Fruit/Veggie: just about anything that comes in a pouch. Otherwise, he will sometimes eat a few bites of banana or some canned peaches

That's pretty much it. It' SO FRUSTRATING. I would love for him to eat what we eat. It's such a struggle.

I've stopped caring that she eats the same thing every day, lol. She doesn't care, why do I?!

Good point.  The frustrating part is that he'll be happy eating something for several days, then he'll suddenly refuse it.  We waste a lot of food going trying to find something he'll eat.

[Jalapeñomel]

Goldfish
String Cheese
Crisp Snap Peas
All kinds of fruit

[sparty04]

The only meals my 3 year old eats (and has it has been this way since he was one) are pizza, chicken nuggets and fries, hummus and pretzels and peanut butter on crackers. He snacks on yogurt, cheese, cereal, nutri grain bars, applesauce, apple slices and various chips and fruit snacks. I know it's frustrating but it sounds like you've got a decent variety going on there. Our pedi always says that you have to look at what they eat all week, not just in one day.

Sorry, I didn't really answer your question. I get jealous of parents whose toddlers eat normal food ;-)

[dcn]

Smoothies!! You can put all sorts of fruits and veggies in there along with nut butters
Black beans
Raisins
Not really snack foods and it is messy but Soup - Ds really likes tomato soup. When I have time I roast tomatoes, onions, carrots and then purée them with some broth. Otherwise I buy organic low sodium soup in a carton and heat up as needed.
Whole wheat bread toasted with pb or cream cheese

[lilac05]

Black beans & peas are a favorite healthy, non-messy snack with my boys.

If you get semi-desperate, you can buy the reusable pouches. We have squooshies. They're dishwasher safe & have never leaked. We don't use them too often, but they're easy to spoon some yogurt or applesauce into. Not as easy as buying them of course, but much cheaper!

[fortnightlily]

I buy most of my toddler snacks at Trader Joe's, which probably doesn't help you, but maybe you can find the equivalent.

- lentil chips
- roasted seaweed
- applesauce
- cheese sticks
- dehydrated fruit chips
- snap pea and bean crisps
- string cheese/cheese sticks
- graham crackers
- I also like to bake healthy-ish versions of things like carrot cookies, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, banana bread, etc. and give him some of that

For meals main dishes we usually do a rotation of:
- frozen meatballs
- fish sticks
- chicken nuggets
- frozen tamales
- Dr. Praeger spinach pancakes
- veggie burgers
- pizza
- grilled cheese
- pb & j
- pasta

We try to sometimes give him some of our entrees, but he usually refuses to try it

[Deleted]

At that age DS only ate fruit pouches, hummus, and any variety of cracker or fruit. I think she sounds pretty normal- good even!

Some things DS (24m) eats now:
Red peppers, string cheese, grahm crackers with PB, pickles, olives, dried snap peas, frozen yogurt in tubes, meatballs, fish sticks (occasionally), quesadillas, pizza. I've also noticed he tends to be more adventurous at snacks vs meals.

[arebee]

DD is around the same age. Some of her favourites are:
Blueberries
Crackers
Broccoli (raw or steamed)
Peas (frozen or steamed)
Corn
Rice
Green monster smoothie (PB, almond milk, spinach, banana)
Toast w/ PB
noodles
Ham or bacon
Beans (black or kidney)
Nectarines
Scrambled eggs w/ cheese
Yogurt

[smile]

I am envious of the things your DD will eat. I've kind of given up on variety. DD likes to snack and this summer her snacks have been frozen yogurt tubes, grapes, and bananas. For meals she will consistently eat macaroni, pizza, and rice with chicken and veggies. She has recently shown an interest in "trees", otherwise known as broccoli, and I'm overjoyed. She has also started eating more meat as long as some sort of dip is offered. 

[sent]

Here are the snacks I packed for my grazer for our trip:
Animal crackers
Chocolate biscotti
Veggie straws
Goldfish
Cheerios
Teddy grahams (I bought these new for her to try)
Basically if its's salty and crunchy, she will try it and likely eat it

She loved cheddar or mozzarella cheese as a baby, then suddenly stopped loving it after about 16 months. Now she is back into eating cheese again, but only after she sampled the fancier cheeses at Whole Foods with me a few weeks ago. Currently she likes manchego. I would've never thought to give her that.

