Guest Post: Feeding Your Toddler With Your Green Baby's Kim Corrigan-Oliver

I have a seriously exciting guest post to share with you lovelies today! I'm so lucky to have a holistic nutritionist friend in my circle and today, Kim (of Your Green Baby fame!) is here to share her tips for feedings toddlers -- something we all know can be a bit of a test. This rad post comes along with a delightful surprise as well, so keep reading. You'll be walking away with a whole range of ideas for helping your tot to develop a wonderful relationship with food!

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Toddlerhood comes with many challenges. One which often concerns parents is food. There are many different food challenges in the toddler years, here are a few:

• The toddler who can’t sit still long enough to eat.
• The toddler who suddenly decides not to eat anything, and I mean anything.
• The toddler who becomes picky, only eating foods that are red, not eating foods that are green, eating only cooked foods...you get the picture.
• The toddler who loves food and will jump in and try anything (I know, this one is hard to believe, but there are some of these toddlers out there).

So what can you do? Here are a few tips for feeding your toddler:

1. You can’t force them to eat. So, instead, relax. Prepare the meal and offer it. Let your toddler decide what to eat and how much to eat.
2. Don’t become a short order cook. Make one meal for everyone. If your toddler it not interested in eating it, no worries. Do not head into the kitchen to whip up something else.
3. Make food easy to eat. Cut food up into perfect size pieces for easy eating. This makes it easy for your toddler to use their hands to eat, or to try using a spoon or fork.
4. Offer small amounts of food. Too much food on your toddler’s plate can scare them. Instead offer small amounts of food and let them ask for more if they want it. It gives them control.
5. Keep offering the foods they reject. It can take up to 15 times before a food is accepted, you have to keep trying.
6. For picky eaters, serve new foods or foods they dislike with favourite foods to increase the chance they will give it a try.
7. Add a dip. I have yet to meet a toddler who didn’t like to dip. Use mashed avocados, hummus, apple sauce, salsa, tomato sauce, etc to get your toddler’s interest.
8. Make food fun. Serve meals up on a fun plate or use a muffin tin. Cut food into shapes. Make faces or spell their name with the food. Just have fun with it.
9. Offer foods in different ways. Cut up fruit on a plate may not be well received, but put it on a wooden skewer and all of sudden it is fun and exciting. Instead of steamed cauliflower, mash it and bake it. Try roasting vegetables to really bring out the flavour. Add herbs and spices to tickle their tiny taste buds.
10. Set a good example. I hate to say it, but if mom and dad don’t eat their veggies, you can’t expect your toddler to. What you do speaks so much louder than what you say. If your toddler sees you enjoying food and trying new things, they will be more likely to do the same.

Feeding a toddler can be a tough; I won’t lie to you about that. They are going through a stage where they want to assert some of the independence and decision making skills. I suggest not making food a battle. Serve it up, sit back and let them take control. They will eat, eventually...


In the meantime here is a toddler snack to tickle your toddler’s tiny taste buds! 

Brown Rice Crisp Squares
½ cup brown rice syrup
1tsp vanilla
¼ cup pumpkin seed butter
¼ cup tahini (sesame seed butter)
2tbsp chia seeds
2tbsp hemp seeds
2tbsp sunflower seeds
2tbsp pumpkin seeds
5 cups organic rice crisp cereal (I use Nature’s Path)

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Heat brown rice syrup, vanilla and seed butters in a saucepan over low to medium heat until the mixture is easy to stir. Remove from heat.
Add the dry ingredients and stir well to coat.
Put mixture in an 8×11 pan and press flat with a wooden spoon. Let cool and cut into squares.

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Thank you so much to Kim for this incredibly informative post! And let me tell you -- those brown rice crisp squares are beyond tasty! You'll be making them on a regular basis, I promise. Yum! And as an added treat, Kim is offering a brand spanking-new copy of her book, Raising Happy Healthy Babies, for one of my readers! This book includes a wealth of information about nutrition from preconception through babyhood, and includes 95 yummy recipes to try.

For your chance to win, simply comment below with your fav toddler treat, or family mealtime tip. If you wanted an extra entry or so, you can feel free to tweet/Facebook/blog about the giveaway -- just be sure to leave a comment for each. Merci, merci! (Winner will be announced June 1st.)

Best wishes, mes amis -- and if you just can't wait to get your hands on this book, you can purchase your own copy for just $25 via Your Green Baby. No mama should be without this one -- it's just that good!