Expert Advice On Feeding Your Children

Managing Thanksgiving with New or Selective Eaters

11/25/2019

Mateo, 9 months - @whitneysara08

Thanksgiving is a time to gather family and friends and share a delicious meal. You envision a table full of loved ones - or perhaps just your small family - and enjoying favorite dishes from recipes that have been passed down for generations.

Unfortunately, it's not always how Thanksgiving (or other holiday dinners) work. For parents with picky eaters, Thanksgiving may be stressful as you anticipate comments what family members will say about your kid's eating habits (and what they imply about your parenting). Perhaps you're doing Baby-led Weaning (infant self-feeding) and you worry that loved ones will not understand how your baby eats. The sights and the aroma’s might be completely delicious to adults, but for many children, especially picky eaters or children with special needs or allergies, this meal can cause stress to the whole family.

Remember, flexibility is important with all things, especially children and holidays.

We've laid out some strategies for keeping Thanksgiving fun and low-stress with your BLW baby or selective kiddo.

Tips for self-feeding babies.

Communicate with your partner. Make sure you're on the same page as your partner about how you'll handle your baby's food and when you plan to leave. Keep communication open.
Communicate with your family and friends. Inform your fellow Thanksgiving diners that your baby feeds themselves before you sit down for the meal. This helps prevent any surprises once food has been served. If you'd like, explain why you chose BLW (without judgement of what they may have done with their kids) and explain that many parents are now opting to go this route.
Use us as your scapegoats. If you have taken our Infant course, explain that you got specific instruction from two feeding professionals. Tell them that it is normal for babies to gag while eating, and that gagging and choking are not the same thing.
Keep it comfortable. Offer foods that feel most comfortable to you. Perhaps you just started BLW a few days ago. It's OK to offer baby mashed potatoes on loaded GOOtensils.
Bring supplies. If eating at somebody's home, bring baby utensils and an eating mat.
Thanksgiving dinner may not be the best place to start BLW for the first time.. Practice a few meals prior to the big day.
Decide if you want to include baby in the eating experience. While Thanksgiving is a wonderful memory to share with your baby and we'd hope you feel confident serving them holiday foods on this day, brand new eaters don't necessarily have to share in Thanksgiving if it stresses you out too much. The family dynamic or mealtime environment may not be ideal for your family this year. This is especially applicable to families still navigating new food allergies, or if dinner is served after your child's bedtime. No one solution is right for every family, and it's OK if your baby skips Thanksgiving food for any reason. They can always try leftovers another time.
Protect your host's home. To minimize mess, make sure to put a towel or splash mat on the floor below your baby's eating chair (or your chair if they're on your lap). Don't forget a bib! Avoid serving baby's food on china or glassware.

Tips for selective eaters.

