Seeking Lunch Ideas for Toddler

Maybe you should talk to a dr. at 15 months she should have a lot of teeth. I put my twins on regular table food at 8 months. anything that she can pick up with her fingers she should be able to eat.

I'm really glad you asked other moms this question, I'm getting some great healthy ideas for my 2.5 year old, I plan on cutting and pasting onto a Word doc for menu ideas! A few other things I've seen mashed potatoes with cooked diced veggies in them (friend), and cooked seasoned rice with diced chicken (Disneyland).

We have 15 month old triplets and they eat a variety of things for lunch. We moved past the jarred baby food. You can mince regular food as long as it is not too spicy and soft for their tender gums. My kids love mince ham, potatoes, eggs, peas/carrots, shredded cheese, pasta pick ups, mac and cheese, veggies/fruits. Keep offering the new foods even if she does not try them. She will eventually try things that she sees you eating. Good luck.

Have you tried small frozen veggies. Once in her mouth it will melt. It is a new texture and also healthy. Peas are a good one to start with!

Give her everything you eat, cut it into bits small enoug to swallow. She's too old to be eating jar food. All they need is 2 teeth to chew. Don't give large chunks of meat or anything tough to chew, but everything else she can eat, chew, gum.

They make baby meals like peas and spaghetti

Have you tried Gerber graduates? They have smaller bites in good portions for little ones. The Gerber site even has coupons to print out. Or you could just look at the packaging and get ideas that you can cook at home.

A great book that has tons of age appropriate recipes and meal ideas is called First Meals by Annabel Karmel. This book provides wholesome and tasty meal ideas you can easily make yourself. You'll get a lot of use out of the book which provides kid friendly meal ideas from infants to 5 years old...a section for each age!

Hi J.
Has your little girl had any finger foods yet? My son is 16 months old and eats things like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut up in small square bites, scrambled eggs or omelets, peas, turkey burger cut up in small pieces, chicken and baby granola bars. He pretty much eats anything we at except for steak, it's too hard for him to eat b/c he only has 6 teeth in front (two on top and 4 on bottom). If everything is small she should be able to eat it no problem. I was nervous at first too but they get the hang of it pretty quickly. My son has become very independent and wants to use a fork too by himself. With sandwiches and those kinds of foods I let him poke at it and try to feed himself with the fork. It doesn't always work but it's a good way for them to learn how to use utensils. Oh and Yobaby yogurt is a really great snack!
Hope that helps,
A. :)

Hello, I have 15 month old grandson. In addition to some table food I buy my grandson Gerber Graduates. They have a variety of food, cookies and fruit snacks.

J.,

I feed my son (who is now 17 months) whatever we are eating (within reason) I just cut it up small. He eats bites of chicken, beef, pork, rice, noodles, baked beans, veggies, etc. Up until a month ago he only had 4 teeth (and now he has 11, it has been a rough month!) In my experience, how many teeth they have has nothing to do with their ability to eat and their likelihood of choking. Some kids are gaggers and chokers and some aren't.

:-)T.

Hi there. Here are my suggestions:

For dinner, I would say try as much as possible to find elements of your meal that you can feed her, just cut them up. We did this with my son and so far, he's really good at just eating what we eat. Makes life sooo much easier.

For lunches, here are some things I use for my son's lunch while he's at daycare: fruit cups, apple sauce, string cheese, yogurt, chicken tenders, pre-made meatballs, frozen corn, frozen peas, leftovers like spaghetti, casseroles, apples and grapes, blueberries, strawberries. I used to buy those toddler meals but he didn't love them and they were so full of sodium I stopped. I really try not to "dumb down" what he eats. I want him to eat a variety of stuff, so I try feed him like we eat...

