i’ve seen posts such as these before (these series from both bleubird vintage and oh dear drea come to mind!). the whole dreaded question of what to feed your toddler that’ll win them over. that sometimes battle, sometimes not business (and often over the very same food). it’s hard to figure out. no, it’s impossible to figure out.
exhibit a: parker, for a long time, had no problem with scrambled eggs. then, no longer! so steve tried fried eggs. he liked them. and now, he decided he likes scrambled again. then for about a week he turned his nose up at chicken. now, he likes it again. i think he’s just rolling dice in his crib before the day begins–what will i dislike today??? $*()$#@!!! that is all i have to say.
moral of the story: don’t try to figure it out. it’ll make you crazy.
while my meals above don’t have a whole lot to add to the plethora of posts out there, i know sometimes i still need some inspiration in the kitchen when trying to figure out what to feed him.
so… bring in the winners. i can almost always count on him liking these things (especially the fruit + carrots… he is always down for a baby carrot). he’s something (a loose correlation, really) like this lady minus the whole moral backing behind it.
anyway, what is working for your kid these days? and please tell me: do you find there are days when they eat and eat and other days when they’re practically on a hunger strike? what’s up with that?
This would drive me crazy! That's why I don't have kids yet though…I am working my way up on the patience scale 🙂
My two year old nephew loves roasted sweet potatoes, pesto, chips and salsa, and anything else with strong flavors. But meat? Forget about it. Getting protein in him is a battle that's rarely won. Except hummus. He loves hummus.
yep, they're all the same it seems. some nights little guy eats like a champ, some nights he's like, don't worry about it, mom, I'll just nurse fifteen times tonight to make up for the dinnertime fast! lately spaghetti and meatballs is a favorite, but yeah, it's usually quite unpredictable.
We gravitate towards foods we can make in bulk and divy out over the week. Current favorites:
– homemade waffles
– spinach and cheese quesadillas (still!)
Also items Behr can build/stack:
– crackers, cheese, pickles, and olives
– nilla wafters, nutella or jam, and banana slices
– celery, peanut butter, peas and craisins
This kid also would eat meatballs or ketchup with every single meal. 🙂
oh the building — i should get parker excited about that. and spinach/cheese quesadillas, that's a good one.
also cannot believe you're at your due date.
Tommy's the same way. At times, he loves carrots (for about a week anyway) and other times he's flinging them from his plate. However he pretty much always loves pasta if its lathered in sauce. PB&J is normally a hit regardless. He loves red and yellow peppers cut up as snacks too. And I've yet to come across a fruit he doesn't like. Strawberries, bananas and blueberries are his favorites.
Easton is the same way. But I can always count on him to eat yogurt, blueberries, oatmeal, cream of wheat, peanut butter & jelly, SALMON—–KID LOVES BAKED SALMON—-and he also loves turkey/bean burritos. Oh. And broiled broccoli. He could eat the whole head of broccoli. But there are some times when he's LOVED something once before then won't touch it the next. Kids. What gives?!?!!? And…he's got a major sweet tooth that his daddy feeds…against my will. 😉
parker's a huuuge fan of yogurt + blueberries. i've never tried salmon!
sweet tooth. that right there will be a never ending battle.
When you try salmon….tell him that you are eating like Dinosaurs! We did that with my son, and now he loves Salmon. A lot of times, its the marketing. 😉
Our son is weird. He loves pureed kale. I've mixed it in with some plums, broccoli, applesauce. He loves it. Gets so excited. He pretty much eats anything.
One day he loves grilled cheese, and the next day it's like I'm poisoning him. Recently, he has pretty much devoured chicken cordon bleu (homemade), and steak, and chicken, and the list goes on. He must be going through a growth spurt.
the kale thing… that is AWESOME. takes the pressure off for getting the veggies in other ways!
My kids are like that too. Lately, Colton has been REALLY good about eating dinner, like whatever I cook. I try to make it fun for him but sometimes I just say "eat or no playing outside" and that seems to work. Ha!