Host a Thanksgiving dress rehearsal, especially if your child is very picky or has sensory issues. Serve a practice meal with your kids including many sights, aromas, and sounds of Thanksgiving Day. Many grocery stores or casual food restaurants have complete Thanksgiving meals you can purchase to practice. Have your child sit in a different chair, especially if you already know what kind of chair they might be sitting in on the big day.
Communicate with your family and friends. Inform your fellow Thanksgiving diners that you have been working on picky eating strategies and will not be forcing your child to eat or bribing them with dessert. Make sure to talk about this away from the table and away from your child. Kindly ask them to let you handle mealtime dynamics instead of stepping in themselves. They simply want to help, but the strategies they have used on their kids may be contradictory toward your end goal.
Taste test and dip! Kids love to learn to taste and dip into sauces. You may want to bring special tasting cups or separated plate to allow the child to deconstruct their meal for an increase in eating on that day. It's OK to add ketchup or another favorite dip alongside your child's food.
Keep portion sizes tiny. Remember, most children can get easily overwhelmed at Thanksgiving Day meals. We recommend using a tiny serving spoon to serve themselves less overwhelming portions - they can always have more. You may want to explain to the host that your child will eat better if Mom, Dad or another preferred person (like an older child who is a role model) plate your child's meal.
Kid table...or not? Many families use the kid table for older kids (2 years+). Only kids sit at this table. This can go either way, and predicting your child’s participation can be tricky. Remember - keep the end goal in mind: to enjoy the day and be thankful for friends and family. It's OK for your child to fill up on bread with butter and pumpkin pie filling for one meal, we promise!
Focus on making memories. Allow your child to help in the meal preparation process or other decorating ideas for Thanksgiving. Kids can participate in many fun ways, including coloring or decorating name cards for the table or using stickers to decorate placemats. (Remember - heartfelt and kid-made can be better than "perfect.") Making a Thankful Tree is also fun! Each guest writes what they're thankful for on construction paper leaves, and older kids can help cut out these leaves with age-appropriate scissors. Some families do a Thankful Table Cloth and write what they're thankful for on the cloth itself. This is a great way to make positive memories with your child and start traditions for your family. It also takes the focus away from food if mealtime causes any stress. Your kids will look forward to these activities as they grow, and they will be fun keepsakes to look back on!
Set expectations low and stay in the moment. Your child might be overwhelmed by so many things: experiencing new smells, the timing of the meal, their chair might not be perfect, there are way too many people talking at the same time, and the visual stimulus of candles, glassware, people and food on the table. It is a lot to take in, even for us parents! Keep your expectations low and enjoy the things you can control, like staying present with your family and having food on the table. The rest will all fall into place. Don’t expect your child to be a marvelous eater or sit there for the entire meal. Keep an eye on your child at the table and have a game plan with your partner for how to handle who gets up first with the child. Have one parent tend to your child while the other parent finishes dinner and then switch so each parent can have an adequate social engagement and meal as well.
Serve something familiar with the meal. There's no need to make a special meal for your child barring medical or developmental issues, but make sure there's one familiar food your kiddo can fill up on if they don't want to eat the main dish. Bread with butter is a common "safe" food for toddlers.
Make sure your child doesn't get too hungry - too full - before the meal. A hangry child is not a fun child, so offer a snack a few hours beforehand - kids don't appreciate or tolerate the "wait until the Thanksgiving meal so you're super starving" approach. They need regular meals and snacks on the big day. Conversely, appetizers can prevent your child from wanting to come to the table if they get too full. Remember, this won't be perfect. Do what you have to do to make the day pleasant.
Bring Turkey Day activities. Check out Pinterest for fun crafts and Thanksgiving ideas. Involve the kids so they have enough to do while the dishes are cleaned and football is watched. Bring enough for all of the kids in attendance - this can make the day last a little longer!
Protect your host's home. To minimize mess, make sure to put a towel or splash mat on the floor if your child is prone to spilling or dropping food. Some toddlers do well with china and glassware, but Thanksgiving is not the time to start practicing with keepsake dishes.
If you are at someone else’s house, have an exit strategy. Know when you anticipate leaving, and communicate throughout the day to check in. This can be especially important with babies and young toddlers who may struggle to nap in new environments. Holidays are different with little kids than they used to be, and sometimes plans change. It's OK! Things will get a little easier as they get older, but right now you're in a special season.

Managing allergies?

If your child has known food allergies, make sure to inform your host ahead of time. Always ask for ingredients in foods you didn't make, and consider bringing allergy-friendly Thanksgiving dishes your child can enjoy so they can be part of the celebration.

Teach your Child How to Eat Tacos

11/2/2019

Feeding Littles | A step by step guide on how to teach your child to eat a taco including baby starting solids at six months. As your child gets older, the expectations change and eventually will be able to eat a hard shell taco.

Tacos are an easy dinner that can be enjoyed by the whole family! We’ve put together some visuals for how to serve tacos to kids 6+ months to help them developmentally get to the stage where they can eat crunchy tacos! (Hard taco shells are technically a choking hazard for kids under 4!) These are simply ideas - if you’ve taken our online courses, you know that we encourage meeting your child at their current stage and challenging them to get to the next level safely.

In these images, you’ll notice that foods start soft and in larger pieces for new eaters to hold well and then actually get smaller as they develop more sophisticated grasps and techniques.

6+ months: Babies can have cheese - it’s just that if you’re serving shredded cheese with your own taco, it may be hard for them to pick it up!

