Lunch ideas for 22 month old

[momma.bear]

My DD has just transitioned to one nap a day, which means that by lunch time she is not in the mood to eat. I am having a hard time getting food into her and have to use entertainment or she goes to bed without lunch. Any ideas for lunches that would be exciting or fun for a 22 month old?

[creations]

Sorry this isn't what you asked for but...
can you just move lunch to a time she's interested? If she isn't ready for lunch can she just have a small snack at that time and a bigger meal at a different time?
I've always followed DS's needs for our routine which in the past meant a massive 'snack' at about 10.30-11am which really was more like lunch, and 'dinner' at around 3.30pm because he didn't have an appetite for a later evening meal.  Yeah they seem like odd times but he is so ready for a big meal then that it's rare to have feeding difficulties.
As he got older the meal times changed, now he has lunch at a more socially acceptable lunch time (12.30 - 1.00) before his nap (2.00) and an evening meal at 5.30pm.

Hope you get some answers that you're looking for.

[momma.bear]

Thanks, that is very helpful! Just a few questions:
-what things did you offer as a massive 'snack'
-you mentioned that as he got older the  meal times changed to more socially acceptable times. According to your ticker, he is just over 2 years old. Just wondering at what age he transitioned to this. My DD is 22 months tomorrow.
I do like your idea of a big snack before nap time and then a dinner around 3:30 but the only catch is that we have family dinners at 5:30 every night and I really wanted to incorporate her in this. I know I could offer her a snack at this time, but that wouldn't take long for her to finish!

[creations]

what things did you offer as a massive 'snack'

We were often out at a toddler group for morning snack so I used to take food that was easily to pack and take with us.  Things like pancakes, mini muffins and lentil/bean burgers, all home made and I'd put fruit or veg in the pancakes and muffins (grated sweet potato or carrot so the muffins were like carrot cake but sugar free, only sweetened by bananas or dried fruit) plus they already contain egg, milk and flour so it a way it was a reasonable 'meal'.  Bean or lentil burgers I used any left over veg, some egg and flour, a can of drained beans, mush it together a bit and fry in small patties.  All these things I made in batches and froze, then just lifted some out the night before.  I also carried a small tub of fruit.  The toddler group gave out a little snack at about 10.30am and this is when I would give his extra snacks.  He had such a big appetite at this time he would have been very grouchy had I not fed him then, plus would have been too tired to eat by the time we got home.
If we were home I'd sometimes make fresh or something different, homemade pate on bread or crackers for example.
Because he ate his dinner (evening meal) at 3.30 he would usually eat a good amount of freshly cooked veg at that time.  I didn't worry too much about every meal being balanced, more across a day or a few days (still do).

you mentioned that as he got older the  meal times changed to more socially acceptable times. According to your ticker, he is just over 2 years old. Just wondering at what age he transitioned to this. My DD is 22 months tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure we had already moved to the 12.30 (ish) lunch and 5.30 dinner by 22 months.  But for me the important thing was to follow when his appetite was good.  The only reason the main meal moved from 3.30 to 5.30 was because his nap went later and he wasn't hungry enough at 3.30 to eat a proper meal.  I started to give a small snack after nap WU and made dinner a bit later.  It was me following his lead rather than wanting him to be hungry for a family meal at 5.30 iyswim.  He's always had a routine but I've always been very flexible and adapted to having my main meal of the day earlier or later as necessary so I could eat with him.
It's probably important to note that most toddlers don't eat well after about 4.30pm, they take in almost all their calorie requirements before that time which is why so many families worry their LO isn't eating enough at a later family meal.  My LO is a little unusual in this respect in that he has a really good appetite at 5.30, but he also has a later nap than most (2pm) and a later BT (8pm) - all based on his needs.

I would see when her appetite is at it's best, it's tricky when you've just transitioned to one nap because the whole routine gets shifted and as you've said, she is too tired to eat before nap.