She loves eating watermelon chunks and strawberries. Right before summer started, she was digging soft chunks of boiled apple. She usually has banana for breakfast. I don't care anymore if she drops them on the carpet and it makes a stain (yay rental!), as long as she eats it and is good for another hour.

[loskadoodle]

Sept 3, 2015 21:41:30 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

I totally bought my kid Ovaltine yesterday. I was about to buy chocolate syrup because chocolate milk is a favorite treat in our house. Then I saw that Nestle Quick and Ovaltine both have "added nutrients". I let DS pick which one he wanted, and he opted for Ovaltine. LOL

I was surprised by all of the vitamins / minerals added in!

We do carnation instant breakfast. Ds calls it coffee.

[Jalapeñomel]

I just read this to DH, because we are going through this as well.

[rugbywife]

To clarify, she doesn't really eat all those things consistently. That's part of the issue. We offer her stuff and she refuses it half the time. Totally normal, I know, just wasteful.

I guess I just need reassurances that if she eats Mac and cheese every night for dinner I am not the worst mom ever.

And then I need to figure out how to ween her off pouches.

[kershnic]

Squish would be happy if all we ever gave her was milk, Cheerios, and shredded cheese.

They like black beans and garbanzo beans. If you rinse off the gunk they come in they're pretty clean snacks.

[simpsongal]

I stopped caring a few months ago. He hasn't had a non pouch vegetable in months. I work full time and commute and I just don't have time to try a million hidden veggie tactics. It's bad enough when I take time to make oatmeal and other things and he just throws it on the floor.

Side note, this is the best our dog has eaten in years!

[Deleted]

rugbywife, are you offering her what you are eating for dinner or making her something separate?

You mentioned she will eat chicken, fish etc but don't always have it available so I'm assuming separate. If so, I can suggest making a big batch of chicken in the crockpot and then shredding it and freezing it. I just dump a bunch of chicken breasts (or tenders work best) in the crockpot with some low sodium chicken or vegetable broth. Let it cook for about 4 to 6 hrs. Then shred it and divide into containers or bags to feeeze. You can always use the chicken in dishes like soups, enchiladas, bbq, tacos etc later but my kids will eat it plain too. It's easy to keep on hand for a quick protein source.

[imojoebunny]

Smoothies. My DD would eat anything in a smoothie. Throw in a banana, some chicken, and peas, blend with a bit of pineapple juice or coconut milk, or what ever she will accept. Yum (gag), but she would suck it down.

If her weight is ok, I wouldn't worry too much. Both my kids were FTT, so we went pretty extreme.

For trying new things, whole foods has a food bar, I would go and get a spoonful of like 15 different things, and serve them to her over and over again for 3-4 days, at meals before her smoothie. It save a ton of money because it cost about $5-$7, verses having to buy a bunch of different things in quantity that she would not eat anyway (and we didn't want to eat). Not to mention the time to prep.

None of this worked for DS and he ended up on high calorie formula until he was 4.5 years. He is still incredibly picky, like brand specific, on the few things he will eat. The doctor calls him a super taster.

[rugbywife]

Sept 4, 2015 8:04:39 GMT -5 @awinter said:

rugbywife, are you offering her what you are eating for dinner or making her something separate?

You mentioned she will eat chicken, fish etc but don't always have it available so I'm assuming separate. If so, I can suggest making a big batch of chicken in the crockpot and then shredding it and freezing it. I just dump a bunch of chicken breasts (or tenders work best) in the crockpot with some low sodium chicken or vegetable broth. Let it cook for about 4 to 6 hrs. Then shred it and divide into containers or bags to feeeze. You can always use the chicken in dishes like soups, enchiladas, bbq, tacos etc later but my kids will eat it plain too. It's easy to keep on hand for a quick protein source.