Hope that helps!
-M

my second daughter rejected all baby foods at 10 months and was diving across her tray to grab whatever she could get her hands on from her sister's plate. Her favorites turned out to be: Pasta (she swallowed it whole) - I buy the barilla plus pasta that has protein and fiber and it tastes way better than whole grain pasta. Avocados, tofu was a big hit. Any fruit cut up, any cooked veggies, cheese, crackers, little pieces of bread, tiny chunks of chicken. Really, you could give her anything. My baby used to gag at just about every meal (keep in mind she was really young) but she got pretty good at not choking, she would just sort of gag. (my husband would flip, but she actually managed quite well) Just give her something soft as the majority of her meal and then try giving her a little tiny piece of whatever it is that you are eating and see what she does with it. She may surprise you and eat a wide variety of stuff. Have fun!

J., My daughter is only 10 months and she will not eat jar baby food anymore. The only prepared food she will eat are Gerber Graduates. Otherwise she will eat almost any table food I serve her. I usually give her eggs either scrambled or hard boiled, well-cooked pasta, potatoes, steamed carrots or cauiliflower, mac-and-cheese (you can prepare it with carrot puree) and then at least she is getting her veggies, applesauce, soup, rice pudding, yogurt and pancakes. Start trying things and see what she likes. My daughter only has 3 teeth (two on the bottom and one on top) so don't worry about them choking, you will be suprised at what she will be able to chew with her gums. Please keep in mind that grapes and hot dogs are the two leading choking hazards for children under 3 years old.

When I did the transition from soft foods to harder foods I started cutting things into smaller pieces. Grapes cut in 4 pieces were always a hit with my kids. Small chunks of cheese. Really you can do just about anything that isn't too hard. For example I didn't always start off with apple chunks...even small ones. I started out softer until I felt confident that they could do it. Cheerios are easy for small children, they go soft pretty fast.

Hi J.,

My daughter is doing the same thing, but she does have lots of teeth. I suggest soft fruits (bananas, raisens,blueberries, etc.) and corn, green beans, cooked carrots. Gerber also has a great line of soft finger foods for babies learning to self feed. As long as you cut these things into small pieces, she will be fine. Oh, also eggs! My daughter loves scrambled eggs! I tried one thing at a time to watch for food allergies. I hope this helps!

J., mother of 3 (boy 15, girl 6 and girl 14 months)

My son is 17 months old and eats everything we eat. Given he is my second child to I am a little less paranoid about choking than I was with my first but he does great. A couple of things I started off with were steamed veggies, tiny cubes of cheese, and pasta with a little bit of something on it (sauce, butter and parmesan, etc) That way you can get a feel for it slowly, and change to more substanial things as you go. Good Luck!

My son is 15 months and i give him Graduates finger foods made by gerber its a great for toddlers who are learning to self feed and it's good for them too !! Try the graduates puffs first they can pick them up there self and it melts as soon as it get into there mouths and you can try them yourself to get the feel of what the are eating hopes this helps alitte bit

P.

toddler's gums are hard enough to break-up most foods.
Give her the same thing you eat at dinner so she gets use to eating the same food. Just cut everything small enough for her to swallow.
My son refused baby food, so i've been doing it for him since he was 6mths. For lunch I use to give him tiny pieces of turkey,cheese, and bread. What ever I made for dinner I just chopped it up. You'll be surprised how well she'll do. Stay away anything hard like raw carrots.
Soup is a fun one. All kids love spegetti. Noodles and butter. you can give her virtually anything, just cook the veggies. She'll do great!

T.

My son is 10 months old, has 4 teeth, and eats everything that I eat. I cut into small pieces all fruits and (cooked) veggies, grilled cheese, cottage cheese, avocado. He eats Life cereal and Rice crispies (usually dry, but sometimes soaked in formula), regular oatmeal, all meats cut into small pieces (cooked chicken, tofu, turkey meatloaf). He eats all of the meals I cook (chick. pot pie, lasagna, ect...). He eats chunks of bread, brown rice, cut up pasta, everything! He hasn't had infant cereal nor a bite of baby food for 2 months now. He also eats about 2 cups of dry cherrios a day. Don't be too afraid of him choking. He's my second and we truely underestimate the power of those few teeth.
Hope this helps.

