Naturopath Shares a Toddler Meal Plan

”Squeezies”

We refer to our little pouches of organic vegetables and fruit as squeezies. My favourite brands are Bellamy’s, Rafferty’s garden and Happytot organic superfoods

DRINKS - Matilda will have the following drinks:

• Water
• A little ‘green juice’ of chlorella and vitamin c most days for extra nutrition, immune and overall health
• Roobois tea
• Maybe some rice milk on occasions
• Add a scoop of our Hydration Powder to a 750ml drink bottle
• I also give her a teaspoon of ‘practitioner only’ probiotics for her gut and immune system health

KEY THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

• When considering the nutritional profile of your child’s diet, consider the day as ‘whole’ rather than getting caught up with each individual meal. For example if your child chooses to have only frozen peas for breakfast (and therefore no protein or good fats) but has an egg frittata with some vegetables included and then bolognaise meat and vegetable sauce with a whole meal pasta for dinner then you can be satisfied that they have taken in enough protein for that day. Remember avocado is a great kids food and loaded with vitamins, minerals and good fats. A great breakfast food to increase their intake of phytonutrients at this time when often many kids just eat carbohydrate based foods such as cereals and toast. 

• Remember, some days you are not as hungry as others. Your child is going to be the same. They will often make up for poor eating days the day after.
  
  
• Get your child involved. Get the in the kitchen, get them dirty with healthy cake mixture, allow them to watch you chopping vegetables, get them to pop some vegetables in to the saucepan, give them bits and pieces to try as you are cooking, get them excited about what goes on in the kitchen. Let them get messy. They are looking for these experiences.

• Make meal times ‘relaxed’. If your child doesn’t want to eat what you have made for them as painful as it is, let them go. Try not to make the experience negative by pressuring them to ‘eat’ exactly what you want them to eat all the time. Obviously don’t just give up after the first knock back but don’t push for an extended period of time. This may cause issues in the long run. If they would rather a banana well so be it! Make sure though you continue to offer and offer and offer again other occasions. You need to train their taste buds and give them variety.
  
  
• Eat your meals with your toddler if you can. This creates great habits and interaction at the dinning table.
  
  
• Discuss what you are eating. What color is that carrot? What vegetable is that? How many peas do you have? “Let’s go out to the garden and grab some parsley Matilda and chop it up to pop on our stew”…this kind of thing.
  
  
• Obviously every toddler is different and you are going to have days were they will sit at the table and eat really well. Other days like Matilda she will only eat on the kitchen bench or whilst roaming around the kitchen. I am not too phased with this at the moment simply because she is only 21months old. I am trying to create a habit of table dining of course and will continue to work on this. If she is still refusing to eat at the table at every meal in a couple of years time then I know I have a behavioral issue and I need to do something about it!
  
  
• If your child is underweight and it is affecting their health such as energy levels and immune system then there is something else potentially going on. Your doctor may check their iron and zinc status as these are commonly deficient in children with poor appetite and zinc in particular with immune deficiencies.
  
  
• Try to only have ‘healthy food’ in the house. Bake with them healthy cakes, loaves and smoothies and make these things ‘special’. When you are out at parties and friend’s places let them go a bit. Remember the 80:20 rule. Life is all about balance and experience.
  
  
• When we have extra treats I tend to go for more savoury treats such as potato chips. This is much better than sugary treats like lollies and commercial cakes etc. 

• Does your child really need juice? Vegetable juice – no problem but fruit juices like apple and orange are possibly just setting your child up for disaster. If they start the day by having 25gm of sugar in a cup of apple juice then they will most likely be on the sugar bandwagon for the rest of the day. Ultimately you want to keep your sugar intake to less than 30-35gm for the whole day! Say no to sugar.

THINGS I ALWAYS HAVE ON HAND

• Squeezies
• Beetroot dip
• Brown rice noodles
• Quinoa pasta
• Spelt pasta
• Frozen bolognaise sauce
• Organic eggs
• Frozen organic sausages and hamburgers
• Pumpkin, potato, peas, broccoli mash
• Goats yoghurt
• ‘Sprinkles’ – ground mix of linseeds and chia seeds
• Fruit
• Organic corn cakes
• Rice crackers
• Tahini
• Nut and seed protein balls in the freezer
• Our hydration powder