Now, before we start, please note that these are for our kids who are over 12 months old. They do not have any allergies to foods, so please make sure to watch for allergic reactions and always follow guidelines presented by your pediatrician. Foods such as dairy, eggs, and peanut butter should be held off until child is at least 12 months old.
And on to the list!
10- Frozen fruits and veggies. This is for our teething friends. Frozen foods, mostly grapes or peas, give a nice cooling to the gums while still being yummy and nutritious.
9- Food Pouches. You can get these at the grocery store where Gerber is sold. There are often many brands and varieties, including some that are organic. If you don't want to buy them, these are basically smoothies or baby food in a squeeze bottle. Make your own!
8- Quesadillas. Sounds funny, right? These simple tortillas with cheese are easy to hold and yummy to eat. They are also quick and easy to make. Grilled cheese sandwiches works well too.
7- Olives. What kid doesn't like these? If nothing else, they are fun to eat! Haven't met a kid yet who didn't like olives.
6- Peanut Butter and Jelly. Not something commonly thought of, but surprisingly effective. Beware though, crust, although nutritious, is a little hard to chew without molars. With more teeth they will be better at eating the crust, but for now, don't worry too much if you have to take off the crust to get them to eat more.
5- Cut Fruit. Specifically bananas. Fruit is sweet and tasty, healthy and fast for mommy. Berries also work great!
4- Cheerios. This tasty cereals is easy to pick up and has a sweet taste. I decided to compare the original Honey Nut Cheerios to the Malt'O'Meal version. Surprisingly, the Malt'O'Meal version was larger, more flavorful, and much cheaper. Malt'O'Meal all the way!
3- Goldfish Cheese Crackers. Or other cheese crackers. Surprisingly, the cheese crackers beat out the Cheerios. Not sure why, but by a small amount, they did.
2- Pasta. Many moms recommend using the mini pasta such as mini bowtie pastas. These foods taste great and make the kids feel like big kids. Beware though, when they get a taste of the complex adult foods, it's adios baby food!
And Finally...
1- Cheese! From the moms that I talked to, cheese cubes and cheese sticks (string cheese) are the number one food item that toddlers love to eat. No real rhyme or reason, they just love it!
Alrighty! Now, along with this list, there are a few other food suggestions we have.
- Ritz crackers do NOT make good toddler foods... Unless you want to clean up a lot! Kids more often will not eat them, but simply enjoy crushing them between their fingers. These crumbly crackers are just one big mess.
- After your kids get a taste of complex foods and variety, they don't like to go back to simple. So, if you've got cereals, crackers, or other kid snacks that they will only eat occasionally, make a mix! Put them all together with yogurt dots and raisins and mix it all up. This will also help with the guessing game of "what food do you actually want today?"
- If you have a hard time getting kids to eat meat, remember that there are other ways to get protein. Try some peanut butter or scrambled eggs!
- Need more fruit in their diet but don't want to take fresh fruit on road trip or to an event? Take dried fruit instead. The same nutrition, and the same sweet taste, without the accidental mess in your bag!
So tell us what YOU think. What foods does your toddler enjoy. Share with us!