Colton loves turkey, cheese, and crackers. Pretzels and popcorn. Grilled cheese and tomato soup. Peanut butter toast with honey. Carrots, raw. He will not eat them cooked. He loves edamame and lo mein noodles. My daughter has gotten him into eating chicken nachos and chicken quesadillas!
Colton will eat cooked broccoli with any thing! And he used to love the spinach and cheese raviolis when he was Parker's age.
i JUST tried spinach and cheese raviolis with him the other day and he wanted no parts of it! (but watch me try tomorrow and he'll be obsessed…)
Mmm… Yup, I would eat all of this 😉 How great that he likes beans, fruit and veg so much!
Some Snapshots Blog
Jess
yep. charlie is 4 and still fluctuates between love and distain over the same food items! he loves soups though, so we have that for lunch a lot. doesn't mind the chunks of veggies. (for the moment} pasta dishes too, really any variety. he has always loved sauteed peppers and rice, I add a little turmeric for color too. (hope I didn't jinx myself)
My son is 13 months and is very very touch and go with his meals lately as well. My go-to when he is being picky? pb&j's or spaghetti with a little sauteed spinach in the sauce. He never turns away either of these.
p.s. parker is ridiculously cute!
iris
http://grneggsnhann.blogspot.com/
parker's into pb&j's as well! and they're so easy! win win. i like the spinach in the sauce idea too!
I stopped trying. Olivia eats it or she doesn't and she hasn't died yet 🙂 One day she ate THREE pb&j sandwiches and the next day two bites. She's always down for pancakes and any type of fruit.
dude, you're the smart one. i need to just stop trying!
ok, so parker eats the raw baby carrot? or are they cooked?
i have been debating for about a month now, whether or not to give james a raw carrot. ugh, i don't know why it scares me so much, i guess i just worry about him choking…
advice, please! 🙂
hey kristin! they're raw — i used to cut them up into really small pieces, but now i give him the whole thing. he's been okay so far! i'd just make sure he's in his seat as opposed to walking around with it…
Oh, it's definitely the age! No worries!
My 19 month old loves hummus!
One of her favorites is pasta with either marinara or alfredo with broccoli. She will always eat that!
Yep, my 22 month old daughter is the same way. Her pediatrician encouraged me by saying 'as long as we're doing our part to place in front of her good, wholesome foods, it's her choice when and what to eat.' She'll eat when she's hungry and not to worry! Easier said than done!! But some ideas Paige is loving right now:
– homemade whole wheat waffles
– Green smoothies (spinach, kale, cucumber, apple, celery, lemon)
– Egg/cheese/whole wheat English muffin sandwiches
– homemade bran/carrot muffins
– cut up cherry tomatoes (the yellow ones are her fav!)
– diced up cucumber
– peas
– orzo (I can put anything in it and she'll devour it. usually add cut up chicken, peas, and other veggies)
– kefir mixed with a little milk (call it a milkshake!)
– steamed broccoli
– pasta all the time any time.
– brown rice with terayaki chicken
– yogurt
– oatmeal (not lately though!)
hope that helps, keep posting Parker's I need ideas!
It's so good that he's unpredictable, that's how they're supposed to be! I'd get on your knees and thank your lucky stars because it's a really good thing. It's when they become predictable (in a bad way) that it really becomes a problem. I have 4 kids and I didn't realize how good I had it with the unpredictable eaters until I had 1 who is so predictable it's the worst because she'll eat about 7 foods and that's it. Now that's frustrating!
I love this post! I'm always on the hunt for toddler meal inspo! Liam is so finicky – he was loving black bean burgers, so we got a CostCo amount just to find out he is over those… now we have a freezer full. oy.
Megan from Chasing Davies
I think ALL of these kids eat better than my boys:) haha! Shoot. Mine are all about fruit and crackers and turkey and the buck stops there. Literally. Tate was/is the easiest eater on the planet and genuinely enjoys everything and always has. The twins on the other hand are typical carb/sugary fruit baby eaters. I have about 5 meals to rotate with them:(