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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
Can you critique my kiddo's diet?
DD is not a very good eater. I think like any kid, she has good days and bad days, but never does she eat a lot. B/c she eats so little, I rarely ever offer her something that does not have nutritional value (there is an occasional?Popsicle?or bite of DHs or my dessert). She LOVES her milk. Here's her basic diet:
Breakfast: either a waffle w/cream cheese or a handful or cheerios and yogurt ?
Mid-morning snack: fruit of some kind
Lunch: by far her best meal of the day. She will usually eat a half grilled cheese, noodles of some sort, chickenless nuggets or low sodium deli meat. along with that she always has a fruit and is always offered a veggie (somedays she'll eat some, some days she won't touch it)
Afternoon snack: usually cheese and crackers or a nutragrain bar?
Dinner: her worst meal. we always try to give her what we eat, but about half the nights she won't even touch it. we usually end up making her mac n cheese or an english muffin pizza.
What else can I be doing to make sure she gets all of her vitamins and minerals? TIA!?
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Re: Can you critique my kiddo's diet?
Doesn't sound all that bad. Toddlers are notorious for not eating much.
You could smear the waffle with natural peanut butter for some extra protein, and offer cheese with the morning fruit. Try hiding pureed veggies in things like mac + cheese (sweet potato or carrot) or the pizza or spaghetti sauce (spinach, zucchini, carrot). DS loves eating canned beans (drained and rinsed) for a snack--black and kidney especially. We don't make DS a second meal if he doesn't like what we're having. Not a habit I want to start.
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DS is very picky all of a sudden. He won't eat veggies or meat other than deli turkey. He's a fruit, carb, and dairy kind of eater. I can sometimes hide spinach in his mac n cheese though. He loves cereal so he we make sure to buy a fortified cereal. At least it helps a bit.
Sounds like you're doing great. At one a child only needs 2 ounces of protein/meat (per my son's nutritionist), 5-7 servings of fruit/veggies, 12 ounces of milk/milk substitute, and I think (can't exactly rememeber) 2 servings of dairy (cheeses, yogurt, etc.).
Doesn't sound bad to me. My DS is famous for picking at his veggies, so I try to hide them in grilled cheese sandwiches and baby quesadillas. I made spinach humus and added that to his grilled cheese sandwich. It was tasty! I also often make quesadillas using leftover cooked chicken, shredded cheese and a vegetable, usually broccoli on a whole wheat tortilla. On nights we have taco salad, I make quesadillas for him using whole wheat tortillas, refried beans, cheese and taco meat. He loves it!
Your DD sounds a lot like mine. She loves cheese and fruit, and dinner is her worst meal. She rarely eats what we eat. The best you can do is offer picky eaters a variety and hope that they eat enough of the good stuff. I also give DD vitamins (Dr. Greene's toddler drops) every morning to make sure she gets enough.
In our house, most mornings DD eats oatmeal made with whole milk and yogurt. When we're on the go, I give her blueberry waffles or cottage cheese pancakes (1/2 cup oats + 1/4 cup cottage cheese + 4 egg whites + 1/2 ripe banana + cinnamon, mixed in a blender and cooked like regular pancakes) with applesauce. After breakfast, she usually has some Cheerios for a snack while I work out. Lunch is all about her cheesy favorites and I try to sneak in veggies -- grilled cheese with pur?ed butternut squash spread on the bread, macaroni and cheese with broccoli or peas, etc. -- and I always give her fruit on the side. Dinner is tough, but one of her favorites are citygirl's broccoli bites; I add cooked chicken to make them a complete meal and serve them with ketchup to dip. Another favorite is cheddar mashed potatoes; I stir in pur?ed cauliflower and diced chicken again to make it a complete meal. Some nights she ends up eating hummus with thin carrot sticks and tortilla chips -- protein, vegetable, and whole grains, right? And when all else fails for dinner, I give her uncooked cubed tofu. Some nights it's whatever works!