What Do You Feed Your Toddlers?

About 3 nights a week I cook and they eat what we eat or they wait until breakfast. It's not like I am am cooking liver and onions and forceing it on them. Mine eat onions, peppers, ect. If they don't like it I don't force it. THey also eat all the things you mentioned on other nights. I think letting them have the choice of eating it or not helps when they are at a friends house and won't eat what the mom cooked. Also, when kids are at my house I ask what they want or make a buffet.

I feed my 2 1/2 year-old son whatever I am making for dinner. I have to disagree with your statement that "the food we eat isn't really fit for our 3 and 4 yr old." I'm a firm beliver in exposing kids to a wide variety of foods, textures and flavors. I'm also totally against the idea of letting my toddler dictate what is for dinner. He's 2, that decision is above his pay grade, so to speak.
If what I am cooking is extremely spicy, I will take out a serving for my son before I add the heat, but otherwise, he just gets whatever we eat, and he loves lots of foods you wouldn't necessarily expect a toddler to eat.
This is just what works for my family, best of luck to you!

I completely understand your concern! It's something that bothers me all the time, though a lot of the advice I have received mirrors the comments already posted.

My son is 22 months. I try really hard to ensure he is getting good food ... I really try to offer him whatever we are having, but I agree, sometimes the foods we as adults are eating are not always the best for kids. Also sometimes I am frustrated by the meals/snacks he receives at daycare, but I've resigned myself that I can't win every battle. Though I send good breakfasts and snacks every day.

Here is what my son typically eats:

Frozen ravioli with butter (either chicken or beef/spinach - Whole Food brand), pierogies, cinnamon raisin whole wheat english muffins, whole wheat bread, grilled cheese, Quesadillas made with whole grain tortillas and cheese, Ian's chicken stix or nuggets, blueberries, oranges, grapes, kiwi, pineapple, rasperries or blackberries, organic string cheese, raisins, Earth's Best toddler crackers, Stoneyfield farms yogurt (I've been freezing it in popsicle molds to make it a "treat"), the only vegetables he will willinging eat are broccoli, which we steam and chop it finely in a food processor and mix it into his mac n' cheese (try to buy the best whole grain or organic I can) and corn, everything else he pretty much shuns. We buy whole grain mini waffles and spread with organic peanut butter, crackers with cream cheese, we've been using mini cutters with bell peppers to make shapes that he can dip into ranch dip ( he uses less than a pea size worth for a larger than quarter size piece of pepper so I am okay with it), we've made french toast sticks and had him dip it into unsweetened applesauce and yogurt, there's more I am sure, but I imagine this post is getting long.

Like others have posted, while I too am concerned about what he is eating, I do not believe in making dinner a war zone, I present him with the best possible options and allow him to choose what or how much he will eat. I don't really try to negotiate that much.

I hope this helps - contact me directly for other suggestions, I'd love to share ideas.

Good luck !

For the most part, kids will develop a palate to what you expose them to. There are genetic components that affect the flavor of some foods for people...like cilantro for example (it tastes soapy to some)...as well as the tolerance for spiciness. My daughter tolerates quite spicy foods, but she has a friend who will chow down on a pickled jalapeno.

The first solid food that my daughter really ATE was curried potatoes and peas...that is some serious flavor for a 10 month old. I made all my own pureed foods and her favorite breakfast was when I pureed pot roast with rice and carrots...her daycare teacher once asked me to bring a serving of it "whole" because it smelled so good...lol.

Fortified foods are fine, but your body is really able to process the vitamins naturally occurring in foods more efficiently--even if the nutritional value of our food supply is generally declining...but that is a different discussion. Same for "hiding" vegetables...it is good for boosting the nutritional value of otherwise healthy foods, but isn't really a replacement for eating servings of fruits and vegetables.

FIFTEEN choices...I hope you are exagerating. Who has the time or energy? My toddler gets dinner or (healthy) cereal, dinner or PB&J....that is the only choice. She had white sandwich bread ONE time at home and has tortured me ever since because she wants that instead of the "seeds" as she calls it. No dice. White bread is a treat.

Keep in mind that it can take 10-12 exposures to develop a taste for something. A single rejection doesn't really mean anything.

All that being said...I was a picky eater as a kid. I am pretty adventurous now. I don't believe you should make a big deal out of it, but limit their choices and encourage them to try new things. The 4 year old is certainly old enough to grasp the concept of a "no thank you" bite....and it is already something I do with my three year old. She has to try at least one bite without spitting it out...this will increase as she gets older.

She often will sometimes refuse to eat something that I KNOW she will eat. She must finish a serving (the size of her palm) before she is done...othwerwise it goes in the fridge until the next time she says she is hungry. I don't normally hold stuff until the next day...but she's went to bed several times in the last few months without dinner. She won't starve and it is a logical consequence.