I think you may be underestimating the power of your babies gums. They are pretty powerful and although you don't want to give her anything that can cut them she needs to be learning how to chew her food. I don't remember my daughter being on hardly any baby food at 15 months. Anything that is not hard or really chewy should be fine. Cheese, fruit (babies LOVE bananas), cheerios, macaroni and cheese, oatmeal is great for breakfast (of lunch). Or Gerber makes trays and bowls of pastas and finger foods for babies and toddlers. It will be with the baby food.

Our daughter (who is 19 months) has been eating anything that we eat since she turned 1. We just cut it into smaller pieces. Her taste palate is developing nicely because we do this instead of sticking with bland jarred food.

I feel your pain. I feel like I serve the same thing daily. I have branched out:
toast with hummas
toasted mini bagel and cream cheese
mini pizzas
deil meat and cheese
cold pasta
cheese sticks
left overs
grilled cheese
A web site that I have found to be really helpful is "www.wholesomebabyfood.com"
My son eats what we eat only I cut the pieces small. I had to give up the "typical" lunch. Get creative. I have even been known to give my son pancakes for lunch.
I always give my son a piece of fruit with each meal/snack
Good luck!

J.,
I can remember when my 3 children were that age and being nervous especially with the first one. As long as what you feed her are in small bite size pieces and you are there when she eats she will should be fine. Try small pieces of cut up fruit-apples, bananas, melon. Toasted peanut butter & jelly , fish sticks & macaroni and cheese & grilled cheese sandwiches cut up into small pieces were favorites for our kids. Check with your pediatrician for more suggestions and most importantly make sure she is not allergic to any of the foods you give her. Good luck and enjoy her - time goes by too quickly!

I discovered that my daughter was ready for solid food when she stole a piece of pork chop off my plate and ate it before I could stop her. She had no teeth at that time and didn't get any for months afterward. Now my son is much more likely to choke but at 12 months we jut give him smaller pieces. ( He has the four front teeth.) Anthing you eat cut small and cooked to be soft will work.

Fruit: Bananas, Apples, Pears, Mango, Canned Pineapple, Kiwi, Apple sauce, Blueberries, Grapes (quartered or halved)

Veggies: Carrots (fresh sliced or diced, canned or steamed), Green Beans (canned or steamed), Peas, Celery (if you are willing to de-string them), Bell Pepper strips, Zuchini (sliced or in strips), Cucumber, Acorn and Butternut Squash

Meals: Pita filled with cucumber, humus and tomato (Trader Joes have little one inch circle pitas or you can cut them fairly small); Pizza (make it yourself at home to make it healthier and smaller if you wish); Chicken served with rice and steamed mixed veggies

If you can endure the mess just give your child anything that you eat. I've heard of people serving meals in the bath tub or outside then giving the kid a bath immediatly after.

You know your child's gag reflex and choke tolerances. Just start experimenting. You might be shocked by what she is capable of. If she rejects things it may be because she is unused to the food being offered or the texture is one she doesn't like (for the moment).

Diced strawberries... high in carotenoids and vitamin C
Steamed Carrots which can then be served cold (chopped)
Cheerios

This website really helped me get ideas...

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babyfingerfood.htm

Good luck!

My son will be 1 next week and he wasn't a happy baby until her was given solid food. I started when he had about three teeth. Here are some ideas

I make a lot of homemade soup with tons of veggies and either chicken or Turkey sausage. I sometimes add tortellini. Everything gets really soft if it's allowed to cook long enough and makes a quick complete meal.

Garden burgers are super soft, I add a slice of melted cheese to the top. I do boca burgers the same way, you could also do ground beef or turkey.

Eggs with Cheese
Gerber Graduates meals in the little bowls are perfect when you're out and about
Whole wheat waffles
Whole wheat pancakes, I make mine with sweet potato or squash puree, ground flax and wheat germ. Good for baby and my three year old that hates veggies
Beans, all types, cooked and mashed. I made a 17 bean soup with a ham bone that was a hit.
Stew cooked in the crock pot until the meat falls apart. The Crock pot is great with any meat really because it just falls apart.
Yogurt or oatmeal with soft berries. Grant LOVES pears!