[momma.bear]

Wow, thanks for all the great ideas! I've made broccoli and cheese muffins as well as squash and sweet potato muffins before so maybe I should try those again. All mealtimes are really a battle with her. She won't eat more than a few bites if left on her own, so I resort to having a conversation with her as I spoon feed her or give her toys to play with (I REALLY don't like doing this, but sometimes it's the only thing that works). Totally open to other suggestions though!
I also make my own pancakes and load them with fruit, sometimes carrots/sweet potato or squash. She usually eats these on her own if I put jam on them.
I'm not really sure when her appetite is at it's best, but I will definitely experiment.
Just curious, you had such great ideas for lunches, what would you typically offer for breakfast?

[creations]

My DS never eats alone and i think this makes a big difference to appetite.
I always have breakfast, lunch and dinner with him.  Even if I am not hungry I eat a little.  Eating for humans is a social activity, we all eat more when in company and more still when there is a special occasion.  I see with my DS he knows when it is a 'special' meal (birthday, restaurant or cafe meal, Nana over for Sunday dinner etc) and he tucks in even more than a regular meal so I believe LOs are just as much social eaters as adults.
With his big 'snack' type lunch I didn't eat when we were out at toddler group but all the other LOs were eating their snack so he still had company eating.
It's very rare for me not to eat when he eats (ok he has small snacks which I don't have), even when he has supper I have a cup of tea and we sit at the table together whilst he has his milk and supper snack, or I make sugar free pudding or cake and we all have that at his supper time.
If you are concerned about her appetite I would really recommend eating all meals with her, even if your DH isn't home until later, you can have a very small meal with her when it is her dinner time and eat with your DH later on - or you have your main meal with her and he eats alone (whilst you just have a drink)  because as an adult he is likely to understand and adapt better than a LO.

Breakfast we used to do muesli balls (made with baby muesli, mixed thick and rolled into balls as finer food) and once in a while toast or eggy bread.  Then I changed things up because my LO doesn't like to eat much protein and I felt I needed to make sure he had a portion each day so now he has either a one egg omelet or a sausage (yes it's not the best source of protein but I'm just glad he will eat a whole sausage and I don't have to worry for the rest of the day if he doesn't take any other protein).  Once per week we have pancakes for breakfast.

hth

[zeri]

Hi,
my DD was much like yours! She is almost 5 now and getting better. As pp said, I would always eat with her (we eat every meal as a family) and that helps. I got a bunch of small shape cutters - for Play-doh, actually - and would cut fun shapes from her sliced cucmbers, sandwiches, watermelon...anything soft. I would make little tiny buns with leftover stew or spaghetti inside (like chinese buns, if you are familiar?) and we would do themed colour night - like on Wednesdays everything is orange, or yellow, etc .- my thinking being that then she was still eating the rainbow, just over a a few days! I would give her a bib in the matching colour.

[momma.bear]

I've tried sitting down to eat with her but it doesn't make a difference. Here's how today went:
Breakfast: offered her pancakes... she wouldn't touch them, then offered her yogurt of which she ate maybe four bites. An hour later I fed it to her as she was playing.
Snack: ate half a banana
Lunch: cut bread into airplane shapes with pate on it. She thought they were fun but wouldn't put them in her mouth. She asked for peas. I gave her some mixed veggies which she picked at a bit. I then put on a favourite show of hers and fed the bread and rest of the veggies to her
Snack: offered her an apple which she eagerly said yes to. She ate a tiny slice and that was it. Then offered her cucumbers and tomatoes with dip which we ate together. She ate one tiny tomato and a couple little pieces of cucumber while we played together.
Dinner: offered her pasta with salmon.  She ate two noodles and said she was done. She asked for some of my food (spinach and quinoa) which she tried one bite of. We used to let her go play when she was done her dinner, but we are now making her stay at the table until we are done eating to encourage her to eat more of her food (this has worked a few times but not this evening).
Snack: offered her applesauce while we watched a few minutes of a youtube clip (she normally does this while 'drinking' her applesauce with a straw

So I know I have some bad habits here... like getting her to eat the food while entertaining her in some way or another. I want her to enjoy eating but it seems to me that it is more of a chore for her. Would love some suggestions of what to do. Do I just not force anything and see what she actually eats on her own in a day? Even to get her to drink all her milk is sometimes a challenge. She'll drink it in a sippy cup while playing usually, but when that doesn't work, I play something on youtube for her like an action song and she guzzles it down in no time.