Good luck.

We grill alot to keep down on the fat, so it works out perfect for our family. Chicken, pork, beef and then we change around the vegetables. If I am making a one pot dish like chicken and brocc alfredo, I will take some chicken and brocc out before I add the sauce. My kids don't like the sauce, so they get everything else.
My toddler is 15 months and she will try everything. My 5 year old is daring too and she is usually a good eater. However, my 9 and 13 year old are fussy.
If I am making a new dish, or one I know they hate I do not require them to eat it. I will give them the option of a sandwhich instead. If I am making a dish I know they like, they have to eat it.

15 choices? Really? How long does to take you to get to your own dinner?
In our house we eat what is served, or you have the option of not eating. My daughter has gone through pickier phases in which she ate less. That's ok too, she will then eat more for breakfast for example.

Some days she comes home not really hungry. maybe because she ate a lot for breakfast and lunch - that's ok for me to, they serve healthy food in our daycare, so I know she's had her share of fruit and veggies.

I practice what you do for your older child, ONLY if we have SERIOUSLY spicy food, or I will make something different for her if I really crave something I KNOW that she doesn't like. Most of the time I will combine items that I know she will eat, with ones that she may or may not eat, so she will just leave that. I never ask her to finish anything in particular, I know that over the space of a day or week, she'll have enough of all food groups.

They will develop a taste for whatever you serve them, so please start weaning them off the "kid food" - unless of course you want to raise kids that will never develop a taste for something other than Mac n Cheese and processed foods.

My daughter has some things she really loves and some she won't eat and it goes in phases...
I wouldn't worry about it and just stop being a short order cook.
Good luck!

Well all parents are different on what they think the "right" thing to do is. For me I kinda try to meet in the middle. If i know that my kids are just not going to eat what I want to make me and my hubby I will make them something else. But then I always offer it to them too. Even if I can just get them to try one bite. The other day my hubby gave me daughter a bite of steak and she liked it. She is 3 and loves steak! Or i will just modify the meal. Like if we are having fish (which they don't like) potatoes and rolls. I will give them what they do like, the potatoes and rolls but then for the meat I will make them chicken nuggets or a hot dog etc. I watched a show recently about how there is a link to obesity in adults and teens when they were forced to eat everything on their plate when they were kids. It can give them the mind set that you always have to eat all your food. Which isn't good. You should just eat until you are full. So I never really try to force food on my kids.

I also make a separate meal for my daughter (soon to be 4), she eats healthy for the most part but she is sensitive about the texture of food. My daughter is also more of a grazer, eats a little through out the day, when she is having a growth spurt she is eating ALL the time and never seems full.

Here is a run down of the list of what my daughter eats: dry cereal, yogurt, strawberries, apples, watermelon, corn, sometimes peas, rice, sometimes chicken, ham, fruit bars, mash potatoes (mainly now I make mashed cauliflower, which is almost just like potatoes), granola bars, crackers, cheese, homemade pizza, milk, juice, and water.

We do try to encourage her to try new things and sometimes she surprises us and will try it and love it, just recently she has fallen in love with hard salami (I know not the best meat but it is something new she eats). My brother was a super picky eater and he honestly outgrew it but my parents always just kept encouraging him not forcing because that will create an eating issue but just say you would love them to try a bite.

Number one rule for us... you need to eat enough of ALL your meal to get dessert. She actually has opted to not have dessert because she did not want to eat her dinner. We do not barter she gets the various food groups and eats it or she does not, if she does not eat enough of everything (or try it all) then no dessert. Also we give her TWO choices when it comes to the meal do you want THIS or THAT. She will usually pick one or the other, on rare occasion she will so how about 'this instead' which is fine because it is healthy and she chose it with in seconds (did take us forever to get to making a decision quickly but she is pretty good at it now). If she does not make a choice I say 'you have till I count to ten or mommy will pick for you.' This gives THEM the feeling of choice and control in this big world but you kind of had already made a healthy choice by offering two healthy options.

This is the way I have chosen to do it, there are many ways to go about it (eat what the whole family is eating to cooking separate meals). To me there is no wrong or right way, as long as the child is eating healthy and is growing healthy then why try to force something different.

The thing with kids is to remember that there are several opportunities to eat in a day. I feed at least 3 meals and 2 snacks and often times there may be 3 snacks. I believe that they need to be offered a big variety of foods. I don't much care whether or not they choose to eat at every meal or snack. I'm going to make sure they have foods they like at least 3/4th of the time. I don't much appreciate throwing away food. So when I give them something they might not like, I give them a small amount. But I also give them a small amount of what they do like when I have say 2 things I know they will eat and 2 that I'm not sure about.

I have had a great volume of kids come through my house and I have had kids eat cold salads with all kinds of dressings, steamed broccoli and all kinds of veggies in soups, bean dishes, and odd creations I come up with.

