You might have always had a picky eater on your hands, or maybe its a new thing for your normally eat-everything toddler. Either way it can be frustrating to ask what your little one what she wants to eat and the response is same thing they had for breakfast and lunch or turn their nose at everything you suggest or worse- you make. A few months ago we started to see this, my daughter had been a very diverse eater- from a great array of veggies and fruits right down to a big variety of ethnic foods. But we are witnessing a pull back- an apprehension to try new foods as well as a rejection of some old favorites. So we’ve been employing some new tricks and recipes, mostly good old fashion smoke and mirrors, to hopefully keep variety in her diet. I think back to the kids I baby-sat for in high school that ate hot dogs every night and am going to fight that kind of scenario all the way.
One good book I found a help is The Toddler Café by Jennifer Carden. Her approach, “fast, healthy and fun…” and the book is full of recipes that reflect that mantra. It is not so much like The Sneaky Chef
, (another good one) which adds more nutritious ingredients to recipes, but more so a think out side of the box look at feeding a picky toddler. The recipes are simple, but apply fun and involvement as part of the toddler eating experience. There are recipe notes about where to get something or how to store or freeze, recipe variations (incase your kido is really against some implemented ingredient!) and tips on how to get them involved or to eat it. Ever thought about a grilled cheese made in a waffle iron? That is likely to impress a tough customer toddler. Sticky rice balls with carrots and beets mixed in- they will at least be curious (hopefully enough to sample). There are many more like this.
Prior to finding this book we were using some of these fun-type approaches that worked great. Cutting sandwiches in triangles or with cookie cutters, presenting a smorgasbord of dipping foods with hummus (toddlers love to dip), fruit dipped in yogurt, arranging food in different and unexpected ways. Think basic but fun. But if you’re stumped like many others, you and your toddler might find Jennifer Carden’s creative ideas inspiring enough to eat!
See a sample of what’s inside the book!
Here’s a picture of some baby stuff I bought recently:
A couple of toys, some formula, bottles, a drying rack, and some Dreft detergent. I’m doing some laundry now with the Dreft, and I plan to sterilize the bottles momentarily.
I also setup a “Pack-N-Play” to use as a crib:
I just read an article about vitamin D and how the American Association of Pediatrics has doubled the recommended daily amount of it from 200iu to 400iu. It’s a good article and definitely worth checking out:
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/13/AR2008101300995.html
Vitamin D sources include cod liver oil, milk, and can also be created by human bodies when exposed to sunlight. Exposure to sunlight has its own problems, so most people these days take supplements.
I am happy to see the days of summer dwindle for one reason, and one alone. The winter hiatus of the ice cream man. You would too if you lived in my house. We live in an urban area so the ice cream man is more than a daily visit, it’s 3 different trucks that drive down our street starting when school releases all the way to 7:30 at night. Two of them play music, one is something like “Pop goes the weasel” and the other is “When the saints go marching in”, the third just dings a bell. And they are the bane of my existence.
As you might know, I have a 2.5 year old daughter who loves ice cream and a well meaning husband who bought her ice cream from one of the trucks late last summer as a “special treat”. Well this summer rolled around and she knew, her ears primed for the music and bells and was excited the first warm day they came back to harass my neighborhood. No matter how hard we tried to tell her it was a special, occasional goody, she was in a flurry of panic when she heard the ice cream sounds coming from streets away. She would look for money, she would frantically tell the little kids in the neighborhood kids “ice cream is coming!!”, which they eventually caught on to, tricking her to think it was coming loving to get her whipped up about it.
But it was hard to get her off of the excitement and deliver the disappointment, “no, honey, we aren’t getting ice cream tonight”. Tears start, “No, why!!!!! Oh no! Why? Please!” and then to have it happen one or two times more, and she would get stressed to hear them and know we aren’t buying. She would actually say, “Oh no, not again! not again…” As if to even be saying herself, stop torturing me with your ice cream calls. But she’s hooked and we are too late to unhook her. Who knew it would turn into this, that the lure for terrible ice cream sold from trucks would be so strong. I know this is silly, a very no problem sort of an issue, but I want to know- do the ice cream men know how hard it is say no 3 times a night?!
Some healthier ice cream alternatives for your little ones:
Cool Fruits All Natural Freezer Pops
Fudgsicle a satisfying 60 calorie treat
Natural Choice Frozen Fruit Bars
Ciao Bella Sorbetto
365 Every Day ValueFrozen Fruit Bar
A few days ago, my sister forwarded me article that appeared in the New York Times, about the likelihood that Canada will list bisphenol-a (BPA) as a toxic plastic ingredient. This is an amazing development that I hope (as I am sure you do too) will lead to pressure the US government to take similar measures. Instead of linking to the article, as the NY Times has you sign-in, I am including some important excerpts here.
- The Canadian government is said to be ready to declare as toxic a chemical widely used in plastics for baby bottles, beverage and food containers as well as linings in food cans.
- “If the government issues a finding of toxic, no parent in their right mind will be using products made with this chemical,” said Rick Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defense, a Canadian group that has been campaigning against B.P.A. “We will be arguing strongly for a ban on the use of this chemical in food and beverage containers.”
- “The first thing is that it’s an endocrine disrupter, there’s no question about that,” Professor Bend said, referring to the chemical’s impact on the hormonal system. “Should people that are exposed to these low levels of this chemical be outrageously concerned? I’d err on the side of not creating panic. We simply don’t know. But we should find out.”
Professor Bend added that the impact of B.P.A. on the development of human fetuses was worrisome. It may prove to cause damage in much the same way as early exposure to mercury, he said.
The article ends with a comment regarding the report from the American Chemistry Council “affirms that there are no serious or high-level concerns for adverse effects of bisphenol-a on human reproduction and development.”
Hmmm, weren’t there cover-ups regarding the dangers of tobacco and lead poisoning- which have all come to pass as harmful to humans.
In my month or more of research and attention on BPAs, I came across this book called Deceit and Denial, The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution
which looks at how historically corporations and at times the government attempted to cover-up, mislead or downplay the dangers of lead and various other harmful chemicals. It is fascinating and could turn out to relevant to our quest to get to the bottom of the dangers associated with BPAs.
For more info on this book and the mission visit the Deceit and Denial website
And just in the from the Boston Globe Bottle firm halts use of plastic tied to tumors
More info on this matter from SafeMama and The Soft Landing
