what do I feed a picky 20 month old with egg allergies!!! I am trying to vary his diet since all he will eat is mac and cheese, fruit, some veggies and yogurt. He is not a big fan of meat but in the last two days has been eating chicken nuggets. I am a working mommy with not alot of free time to cook...help!!!
Try beans. Black, red, white beans or any kind of lentils. Boiled them with onion and salt, very simple. My daughter has loved them since the day she tried them and they are packed with nutrients.
You can also try tofu. When she was younger, I used to buy the extra-firm one and cut it in small cubes. I'll crush cheerios and dust them with that. Big hit.
Good luck.
My daughter also had an egg allergy and I'm happy to say she just grew out of it (she is 7). So hopefully one day it'll pass. In the meantime, try making pasta sauce and puree all the ingredients you don't want him to know about. I make it with garlic, onions, carrots and chopped meat and then puree it and the kids never know. You can also freeze it in ice cube trays so it's available whenever you need it. You can also try meatballs (kids tend to like those b/c they are soft). Substitute milk for the eggs, it works great. You can also try beans and eventually, peanut butter, for protein. If he likes mac and cheese, great, but make your own and put lots of healthy cheese in it. Pizza is another good option. Finally, don't despair, my daughter was impossible from ages 2-4 and now she is a wonderful eater. Just don't let him get away with being picky once he's old enough to understand (a food chart works great-they love to try new things and then add it to their "foods I like" chart). But that's a little way off. Good luck!
hi K., I also had a child with egg allergies, but she has outgrown it now (that happened around age 6-7, but she hates eggs because she has the bad 'allergy' association with them). I'll preface also by saying I have three kids ages 8/7/3 and every meal is a struggle. Everyone is not going to be happy all the time and sometimes it gets hugely frustrating! But... I think early exposure is setting the stage for kids to be able to diversify better. Plus, showing them that YOU are the one that chooses will help eliminate you being a short order cook for the next 18 years. If a child will only eat certain things, that means we as parents are allowing them to demand it and only eat it (I saw a whole show on this on Dr. Phil not too long ago, their child would only eat potato chips and junk lol). Not your situation, but you get the theme. Dr. Phil said give them a meal and when they are hungry they will eat what is in front of them. Yes, a toddler is going to push everything away if he is used to displaying actions that will get him the 'good stuff'! I have three TOTALLY different eaters (talk about crazy). My first will eat anything and love it, my second hates everything, and my third is more of a hater : ) Decide what you want your 20 month old to eat and make it happen. He will develop tastes for things, but not if he is used to his all-time favorites all the time. I always make a deal with my kids... on mac and cheese night, they have to eat their salad before they get the mac and cheese. And they like (my second 'tolerates') salads! : ) Try edamame, cucumbers with (egg-free) dressing, my kids love clementines! Get them used to bites of grilled chicken, steak, etc. They can chew small bites...Good luck!
I've got a 22 month old and a 3.5 year old. You're doing fine. If all he eats is mac and cheese and apple sauce for a whole year he will still be fine. Don't pressure him it or make it an issue. The rule to feeding kids is they get to say how much but you get to decide what and when. Soon he will be wanting to try new foods and stealing from your plate like my 3 year old. I throw in a Flintstone and some chewable D3 vitamins for my picky eaters.
My son doesn't have any allergies, but he is still somewhat picky, he is also 20 months. But his pediatrician said that their appetites usually decrease around now and not to worry about not eating. Just give them a variety and let them eat what they will. Hope this helps
My oldest son was allergic to eggs until he turned 3. He was also a very picky eater. He ate a lot of chicken nuggets, fish sticks, pasta, spaghetti o's, pizza, and peanut butter and jelly. You can hide a lot of foods in pasta sauce...just cut it up really small and he will never know it's there. My son just turned 6 and although he's still not a great eater, he's finally starting to try more foods, but it takes a lot of encouragement!
I wish I could help you with this. Toddlers with food allergies are picky ones. I have a 2 1/2 year old with an egg allergy, and although some progress has been made with the variety of his diet, it has been VERY slow. He also does not really like much meat other than hot dogs. I have had luck with chicken and rice- minus the chicken. He will also eat rice and gravy. He likes chicken pastry- leave the chicken in big chunks and have him try a little. If he doesn't like it, then just give pastry. And "cheeseburgers"- minus the burger. We buy hamburger buns and put cheese on them, melting them in the microwave. Also, spagettios (or spagetti without meat) and cheese pizza are a hit. You can also try cereal bars, rice krispies, egg-free waffles (they sell them at Harris Teeter) or cheerios for breakfast. Biscuits with honey or apple butter are a favorite. Recently he has is having a fad with fish sticks and vienna sausages- although I am sure this will wear off soon. I hope this helps... just encourage him to try something new. If he doesn't like it, don't push it. A picky toddler can be a very stubborn one (as I am sure you know). Best of luck!
Sounds like a pretty typical diet for EVERY kid between the ages of 18 mos & 6 years old!!! Don't try to push too much. If he will eat that, keep it on hand all the time. My 4 yo has gradually decided to start tasting things on her own and that is MUCH more easy and much MORE pleasant than the fighting and constant stress we created at every meal time. As long as your child is healthy, leave the diet alone. The hardest thing is us as parents accepting what our kids are willing to do...and truthfully, unless he is sick form the diet, let him alone :)
There is a product called "egg Replacer" you can get from whole foods or the health food store. You use it in baking (cookies, brownies, breads, meat loaf, etc) It works great. It is a powder made from tapioca/potato starches.
I am guessing even as a busy mom, you will need to make specialty things for him.
As far as being picky, he won't let himself go hungry... keep feeding him appropriate healthy foods. Banana w/ Peanut butter (or almond butter or chocolate peanut butter) is filling & loaded with protein. Most kids love it.
Use a cookie cutter to make fun shapes out of sandwiches, quesadillas cheese etc.
The cookbook "The Sneaky chef" has been helpful to my friends with picky eaters.
Hang in there, he will go through many changes & you will survive them all!
P
Try using probiotics. There's been a lot of research done in the past several years. Check out these recent posts on my blog.
Sidebar: Research/do your homework when it comes to egg allergy and vaccines. (Vaccines, some, have eggs in them/made from them/ etc.) Lots of websites to find out which ones don't.
My 14 month daughter is also allergic to eggs (and dairy!). She doesn't have a broad diet but we have gotten her to eat chicken nuggets, all beef hot dogs, and quesidillas, besides the fruit and veggies! There isn't a whole lot that you can do besides feed them what they will eat and try to get as much nutrition into them as possible. Good luck!