It's not that she is not hungry. She will often ask for "yummies" first thing when she wakes up, which is her word for food. But she just isn't into eating and would much rather play.

[creations]

offered her pasta with salmon.  She ate two noodles and said she was done. She asked for some of my food (spinach and quinoa) which she tried one bite of.

What's the reason for giving her different food to yours?
LOs are more likely to want to eat just the same as mummy or daddy which is why making sitting at a table together for a family meal is a good habit to make.  It might seem initially that she doesn't eat more when you sit down together but that could well be that this is not her habit, you make it her habit by always sitting at the table together.  Talk to her about how the table is set, which is her fork, which is yours, if she is walking ask her to take something to the table (some thing non-breakable, maybe her sippy cup) to help set the table and whilst eating together comment on how lovely it is to have her company and enjoy eating together.  When Daddy is there for a meal make an effort to include her in your conversation, it's such a temptation to 'ignore' LO and do adult chat at the table, my LO notices straight away and tries to join in with the social chit chat.
Personally I would only ever give a small snack whilst DS is playing or watching TV and even then it would only be after a very busy morning out at playgroup, physically and mentally exhausting, and he needs a bit of chill out time. I don't mind him having the odd snack like that but at meal times all music, TV etc is off and we sit at the table.

When you sit with her I would eat the exact same food.  Even put a main serving platter in the middle of the table, serve her one piece/pancake, serve yourself one piece/pancake.  I often say something like 'mmm mine's nice, is yours nice?' but other than that I don't try to get him to eat.  LOs are usually very good at managing their own appetite and if offered a range of healthy foods (across several days, doesn't all need to be in one meal) they will also balance their dietary needs.  One of the risks of distraction whilst eating is that they don't necessarily stop when they are full, they are focused on something else.  This can lead to over eating later in life because they learn to override the full feeling.  It's also the reason why it's not really advised to encourage a LO to finish a full plate of food, so that they learn to respond to their feeling of fullness.

Maybe first thing in the morning you could offer a milk or breakfast straight away, sitting at a table, and when she wants to play explain that it's breakfast time and we will play after?
Do you think her milk intake might be having an effect on how much solid food she wants?

[Khalam's Mama]

One thing I notice is she is smacking so may not get time to be hungry. The day you listed she had around 8 sittings. Perhaps make breakfast 30min later so she will b hungry. I also second eating with her what she eats.
My Lo like dipping so we always have something to dop in. Tea for toast, soup for bread, mayo for sandwiches, cheese soft or melted for pasta, yogurt for fruit or pancakes etc.

[amayzie]

Yeah- i think there's one approach i've heard of where you don't offer so many snacks- or ANY snacks in the day but focus more on the meals- i think it's a french thing. Not read anything into it at all.. but it did make some sense.

Also- can i move in to your house! That offerring through the day sounds AWESOME!

[creations]

Oh my LO loves to dip too!  If he doesn't have anything else to dip in he will even pour a little of his sippy water on his plate to dip into!
He likes mint sauce, lemon juice, and I admit I also let him have ketchup and bbq sauce which has some sugar in but he has such a small amount I don't mind.

