Toddlers can be among the pickiest of eaters. You want to feed them natural, healthy foods -- but their tastes gravitate toward super-sweet cookies and salty snack crackers. Their stomachs are small, so they do not eat a lot in one sitting, but prefer to graze all day long. Instead of forcing adult schedules and tastes on your toddler, honor his hunger cues and feed him natural mini-meals often.
Food Choices
Although packaged and processed snacks are convenient, they do not always offer the best nutrition as many contain refined flour, added sugar and excessive sodium. Fresh vegetables and fruits, lean meats, whole grains, milk, plain yogurt, cheese and canned beans are naturally nutritious options for toddlers. Sample mini-meals might include 2 tbsp. of hummus with soft whole-wheat pita triangles, fresh strawberries sliced into plain yogurt, low-fat string cheese with peach chunks, roasted sweet potato cubes with chopped chicken breast or mashed avocado with corn tortilla strips.
Flexibility
When feeding a toddler, you need to be flexible with your schedule. Toddlers rarely stick to a three-meal-per-day plan. A natural pattern for toddlers is to eat often to keep energy up. Offer your toddler mini-meals every few hours to make sure she does do not get cranky from hunger.
Considerations
A toddler is not adapted to adult norms and may naturally want breakfast foods for dinner or vice versa. Indulge a desire for whole grain pancakes with berries and yogurt for dinner or scrambled eggs at lunch. Limit the amount of juice your toddler drinks, even 100 percent natural juice. It offers limited nutrition and can fill your child up so he refuses to eat at mealtimes.
Nutritional Balance
Instead of worrying about the precise nutrition of each meal, look at what your toddler eats over the course of a day. Ensure she gets some protein, vegetables, dairy, grains and unsaturated fat. It is natural for a toddler to refuse foods, even favorites, sometimes. Continue to offer a variety of natural, healthy options and eventually, your child will eat.