I hope that's a good start for you.Good luck!

Hi J.- I was a HUGE worrier about them choking so I went to babies r us I think it was and they have this plastic type thing with a net thing you put on the end and the kids can hold it like a handle and you put the food in the net part and they "gum" it and try to chew it really helps with there teething also I put EVERYTHING in it fruit, veggies ,meats chicken it was invented by a Dad who was watching his daughter choke and couldnt help her-it is sooo great just get extra net bags they do get messy and you can replace them I tried to use one for each food group - You can probably look online for it also I cant remeber the "proper " name for it - But I hope this helps -

Pasta, of various shapes and sizes, not cooked al dente. There are also quite a few regular meals that can be placed for a few seconds into a food processor, like meatloaf and mashed potatoes and spaghetti.

I don't blame her! There is too many other delicous things she could be eating. www.askdrsears.com has some great food tips/ideas. Off the top of my head, I'd recommend avocado, banana, soft carrots, soft apples, pears (both you can nuke for a mintue or so) peaches, cereals like Cheerios, possibly Mighty Bites (not sure how many teeth she has). Grated cheese, yogurt, Trader Joe's Fruit bars. She can probably have quite a bit now, you just may need to cut things in to small pieces. Keep in mind there is gagging and there is choking. Most likely you'll experience gagging with new food because she is used to baby food. She doesn't need her back teeth to knaw on things, she'll gum things down. Just don't give her raw baby carrots, hot dogs, apple chunks, things that obviously could cause choking - even in a child with teeth. You could use a mesh feeder for anything you are really afraid of.
Have fun!
M.

I have a 14 month old son. He eats a lot of different foods, hopefully some of these ideas help.
- shredded turkey breast
- fruit (cut up grapes, blueberries, bananas, strawberries, oranges, apples),
-veggies (peas, roasted carrots, brussel sprouts)
-mac & cheese (trader joe kind, Kraft makes it w/ fake cheese)
- almond butter & jelly (peanut butter is stickier) cut up of course
- dino chickens cut up small
-corn on the cob
- applesauce

It is hard to think of everything, but hope this helps.

Feed her what you eat, jusr make the pieces small enough for her to mash. You can even oover cook her portion and prepare it for her. My daughter is 18 months and has been on people food since she was 13 months.

There is a lot out there to give your daughter. I give my son a variety of 2 or 3 things to choose from. Some options include (not in any particular order), tubed pasta w/ butter & lightly sprinkled garlic salt, rice, peas/corn, scrambled eggs, graded cheese, apple sauce, yogurt, oatmeal, bananas. If your nervous about choking, just cut things up into very small pieces. My son loved yogurt and banana or apple sauce for lunch. There is a lot out there for them to eat besides baby food.

If you haven't yet, try avacados! They are great & soft so not difficult for your little one to chew. Also:pasta(not spaghetti noodles...little ones seem to choke on those). I feed my daughter whole wheat elbow macaroni & she loves it! Earth's Best makes some little cheese ravioli's that are perfect toddler bite size. You can do toaster waffles for breakfast, banana, mango, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese sticks (cut up). Hope this helps.

Hi there! At that age my daughter loved tiny pieces of colby jack cheese, cold peas, watermelon and plain whole wheat toast. The toast is good b/c it just kind of dissolves. Good luck! :)

Hello! I can relate. My son only had 4 teeth at 15months(2 top and 2 bottom). We used alot of the Gerber Graduate meals. My son really liked the pasta and ravioli. We also used cheerios, breakfast bars, bananas, cooked carrots, mac and cheese, toast, spaghetti, canned soups with the spiral noodles, ramen noodles, jarred or canned peaches/pears, peas(use the canned or the ones in the Gerber Graduate Meals) frozen peas seemed too hard for my son and I was afraid he would choke, pudding, applesauce. Good Luck!

