I have a 19-month old that is still getting all his teeth in. I'm starting to feel like I don't have many good options, since he isn't real handy with utensils, needs relatively soft foods, and I want to keep him eating a variety of foods that are healthy. What I don't want to end up is a 5-year-old who will only eat grilled cheese or hotdogs. Am I being too hard on myself? What do you fix your young ones for lunch?
Foods for still-teething toddlers
No special food
Since my son was 1 yo, we feed him with table food, the same in our plates.
But I also make a soup of whatever vegetables I have in the refrigerator and some grains (rice, lentils, corn, beans, sweet peas and garbanzo beans), put it in the blender and make something soft (kind of puree).
Now He is 2 1/2 and he eats almost everything, but He prefers the soups.
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Congratatio pro erudio et auxilium
Itux
PA
Shouldn't be a problem giving him more solid foods at that age. Our 20 mo. old has been eating close to everything for the past 6 months. We gave ours frozen peas, lima beans, corn (or whatever they liked) right out of the bag. Helps to sooth the gums and teeth. Good luck.
Mini-bagels are your friend.
But for lunch today my daughter had some penne pasta tossed with her leftover pureed baby food green beans and some grilled chicken.
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At 19mo...
you are pretty good to go, as long as you still watch like a hawk for choking. Cheerios, Whole grain toast with a touch of butter, Yogurt (go ahead and let her make the mess), pieces of cheese, grapes cut in half, fresh strawberries, blueberries, peanut butter toast (protein there), and on and on.
Good question. Also, remember that the things that some of us have to avoid or limit as adults due to health concerns, e.g., butter, cheese, are ok in moderation for toddlers. The pros outweigh any cons for their growing bodies.
Let them eat it
Most toddlers will go through phases of what they like and don't like. Our daughter used to love hot dogs at the 18 - 24 month stage. Now she rarely its them at 3 years. She also ate Mac and Cheese almost daily. At 18 months she really liked cooked veggies like green beans, broccoli, peas, and corn (makes diaper changes interesting too).
Other than that, you can let you toddler eat what they like, and can tolerate.
My 2 pfennigs
Kinda echoing what some of these guys are saying: give him some frozen green beans to gnaw on. That ought to help with the teething thing, and they are easy for the kid to grab. Bagels too, like Shawn said.
But I don't fret too much about setting a precedent with hot dogs and Mac & Cheese. I think those are fine, as long as you don't feed it to them at every meal. Although, I like to make my own Mac & Cheese from whole wheat elbow, and I would also spend the extra money on bratwurst instead of the 60-weiners-for-a-buck. (But, again, I personally don't think you are poisoning your child by going the Kraft/Oscar Mayer route... unless that's all they want to eat.) These are just my preferences. And now it's the kids' preferences too.
Itux also had a good point. I sometimes get to where I just want to see food going down my kids' gullets to make sure they don't starve. But it's like John Rosemend and others say: kids won't let themselves starve. They will eventually eat the "yucky" stuff if we just don't cave in. Have fun.
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