Although somewhat delayed, I am continuing my series of posts on my toddler's nutrition. The first post is on Beverages.
Does any other parent out there struggle with snack choices for their kids? What is convenient is not always what is best. I want to give Ladybug the best choices, not just the easy ones. Toddlerhood is when so many eating habits are formed, and I want to give her a healthy foundation on which to make her own choices later.
This past Tuesday on Twitter, I participated in a discussion with Dr. Joanna Dolgoff on kids and nutrition. I found lots of great ideas that I'll be incorporating into our routine. Some of them take a little planning ahead, but I don't mind that. I'd rather have snacks ready than to try to tell a hungry 2 year old to wait!
One mom suggested having an "approved snack" on the refrigerator. This not only helps with snack ideas, but is also helpful to other caregivers as well. And it would a good reminder for parents as to our snack options as well. After all, our kids learn by example! They will snack on the same things that we do!
Here are a few ideas that we'll be implementing:
1. Pre-cut veggies & fruits: carrots, cucumbers, pineapple, apples, grapes, etc.
2. Watermelon "juice" - watermelon chunks, lime juice, ice cubes in the blender (no sugar needed!) This would be great as a frozen treat too!
3. Fat free cool whip between 2 graham crackers
4. Pureed fruit frozen in popsicle forms
5. Sliced banana dipped in toasted coconut
6. Wheat crackers and cheese
There were more great ideas shared that included some frozen treats, but I am unsure about serving those to Ladybug at this age. She has been late in getting her teeth, with her eye teeth all coming in within the last 2 weeks (at age 23.5 months).
Currently, we have pretzels, whole wheat bread, or crackers and cheese for snacks, sometimes fruit if it's already cut up. I've been feeling in a rut lately, so I'm glad for these new ideas. Crackers that would go on my "approved" list include wheat thins, whole grain ritz crackers, whole grain fish crakers, animal crackers, and even pretzels.
One suggestion was made regarding serving the cut up veggies, and that was to offer low-fat ranch dressing with them. I know this is used mostly to convince kids to eat their veggies. Frankly, I am not a dressing/dip person. So far, Ladybug does not balk at the idea of eating veggies, so I am not going to start offering her dips. It's not something she sees me doing anyway. Parents, do you have an opinion about offering dressing/dip with raw veggies?
I would love to hear your ideas, too! What snacks have been winners with your kids, toddler age and up?
Dr. Dolgoff will host a Twitter discussion for parents every Tuesday at 1 pm Eastern time. Click on her link above to follow her and to learn more about the discussion. (and feel free to follow me on Twitter too!)
These are really great snack ideas. It is really a struggle to come up with new things to keep them interested in eating.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite website for learning about kid friendly snack ideas is
http://www.snacksnoop.com
I hope this is helpful.
Lisa
Great ideas. We have approved snacks that my kids know about. Yogurt and String cheese are favorites!
ReplyDeleteI have used the cookbook Deceptively Delicious and made some fun snacks...muffins are a great choice and can be made healthy by substituting ingredients. I have also checked out www.wholesometoddlerfood.com for ideas as well. Right now my child is on a raisin kick and eats soooo many everyday!
ReplyDeleteThose are great ideas, thanks! I have a very picky eater, and it's been a slow go getting him to try new things. But we're finally getting there. The watermelon "juice" sounds great!
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas. I've been blessed because Shiloh loves healthy foods. I've never offered her ranch to dip veggies in and she eats veggies all the time. (She did dip her banana in ranch last night, but that's another story. Haha.)
ReplyDeleteHere's another idea for you that I find convienent because you can make it ahead of time and even keep it in your diaper bag. I mix a bunch of cheerios in a big mixing bowl with raisins (or craisins, but I know they have a little bit of added sugar) and those little toddler snacky things that kind of melt in your mouth. I'm sorry, I can't think of what they're called. They look like cereal bites, but they have different flavors like strawberry and peach and sweet potatoe. I hope you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I always added some of those because Shiloh didn't like to eat just cheerios. So I would add some of those (maybe three parts cheerios to one part of the other cereal stuff). Then just add whatever amound of raisins you want and mix it up. I put it in big ziplock bags and then put some small bags in the diaper bag also. Shiloh loves it.