Toddler Food

When your baby has just started eating solid food it can be difficult to know what to give them to eat. But really it is a case of being aware of what you shouldn’t be giving them rather than what you should give them.  Here are some ideas for toddler food including what foods to avoid.

Toddler food often comes in the supermarket in jars or cans ready made for you to give them.  However, there is no need for you to spend lots of money on these foods when a toddler can eat most of the food you have at home.

With toddlers you should avoid giving them foods that they could choke on, or making sure that they are cut into smaller sizes.  Examples of these are grapes, but cutting them in half will prevent choking.   Nuts aren’t a good idea for young children either as they could have a nut allergy, so it may be better to leave these until they are older. They won’t be able to chew them until they have all their molars anyway.  I would also avoid any foods that are likely to cause food poisoning as children find it much harder to recover from, so no soft cheese, pate, raw meats or shellfish.

Apart from the above toddlers can eat pretty much the same as adults. There is no need to cook them a separate meal.  Sometimes I cook the vegetables a bit more than I have them so they are softer and easier to eat, and if I use spicy sauces, I take some out for my toddler first especially if it has chilli in it. The only other thing I do, is make sure that I don’t put any salt in the food if I am cooking for the whole family.  If adults want salt on the food they can add it afterwards.

My toddler’s favourite foods include pasta, rice, noodles, small chunks of soft vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and parsnip. He will eat soft fruits such as banana and pear cut up into small chunks, as well as huge variety of soft fruits such as strawberries, melon, peaches, pineapple, raspberries, mango and blueberries.  If I am giving him noodles or spagetti I cut it into smaller pieces to make it easier for him to eat, but not too small as he eats with his fingers and finds it hard to pick up pieces that are too small.

For breakfast you can give your toddler dry cereal (as it makes less mess!) or toast with jam on.  If they allow you to feed them (some don’t!) you can give them some porridge or other mushy cereals off a spoon. As they get older you can introduce more variety into breakfast by giving them an egg with their toast or some mushrooms or putting raisins and banana into their cereal.

Toddler food may seem difficult, but if you bring up your baby to eat whatever you eat right from the start, and let them try foods as soon as they show you they are ready, you should be able to feed them virtually anything.