Have you tried things like cooking sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, peas and other veggies and cutting them up small enough to be swallowed easily? Then, you can pre-package meal-size servings just for her and keep them in the refrigerator or freezer. You can also pre-cook small pieces of apple, put them in the refrigerator, and they make a tasty cold dessert or sweet snack. Good luck!

My eldest son was born at 7 lbs, and grew at a rate that put him in the 99% in height and weight within a month. Formula won't keep him full for more than half an hour. And our doctor recommended that we move him to solid foods at one and a half months. I tell you this so you that can understand that I do know what you are going through about worrying at what might choke your child once they get bored with jar foods (by 9 mo and 2 teeth with mine.) We found canned green beans to be our first go to. He loved them. And I would throw a can in the diaper bag with a cheap can opener so we could eat them anywhere that we went. Gerber also has easy to dissolve finger foods that have apples, strawberries and bananas added to rice which are a great try treat. Hope this helps.

hi!!
My son is 18 months and had 4 teeth until last week so i understand the choking part.
boiled chicken, green beans, soft carrots cut up, grilled cheese with out the crust,spaghettios, chicken dinos, fruit cut up,yogurt,pasta... i hope some of these ideas helped. It is hard!!! (smile)
JS

I didn't read through all of the responses, but here are a few thing we feed our 11 month old that only has one tooth. Cottage cheese, cubed pieces of cheese, advocado, almost all fruit and veg that is either cooked or cut up smaller. Cubed pieces of well cooked chicken, scrambled eggs, yogurt the list can go on and on. Good Luck

Hi there,
I have a 11 month old that I give tiny pieces of grilled cheese sandwiches. They need to practice chewing, I also give her egg yolks scrambled. She loves pasta cut up in little pieces (mac and cheese too)I also give her shreaded cheese, I think that is her favorite! They can gag on it, but not choke.My daughter used to gag on everything! I have also had a few scares with her actually choking. I grabbed her so fast out of the highchair, I don't even remember doing it! I just gave her a big wack on the back and it came up. (I never strap her in so I can pull her out, but I never leave her side...even for a second!)
I also need some ideas for lunch, but not for a toddler.
Sorry I couldn't be more of a help.

Have you tried the nets that you can put food into? It is an easy way for them to taste fresh foods. For my 7 month old I just started using a chopper to cut up our dinners into small pieces and she loves it too. My 5 year old son didn't get his first tooth till 11 month, so I know what boat your in.

My kids loved avocado, tofu and bananas!

Hi J.!

My oldest son never did baby food which really threw my husband and I for a loop. So, at six months, our son was on table food! We had great luck with deli meat of all things (ham and mesquite turkey). We became regulars at the deli counter of our grocery store! We also had great luck with chicken (cut up very small), mashed potatoes (messy, but fun), avacados, bananas and canned fruit (cut up small).

Believe it or not, our worst luck was with spaghetti noodles. Our son wound up choking on them because he put too much in his mouth at once. Fortunately, a good yank on the noodles avoided tragedy and we spent a few years with spaghetti sauce and macroni noodles.

Good luck!

My son loved (and still loves) black beans and rice. You can easily put other veggies in it. You can mash up the beans if he isn't ready for whole pieces. I make mine by scratch but you can also use canned.

J.,
Tofu is great because you choose the firmness. Easy, easy finger food. Cous-cous is great (little pastas), brown rice, steamed veggies (those easy ones come in a bag ready to microwave), dip of all kind - hummus, ranch, whipped cream cheese. My daughter had few teeth but she could mash up pretty much anything soft. Their gums are pretty tough. As long as you cut up everything small enough and monitor how much she puts in her mouth,there shouldn't be a choking issue. If you are extremely concerned with the possibility, then go get the infant/child cpr training because they will show you what to do when kids in those age groups are choking. Being prepared will make you feel more secure at dinner time.