A Full Day of Meals for My Picky AF 15-Month-Old Toddler
In a previous article, I stated that my toddler was not picky at all and that she was eating everything that we were feeding her with no issues. Boy, has that changed in the past couple of months! This means I now have a whole house of picky eaters *sigh*
Oddly enough, although Bebe is picky now, we can always count on her to want to eat our food even if she doesn’t normally like what we’re eating. I have no idea how she can hate a certain food when it’s on her plate, and then love that same food when it’s on our plate, but hey, toddlers are wild and I don’t take it personally.
As a first-time mom, I am learning a lot about babies/toddlers by taking care of my child, and one thing I’ve learned is that they are unpredictable and constantly changing. Our daughter went from eating everything under the sun with joyful curiosity to pushing away most foods without even wanting to try them. She will reject most meats, all forms of pasta, most forms of potatoes, and most veggies. Sometimes, she will take several bites of a particular food and then she will decide that she suddenly does not like that food. Sometimes, she throws food on the floor that she had no issue with the previous day. As she’s becoming more and more vocal, she is now able to say “NO!” to certain foods. With our child, there are no guarantees and this is the most true when it comes to food.
Although this can be incredibly frustrating, I always try to keep in mind how much I hated food-bullying when I was a kid. By that, I mean being forced to eat foods that I didn’t like. I remember so many occasions when my dad would become upset if I didn’t want to eat my beans and times when I had to sit at the table until I ate my soggy, cold vegetables that made me want to gag. My parents expected me to eat food that others had cooked and would get mad at me when I couldn’t keep a straight face. Not only did food-bullying not make me like those foods, but it also left me unsatisfied with my meal. I suspect that lack of satisfaction could have contributed to my overeating and ultimately unhealthy relationship with food later in life.
As for Bebe - I certainly want her to eat healthy foods, but I refuse to force her to eat foods she doesn’t like - even when she’s older. If that means she has to eat some processed foods sometimes because that’s all she likes, I think that’s better than the trauma that comes with being force-fed. In the grand scheme of things, kids’ bodies are resilient and I don’t think we, as parents, need to worry as much as we are led to believe we should.
Some foods that we can count on our toddler to like all the time include:
Almost any kind of fruit - strawberries, raspberries, bananas, apples/applesauce, pineapples, etc. If you are what you eat, then our girl is 100% a strawberry.
Dino nuggets. I truly never intended to give my girl processed food regularly, but I also want her to eat some form of protein during the day. I try to give her healthier options all the time, but she won’t eat them. And I don’t think force-feeding is the way to go. So, the dino nuggets work for us.
Most types of bread.
Oatmeal.
Yogurt, especially fruit-flavored ones.
FRENCH FRIES (she can’t get enough of them).
Pancakes.
…and that’s pretty much it. She does like some other types of foods, but not all the time.
So here’s a sample of what a typical day of meals for our toddler might look like:
Breakfast: Instant oatmeal with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey, topped with strawberries. This comes after her warm bottle of milk, of course.
Lunch: Grilled cheese on whole wheat bread, with cut-up fruit and some yogurt on the side. For cheese, I always go with cheddar. Sometimes, she will eat white bread but I try to keep whole wheat in stock as much as possible.
Dinner: Dino nuggets, with cut-up fruit and a veggie on the side. The veggie will be a hit or miss, but most often she’s okay with green beans or celery. There are times when she will eat all of the veggies on her plate and times when she won’t eat one bite. We take our losses in stride and relish in the wins.
OR:
Breakfast: Mini pancakes with syrup with half of a banana.
Lunch: Dino nuggets with strawberries.
Dinner: Some form of protein, french fries, and raspberries.
OR:
Breakfast: Cheerios mixed with yogurt (weird, but she loves it) and halved blueberries.
Lunch: A hotdog cut up into small pieces and pineapple.
Dinner: Some form of protein, french fries, and raspberries.
These sample days of meals aren’t perfectly healthy, but I don’t think they’re that bad. Of course, since I am a working mom, our toddler often spends the day with her grandma or aunt, and they are a little bit more liberal than I am when it comes to food. They will give her things like cookies, a little bit of candy, etc. While I usually avoid giving Bebe these foods at home, I don’t give our caretakers a hard time about it. Bebe will only be a kid once, and I don’t want to be overbearing about food choices.
XOXO, Alexis.