Author Topic: Meal planning for a toddler  (Read 1631 times)

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Offline Eva's Mummy

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Meal planning for a toddler
« on: May 02, 2015, 19:54:59 pm »
DD1 has never been a good eater so I was thinking of doing a meal plan for her. We could cut out pictures together and stick them on it under the days and meals so she can see what she is having that day. She is quite limited to what she eats so I would like to add some other things to it so she has a balanced diet over the week. She may not eat it but if I keep to the same meal plan every week then hopefully she will start. If I list what she does eat could I get ideas of how to spread it over the week and what else to add.

Toast with butter
Rice crispies (sometimes)
Weetabix (1/2 last week, first time in a year)
Sausages
Fish fingers
Fish Cakes
Scrambled eggs
Pesto pasta
Peas
bread and butter
cheese
Lentil soup
grapes
watermelon
apple
tangerine
banana
strawberries
yoghurt
raisins
mini crackers

Thanks in advance


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Offline clazzat

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Re: Meal planning for a toddler
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2015, 21:00:23 pm »
When dd1 went through her super-picky phase, there were about 4 meals that she would eat.  She was always reliable about eating breakfast so I never had to worry about that, but other meals were a real struggle.  What I decided was that each day would have 1 meal that I knew she would eat (if I remember rightly, the meals she would eat where crackers, raisins and cheese; lasagne; sausage, mash and beans) and then I would offer her whatever else was in the plan.  Sometimes that would be something that I knew she would eat (ie crackers, raisins and cheese for lunch and lasagne for supper), more often I would know that she would only eat one meal in the day and I decided to let that go.  She had snacks - one in the morning and one in the afternoon, generally fruit - and I had to allow myself to believe that she would eat enough.  In the long run she has become the best eater of the lot - tries everything, and will try it again another time if she didn't like it last time (including mushrooms which have made her throw up every time she has had them!) - so this feels like an approach that can work.

Looking at your list, I would suggest that you plan snacks in the morning and afternoon that consist of the fruits that she likes, and try to make sure she has a decent breakfast.  If you are able I would suggest that scrambled eggs on toast would make a good breakfast with some fruit to follow as it sets her up well for the day. 

Other than that, I would write all the things that she eats on pieces of card, colour-coded to allow for protein, carbs, veg, fruit etc and explain to her that she can chose one from each colour for her meals.  I would let her do this for one meal a day and then plan the other meal based on what you want to eat/want her to eat.  I think that one of the really big things (which is quite hard to do when you are in the middle of a picky phase) is to remember that she won't starve herself and if she refuses to eat a meal then it is okay for her to be hungry.  I remember that we did sometimes allow dd1 a biscuit and a drink of milk at around 6pm if she hadn't eaten at all so that she wasn't hungry overnight, but during this phase she went to bed without supper more often than not.

Offline Eva's Mummy

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Re: Meal planning for a toddler
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2015, 17:57:29 pm »
Thanks honey, its so good to know other people have gone through this. So I have been out and bought coloured card so going to get started with your suggestions tomorrow.

Unfortunately breakfast is probably the hardest one for me to get her to eat. I can generally get a slice of seeded toast and butter down her but that's it. It annoys me a wee bit because when she is at the CM's she used to get a good meal at lunch and a nice snack but now it seems to be toast for AM snack, sandwich for lunch and toast or another sandwich for pm snack.SO she is filling up on bread.


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Offline creations

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Re: Meal planning for a toddler
« Reply #3 on: May 06, 2015, 20:06:07 pm »
what else to add.
veggies?
I would serve up veggies at least once per day even if they are not on her 'willing to eat list'
Maybe list a few different types of veggies that you already eat so that you aren't making extra especially for her?  Try to cover a few different things. Many people follow the 'eat a rainbow' idea and I'm pretty sure all kids are fascinated with rainbows so this could be an additional aspect to talk about or to stick rainbow pictures on the menu plan.