When her bed time was 7:30 we ate together. Then we backed her bed time up to 6:30 because she was a mess at bedtime and now with her and DS...it's just too much. So we eat separately. I like the shredded chicken idea...would work probably!!

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2015 8:59:10 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

Sept 4, 2015 8:04:39 GMT -5 @awinter said:

rugbywife, are you offering her what you are eating for dinner or making her something separate?

You mentioned she will eat chicken, fish etc but don't always have it available so I'm assuming separate. If so, I can suggest making a big batch of chicken in the crockpot and then shredding it and freezing it. I just dump a bunch of chicken breasts (or tenders work best) in the crockpot with some low sodium chicken or vegetable broth. Let it cook for about 4 to 6 hrs. Then shred it and divide into containers or bags to feeeze. You can always use the chicken in dishes like soups, enchiladas, bbq, tacos etc later but my kids will eat it plain too. It's easy to keep on hand for a quick protein source.

When her bed time was 7:30 we ate together. Then we backed her bed time up to 6:30 because she was a mess at bedtime and now with her and DS...it's just too much. So we eat separately. I like the shredded chicken idea...would work probably!!

I eat with the kids now but when I was pregnant with the girls I was too sick to eat with J so I always kept this chicken in the freezer. He ate it all the time! I also always kept meatballs in the freezer. My H would make a big batch that would last a couple of months. Between beans, the chicken, and meatballs I always had a quick protein source I knew he would eat. Most of the time anyways.

[residentdj]

You have no idea how much of a relief it is to see that other people are having the same issues with feeding their toddlers. My daughter is just over 14 months old and when she refuses to eat, I feel like a complete failure. It's really hit or miss with her actually because there are days where she will eat very well, then others where she just throws everything on the floor. Then there's the days where things that she normally loves, she will refuse to eat. 

Surprisingly, she loves shishito peppers, which can be found in Trader Joe's. They are similar to Spanish Padron peppers. All you do is fry them in olive oil and sprinkle a little sea salt on them. We have to taste them first before giving because 1 out of like 7-10 peppers are spicy.

Other things she eats - sweet potatoes, tortellini (or any other pastas), fish and shrimp, lentils, tomatoes, corn, eggs, cheese, veggie burgers, hummus, loves loves loves fruits, especially blackberries.

Hmmm...now that I'm looking at this - maybe we aren't doing so bad after all. It's just frustrating on the days where she won't eat anything but puffs and teething wafers. 

[dcn]

Sept 4, 2015 7:45:14 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

To clarify, she doesn't really eat all those things consistently. That's part of the issue. We offer her stuff and she refuses it half the time. Totally normal, I know, just wasteful.

I guess I just need reassurances that if she eats Mac and cheese every night for dinner I am not the worst mom ever.

And then I need to figure out how to ween her off pouches.

You aren't the worst mom!

Also my almost three year old still has a pouch almost every day. He seriously wouldn't get many veggies otherwise. I don't think there's anything wrong with them! Would I rather he eat whole veggies? Yes, but in the meantime this works.

[scsarah]

Sept 4, 2015 10:09:35 GMT -5 dcn said:

Sept 4, 2015 7:45:14 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

To clarify, she doesn't really eat all those things consistently. That's part of the issue. We offer her stuff and she refuses it half the time. Totally normal, I know, just wasteful.

I guess I just need reassurances that if she eats Mac and cheese every night for dinner I am not the worst mom ever.

And then I need to figure out how to ween her off pouches.

You aren't the worst mom!

Also my almost three year old still has a pouch almost every day. He seriously wouldn't get many veggies otherwise. I don't think there's anything wrong with them! Would I rather he eat whole veggies? Yes, but in the meantime this works.

This is where I am too.  I would love if DS would eat veggies, but while he'll touch them to his tongue, he won't do anything else.  So we do pouches.  I had hoped to stop, but I'm telling myself that they're a good nutrition source, and right now, it's all about getting him fed.

We do find that he is more likely to try something when we're eating too, but it's tough since we all get home at 6, and bedtime is somewhere between 6:30-7.  Glad to see we're not the only ones dealing with this though!