Feeding My 16 Mo Old

Keep up the from scratch, whole grains. You are training and forming her tastes. Sugar-free jello and other sugar free things just have another sweetener which is worse for her. Fast food is always terrible - so much fat and sugar. Lunchables are all salt and fat and sugar. Keep up what you have been doing.

She is able to eat whatever you eat. You could also try bean and chesse quesedillas...vegetable soups...thats what my girl mostly eats. My daughter is very picky as well and our pediatrician has said that it sometimes takes up to 10 times for a toddler to accept a new food. Keep trying. We made the mistake of making separate meals for our now 2 year old daughter and we are still having to do it occasionally. There is ALOT of things that she won't eat. So I would suggest to keep trying. Good luck I know what you are going through.

The ONLY limitations on what she can eat are those that pose a choking hazard and those that are a known family food allergen (current policy of the American Academy of Pediatrics).

When you mention the foods like peas, avacado, bananas, etc. those are all great foods for her.

Between 1-2 years, fat is still a really critical component to her diet for proper brain development.
However, you need to be really cautious with the amount of sodium/carbs that come from many of the foods you mention such as the fruit cups, Luncheables.

Sugar free products aren't necessarily bad, but calories are not a real problem for kids this age, so it's usually recommended to use real sugar to be healthiest.

I think it's great you don't want to make compromises and want to be as healthy as possible. Just be careful of foods marketed as healthy. Usually anything preprepared vs. freshly made is best because you can control the ingredients, the preparation, and the portions.

Good luck. Give her whatever you're eating and help her learn to love new flavors.

Hi- Why on earth did you go from green beans, avocadoes, etc to Lunchables and BBK chicken nuggets, etc? Stick with the good stuff! The real world will come soon enough, but while you still have control, do your daughter a great service and keep feeding her the healthy foods you were previously. Don't give up :)

K.,

I suggest continuing from where you started. Peas, avacados, bananas,whole grains, yogurt, all wonderful, tasty and healthy. Fruit cups, luncheables, jello, not so much. Personally I would prefer to give my son a small amount of sugar from the occassional treat like ice cream or a blueberry muffin, rather than a sugar substitute. We keep whole grain bread and all natural peanut butter on hand for a quick lunch. Fresh fruit is always in our home for a quick snack.

It takes no time to wash and cut up an apple and you know exactly what your child is eating - an apple. Fruit cups usually have a long list of unpronounceable ingredients, most of which I try to stay away from.

Just get food that is as close to its natural form as possible and you'll be fine. The occassional goodie is fine too, you just don't want to make it a habit.

Feed her whatever she wont choke on. If she likes chicken nuggets and you want something healthier then fast food versions, get a big bag of tyson nuggets and bake them at home. I give my baby whatever is around. She has phases of being picky but you have to keep introducing her to the foods. Sometimes kids don't catch on they like something till 10 or 20 times of trying it. With different textures and stuff they need to get used to how it feels in their mouth, and how it tastes at the same time. =) Good Luck.

HI,
You should get the cook book by Jerry Seinfeld's wife, its all about incorporating healthy things into every day food, sort of sneaky,but great. Some things I think kids love at this age is hummus, turkey roll ups, I take a tortilla and put deli turkey, cream cheese, spinach and cheese, maybe tomatoe. Don't be afraid to try ethnic foods, kids seem to love chicken tikka masala which is a great indian dish, and of course naan. Stuffed pasta with home made sauce with lots of veggies pureed into it. Tortillas are a great vehicle for anything you want to put in them. Apples and peanut butter with cheese as well, ham and cheese, bacon and tomatoe. Macaroni and cheese with tuna and cherry tomatoes. I wouldn't get started on the chicken nugget thing, they are loaded with sodium and fat. As well as it being processed and terribly unhealthy. You can make your own chicken fingers with crushed up corn flakes as a coating or a japanese break crumb called panko. You can put different spices in the breading and make some easy dipping sauces, have fun and good luck.

J.

Hi -- one thing I would add, as I'm concerned about sugar, too, and there's a ton of it in everything (did you ever see how much is added to yogurt???): things like the jello that are labelled "sugar-free" have aspartame or some other artificial sweetener. It's not a great ingredient for adults so I can't imagine it's good for toddlers. But you can find other food that is "no sugar added" like flavored applesauce or juicy juice. If your daughter likes jello with fruit you can make it yourself by getting plain gelatin powder, mixing it with no sugar added juice and cut up peaches, for example.

Good luck! My son is 3 and he's a really picky eater. It's tough.

B.