But what should I be feeding her. Everything was easy until she started eating solids. Then I started to question whether or not I was giving her enough variety. I ask myself questions like:
“How many puffs are too many?”
“Should she be eating this?”
“Maybe I shouldn’t let her eat this much cheese”
C is not really on a feeding schedule, it’s more on demand. And trust me, she will demand when she wants some.
There are multiple combinations that I make up for her for breakfast including:
Oatmeal, Toast, Eggs and Milk
Waffle, Fruits/Cottage Cheese, Milk
Waffle, Toast, Milk
I also throw Cheerios into the mix. Since she wakes up earlier than I’d like her to in the mornings I bribe, distract, feed her Cheerios and let her watch a DVD until I’m ready to roll out of bed.
Snacks can consist of anything from: Yogurt, cheese/crackers, juice or water (she tends to lean towards water, which I love), puffs or fruits
Dinner.
She usually eats whatever we eat. Even though sometimes I tend to feel like Hubby and I eat the same thing all of the time too. So the other day I decided to pick up some of Gerber’s Lil’ Entree meals to switch it up for C sometimes. I don’t want her to become a distant cousin of the chicken from eating it so much, so I feel better about giving her variety with these. She also enjoys their Pasta Pickups and I like ‘em because they squeeze veggies like Spinach into a ravioli, which I may not have gotten her to eat otherwise.
All of this is to ask, what do you feed your toddler? Samantha over at Mama Notes wondered the same thing. We’d love your advice, tips and help on this one. This is a judge-free zone if you choose to feed your little one all organics and home made foods, share it! If you LOVE the Gerber meals and swear by ‘em, share it! You Mommy however is best for you, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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I have been struggling with this lately!! My 2 yr old used to eat whatever I gave her and lately she is on a vegetable strike. She eats fruits just fine but other than that all she wants is meat and dairy. She could eat yogurt and cheese and turkey all day! I have started to blend her vegetables in to other things ie. i sauteed some vegetables and blended them, then folded them into beans and made her a burrito…which she happily ate! Yee haw!
A lot of times though, I hate to say it…I am too lazy and will offer her the food and if she doesnt eat it I dont make her. bad mommy. I need to go all out and make sure i am stuffing her full of good stuff
i once read that as long as you offer them what they should be eating, it is up to them to choose to eat it or not.
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Thanks for that advice Karie!
My kids all three eat cheese NON STOP! I cannot keep them from eating it. One day its all cheese….the next…apples, oranges, bologna, I give them a mix with what they are demanding so they know there is a boundary of you should eat this too, but I let them eat and they eat it generally. If not…I know that they have a lifetime of getting into regular foods. As long as they are not starving, I am offering different foods, etc, life is all good. I let them tell me now which is usually “bapples” and “cheechen” so apples and chicken. Life is good. Their snacks are granola bars…they pick them out…I tell you my kids are aliens. They are smarter than we give them credit. Offer it to her and see what happens, I stopped stressing and everything worked out. Good luck and hang in there!
Well,as a grandma, back in the days we fed our toddlers everything. I must say I am happy only one of my 4 kids was on the overweight list. But toddlers should be able to eat any and everthing as long as it’S not fattening. I suggest give her regular breakfast, in between meals snacks should be fruits but limit them remembering that they too have a lot of sugar, some more than others. The natural sugars is good, but they are still sugars. For lunch that should be a regular lunch. Maybe some mac & cheese with some veggies, or a sandwich. Dinner should be whatever you and your husband eats. Remembering the food groups for all meals. This is important, that each meal have fruits, vegetable and meat. You can also introduce her to a salad, which is healthy and helps to make her go to the bathroom on a regular basis. Crackers and cheese is a good snack, but watch how much cheese you give her. Bearing in mind too much of anything is not good. This is the time to start which will help you financially, cut your budget, since you will not have to purchase baby food and make one big shopping. I never had a problem doing this with my older children and 2 of my grandchildren. The one child which was overweight, was that way from a baby just from greed. But, he always ate healthy, just too much. Twenty minutes to an hour on breasts and a bottle afterwards as a baby, and that continued for a while. Now he is 18 going on 19 next month he is still a big guy 6ft + and over 200lbs. I must admit he has lost a lot of weight, but still a big guy, just not fat anymore. So, back to toddlers, feed them regular foods now, but watch what you feed them. The gerber snacks are good, because they are fruits, but not too much throughout the day. Cheese and crackers is good, but start giving her fruits also as snacks. You can also try giving her celery, and carrots as snacks also.
GOOD LUCK!!
Emma’s a big fan of cheese. You know, we shouldn’t worry about fat. Cheese is protein and dairy. It’s part of a well balanced meal!
Emma eats EVERYTHING. Breakfast is usually a fruit and some type grain: Cheerios, waffle, toast (wheat), or cereal bar. Of course milk.
I have a problem now, Emma will not eat anything that she cannot feed herself, so unless I’m planning a bath right afterwards, yogurt is pretty much out of the question now.
Lunch is some type of veggie and either hummus on toast, chicken noodle soup (without the broth), grilled cheese, chicken nuggets (rarely), or left overs from last night.
For dinner she eats whatever we eat. She even at a Subway sub the other day, toasted of course. and she enjoyed Shanghai Mama’s with us over the weekend. It’s good Chinese (no msg, grilled food, etc). She had soybeans, rice, and terryaki chicken.
Right now she’s having chicken breast, lima beans and peas, and milk. So I missed the grains food group. I lose. LOL .
I just make sure she eats the 4 basic food groups MOST of the time, and I stay away from anything sugary and overly fatty (like chips).
When my daughter was younger, I would definitely feed her the Gerber meals- they’re great (IMO) and were healthier than whatever hubby and I were eating. Now that she’s older (2 1/2), we all eat the same thing, although she always has milk or water to drink and we usually don’t. I want her to be healthier than her overweight, under-exercised parents but hopefully we can work on that together.
For snacks, she loves crackers, mainly goldfish, always has. While they’re not the heathiest snack, it could be worse. She also loves blueberries, but those are more expensive and harder to transport.
Apple sauce is a staple for her. She LOVES it. Blech- I can’t stand it. Something about the texture for me….
I want my daughter to be able to make her own choices (and hopefully choose the healthier options) about what she wants to eat. Little candy/sweets in our house, but she did just talk me into buying doughnuts for breakfast (I had a coupon) but I also have her eat some fruit and grains with them. I know, not the healthiest breakfast, but that’s ok with me. I have a happy, healthy kid who’s growing up