Feeding Toddlers

Feeding toddlers is a culinary adventure, from introducing your toddler to new tastes and textures to convincing toddlers to eat healthy. Toddlers can be eager to nibble on finger foods, or can be stubborn and refuse everything you feed them. Get tips on feeding toddlers.

Feeding Toddlers editor: Jen Lane


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Spoon Feeding: The Two-Spoon Technique

Feeding by Age - Feeding Toddlers

Toddlers all reach the age where they prefer to feed themselves with their fingers than to have mom or dad feed them.

This is a good thing, and it shows that your baby is developing motor skills and is – yikes – growing up! Then you enter the awkward phase where they refuse to be fed anything other than what they can feed themselves, including things they enjoy eating, such as yogurt, oatmeal, or even soup. This can leave mom or dad in an interesting situation while the little one is learning to adequately navigate handling utensils. 

Read more: Spoon Feeding: The Two-Spoon Technique

 

Stuffed Hot Dogs

Feeding by Age - Feeding Toddlers

As much as we hate to do it, there comes a busy time in every mom's life when she finds herself feeding her kids microwaved hot dogs several times in one week! While we all strive to feed our children healthy balanced diets, from time to time, we have to compromise.

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Can Toddler Utensils Encourage Eating?

Feeding by Age - Feeding Toddlers

I discovered an interesting concept today. My fifteen-month-old is cutting his first-year molars and is having a pretty difficult time with them. As a result, he hasn’t been eating much at dinnertime, as that tends to be his crankiest time of day. We’re also in the process of teaching him to use silverware. At dinner today, he was not really eating and beginning to fuss about being in his high chair, so I got out one of his “sporks” for him to play with. Suddenly, eating became much more interesting.

Read more: Can Toddler Utensils Encourage Eating?

   

Toddler-Friendly Carrot Recipes

Feeding by Age - Feeding Toddlers

You know how good carrots are for your little one, but convincing your toddler to eat them can be the challenge of the year. There are many different glazed carrot recipes that add a bit of sweet flavor without making them unhealthy. Try a few to see if you can convince your toddler that carrots can be delicious, and you might convince the rest of the family too!

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Suction-Cup Bowls: Worth It or Not?

Feeding by Age - Feeding Toddlers

We all know that feeding a toddler can be challenging, messy, frustrating, and fun. There are a ton of really unique products on the market designed to make our lives as parents easier.  The product I’ve seen most often is the suction-cup bowl, which is designed to stick to a surface to prevent your child from picking the bowl up and pitching it on the floor, messy contents included.

Read more: Suction-Cup Bowls: Worth It or Not?

   

Yummy Finger Food Pasta Salad

Feeding by Age - Feeding Toddlers

This recipe is one that I have used many times. It's easy to make, easily modified depending on your toddler's preferences, and it makes great finger food. The best part is, you can make a batch and use it over several days. It makes a delicious side dish for the rest of the family, and can be used as a complete meal for your toddler.

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Weekday Breakfast Solutions for Toddlers

Feeding by Age - Feeding Toddlers

Weekdays are busy days for moms, whether you work outside the home or not. There’s so much to be done, and you want to get your day started on time. You want your child to have a healthy meal to start the day, but you don’t really have time to cook your child a nutritious, home-style breakfast. While nothing compares to a home cooked breakfast, you can try these solutions for a healthy, yet functional weekday morning meal.

 

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Make Meal Time Family Time

Feeding by Age - Feeding Toddlers

Sometimes the solution to a picky eater is so simple, we tend to overlook it completely. If you find yourself standing in front of your toddler's plate, coaxing him to eat the various nutritious foods you've offered to no avail, the problem might lie within you. Making meal time "family time" might be your simple solution!

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Quick and Easy Toddler Snacks

Feeding by Age - Feeding Toddlers

Your toddler might be snacking one to two times per day in addition to his regular three-a-day meals. Most toddlers only require about 1300 calories a day, so a snack for a toddler might be considerably smaller than a snack for an adult. If you’re like me, you want your child to have some variety in the foods he eats, so you may be constantly searching for easy snack ideas for your kiddo. Here are some snacks that should please your toddler without a lot of prep time.

 

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Introducing Silverware

Feeding by Age - Feeding Toddlers

Like everything having to do with babies and toddlers, there's not really a magic age for introducing silverware. Generally between one year and eighteen months a child should have an opportunity to begin learning how to use a spoon and a fork, but children typically do not master the use of utensils until the age of three or four.

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Toddlers' Changing Taste Buds

Feeding by Age - Feeding Toddlers

Any toddler mom has undoubtedly experienced the changing taste buds phoenomenon. One day you're beaming with pride because your child loves carrots, the next he's spitting them back at you. Why do toddlers taste buds seem to change so frequently?

Read more: Toddlers' Changing Taste Buds

   

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