I do think it's right to keep the heavy spices out of the kids foods. I'm biased against spicey foods since I can't stand them. But my mother and husband do so we often have to divide things up and spice theirs more and the rest of ours less.

I'll let you in on a secret. If you can find a soup and salad bar in your town, or a good buffett place that has a huge amount of choices, you can heap their plates with little bits of this and that. They will try things without being harped at. It is best to start them in these places when they are just barely cutting teeth. They will appreciate the variety later.

My 24 month old son and I eat those snacky type foods for lunch (hot dog, chicken nuggets, spaghettios, mac n cheese etc) then at dinner, my husband and our son and I all eat the same things. Sometimes if I'm using a lot of jalepeno, I'll cook my son's separately, but he still eats the same food us adults do. We eat a lot of tacos, so I'll give him meat, the beans, the rice, and a small cucumber salad with shredded carrot and salad dressing on top. Or I may make him a quesadilla too. He eats every part of it. We do have to 'bribe' our son often, as you did. Not sure if that'll bite us in the butt later, but I don't think it's that big a deal. "One bite of brocolli will earn you one bite of a treat." Our son learns give-and-take and compromising. He's gone plenty of nights without that 'dessert treat' and has learned quickly that he must listen to mom and dad if he wants those sweet treats at the end.

Oh and he's also gone a couple of evenings without dinner. He refused to eat what we served, although he'd tried it and liked it once before. I did not ask him what else he'd like. At 23 months I told him "this is dinner. There's nothing else." I fed it to him the next morning for breakfast and he gobbled it all up. Kids are sharp - they'll meet your expectations if you set them and don't waver from them. I would never give my child 15 choices. I give him TWO choices for everything and that allows him to be in control of his own choices, but at the same time, I am his mom and I'm in control of what his choices are. "Oatmeal or Scrambled Eggs for breakfast?" "Peas or Carrots?" "Hot Dog or Chicken Nuggets" "Yogurt or Cookies" It's much easier for them to decide.

Good luck!

My daughter eats what we eat. I'm a vegetarian, and hubby isn't. I don't like real spicy, but hubby does. So, between our two plates, she gets enough to eat. We also wipe off the spicy sauces and things before we give it to her.

I've been asking my 26 month old what she wants for dinner as of late. She usually asks for rice, either in a Mexican or Thai form. Pasta is usually a runner up, but sometimes she will tell me "fish, or lamb."

I don't really have any advice for you. We've just always given her what we eat, and she eats it.

I make what we are going to eat, and then depending on what it is, I do what you do (take out the parts they will eat and let them have them plain)... but I do still put a small serving of the real food on their plate. I ask that they try it, sometimes they do (especially my 5 year old). Just having it on the plate is sometimes a challenge for my 3 year old ;)

My 3 year old will seriously hold out until breakfast. He wakes up with shaky hands due to low blood sugars some mornings, so I've started letting him have a few more options. I always add a whole grain bread to his plate if I know there is nothing else he will eat. Then after we are all finished with dinner, the kids can have yogurt (even if they didn't eat their food).

Good luck!
J.

just try to give the same food but without the spicy also i think what you give is ok sometimes my kids don't want to eat anything just bread or yogurt some days they eat all the food i give them.

We always give our son what we are eating. If he eats it great, if not I will give him one item of my choice to make sure he is eating (such as banana, yogurt, cheese) only after he has tried everything on his plate.

When he gets older I do not plan on offering him any options and he will need to eat what we are eating. He is just a little underweight so I do worry. Again it may change when he gets older if I soften up! But for now that is my plan.

I think offering as many options as you do is setting them up for poor eating habits. My mom offered me whatever I wanted to eat when I was growing up. For many years I ate poorly and would never try anything new.

Good luck!

Updated

We always give our son what we are eating. If he eats it great, if not I will give him one item of my choice to make sure he is eating (such as banana, yogurt, cheese) only after he has tried everything on his plate.

When he gets older I do not plan on offering him any options and he will need to eat what we are eating. He is just a little underweight so I do worry. Again it may change when he gets older if I soften up! But for now that is my plan.

I think offering as many options as you do is setting them up for poor eating habits. My mom offered me whatever I wanted to eat when I was growing up. For many years I ate poorly and would never try anything new.

Good luck!

I always fed mine the same as what I ate. My boys were warped. They loved steamed broccoli, would not eat french fries, and thought rice cakes were a goodie!
My suggestion would be to let him try everything. There are so many healthy good things. I'm not saying snack food is all bad, but there is so much ggod stuff out there to try.
True story:
Last year my daughter was watching "Bridge to Tarabithia" and there is a scene where the little girl is teasing her big brother because she has a twinkie and he doesn't. My 8 year old daughter asked me, "What is a twinkie?" WOW. I did go out and buy her one. She thought it was amazing!