[momma.bear]

I've been giving her different foods that us because I wanted her to eat SUPER healthy. And she also isn't great with a spoon but like to self-feed, so it was easier for me to give her noodles with a veggie/cheese sauce rather than eg. the rice we are eating.
I have offered her our meal twice now and got the same reaction. She doesn't even want to touch it. She just says she's "all done"... except for anything that is meat, she'll eat that.
This evening I made her noodles, because the past two nights when I gave her what we were eating she asked for noodles. She ate maybe three, then had some black beans from our dinner, and said she was all done. But just before bed time she was asking for food, and ended up eating half of her dinner. Mind you she was sitting at her own little table with some cars as we fed it to her.
For breakfast I normally give her pureed fruit mixed with baby cereal, as it's an easy way to get something into her quickly. And I really don't want to have to eat whatever she is eating. I try to really limit her sugar intake, and much of the things I eat contain more sugar than I'd want her to have.
I'm just not sure what to do next. Should I not give in when she asks for dinner when it's passed dinner time in the hopes that she learns to eat at meal times?
I do offer her milk first thing in the morning as she always asks for it. But this morning I tried offering her breakfast first and she just kept asking for milk. And I know that if I told her she could have her milk after her breakfast was finished, she would just say "all done" to breakfast and refuse it. She also has milk after her pm nap. I'm thinking of maybe making that something she gets just before bed so that she is more hungry at dinner.
Also, if I were to offer her breakfast straight away and explain that we'll play after breakfast, she will just get upset. And any time she's upset, the very last thing she wants to do is eat. The key to getting her to eat is getting her in a good mood, which usually involves youtube or toys unfortunately.
Thanks everyone for your advice. It's tough when she doesn't want to eat and it drives me crazy, especially when it comes to dinner time and we all sit down together, include her in conversation etc. and she still just wants to be done and play.
Would love to hear more advice!!

[Khalam's Mama]

I sometimes keep the boys dinner and if they are hungry later they happily eat it if that is what is on offer.
What about having picnics or eating at her little table etc to lively lunch up.
If she only eats when distracted maybe she just isnt hungry. I worried too at this age but both mine are   fine and eat well at times and stop when they are full. Are you worried about her weight?.

[amayzie]

I was also reading on a blog today that you can pop down a plate of food for them to nibble on when they are playing if you want to get some extra nutrition in. So- the blog was suggesting that if you put a plate of berries, or vegetables- carrots would be an example for older kids, but perhaps you could have cooked and cooled peas, cooked and cooled beans.. similar... on a plate for them to nibble on.. Not sure if that helps- but i thought it was interesting!

[momma.bear]

Good ideas - thanks! I am not worried about her weight, just want to get nutrition into her. I'm trying to get veggies into her at lunch now so that if she doesn't eat dinner, she is still getting her veggies.

[amayzie]

Oh- and another suggestion- my mum makes Hamish EVERY DAY an omlette thing made of egg, tuna, spinach and sultanas. He eats it ALL UP and his poos are often green! It is great as is means that i know he's had the vegies in the day right at the start! She also chops up chicken onto his banana sandwich.

[momma.bear]

My daughter has some strange aversion to eggs. Not sure if it's a texture thing or not. That's a great idea if I can ever get her to eat egg!
I do give her applesauce that has a serving of carrots in it, and sometimes make pancakes with squash or sweet potatoes in them.

[Khalam's Mama]

My kids loved eating peas and corn while i prepped dinner. They spent ages chasing the around the tray. With dipping too veg pureed makes a good dip, if u mix a veg and fruit. Home made pizza with veg puree as the sauce was good too.

[zeri]

We have occasionally resorted to the V-8 juice that is half fruit / half veg to get our DD to eat veggies - for DS the problem is protein as he hates meat! Poor kid gets a log of egg and quinoa.
Would your DD eat veggies if they masqueraded as a treat, like zucchini fingers rolled in egg and then breaded with breadcrumbs and parmesan and baked in the oven? Have you tried unusual vegetables - bok choy or gai lan, fennel....maybe even the purple carrots or cauliflower heirloom varieties that are available now?