10-12+ months: A 10-12 month old baby is just starting to learn how to bite and pull with front teeth (as these teeth come in), so it can be helpful to make serrated lines with a fork on a soft tortilla to give their mouths a place to bite.

15-18+ months: As they get a little older (on average 15-18+ months), toddlers can try eating very small tacos (basically mini burritos) to practice this bite and pull skill. Their little mouths probably aren’t ready for a full-sized soft taco, but it’s great to start getting them used to these types of foods so they can eventually eat sandwiches, pizza, etc. Note that the lettuce and bell pepper servings are small - around this age many toddlers become more particular, so it helps to keep less preferred foods in tiny portions so as to not overwhelm them. They can start to try crunchy lettuce at this time.

4+ years: As your child gets older (4+), it’s time to try a crunchy taco! Let them build it themselves from a topping bar - they’re more likely to try different foods if they serve it to themselves.

A few notes:

The ways beans and avocado/guacamole are served here are arbitrary - either black beans or refried beans can be served to children 6+ months (same with guac or avocado), it’s just hard for young eaters to pick up black beans.
Your child may not be ready for these foods at these ages, or maybe they’re ahead of the game!

Sandwich Skewers Appetizer

11/2/2019

Feeding Littles | Try this fun appetizer for the next football tailgate or Holiday party! These sandwich skewer appetizers are also fun for kids to snack on if modified appropriately.

Perfect for game day!

Need to bring an easy, fun snack to your next Sunday night football party (or, well, any party)? We love these sandwich skewers originally inspired by Pinterest browsing. The Cuban flavor is amazing, but I figured we could mix it up in so many ways! Some of the flavors are more complex and may or may not be kid-approved in your house (but we still recommend trying it so your child has the opportunity). Just be careful with food on sticks/toothpicks for kids under 2-3, and watch round foods like olives and cherry tomatoes for kids under 4!

Here's some ideas:

Cuban: cubed Swiss cheese, nitrate-free deli ham, pickle slice dipped in spicy mustard
Vegetarian: roasted eggplant, zucchini, and sweet potato dipped in hummus
Turkey: nitrate-free deli turkey, cubed cheddar, tomato dipped in guacamole
Italian: olive, mozzarella ball, cooked tortellini or ravioli piece, roasted red pepper dipper in oil, vinegar, and herbs

Don’t feel like party snacks have to be “healthy” to share - all foods can be a wonderful part of living life and enjoying celebrations!

Inspiralized Littles

11/1/2019

Feeding Littles | Do you have a baby six months old getting ready to start solids? Consider the baby-led weaning approach to starting solids with baby. This ecookbook has information on how to get started with baby-led weaning as well as delicious recipes.

For years we’ve been asked to do a cookbook, but we hesitated because our expertise wasn’t in recipe development. Enter Ali from Inspiralized and Inspiralized Kids, the brilliant New York Times best selling author! Together we collaborated to create Inspiralized Littles, our first eCookbook! It's now available! We are so thrilled to partner with such a talented cookbook author and recipe developer. The best part? It’s just $5.99!

What does this eCookbook include?

A brief introduction to Baby Led Weaning (BLW) from Feeding Littles, including how and when to start
14 healthy and delicious recipes written by Ali Maffucci of Inspiralized
Photos of every recipe, including a separate photo of a suggested way to plate for baby
Infant feeding, nutrition, & occupational therapy tips from Feeding Littles
Suggested vegetable and fruit list for starting BLW

Need more of a step-by-step guide to baby-led weaning? Check out our infant course covering everything you need to know about starting solids with you baby at 6+ months old.

Truths from Feeding Professionals

11/1/2019

Feeding Littles | Two feeding professionals share information they have seen to be true for most families. If you need more help navigating mealtime with your baby starting solids at six months or picky eating toddlers and young kids, check out our online courses.

Oh, the things we learn when we become parents, right? As feeding professionals who have worked with thousands of families - and moms ourselves - we have both learned a lot more about food than we ever learned in school. Fortunately, there is still so much more to learn and more ways to grow in our understanding...but here are some things we know to be true right now"

When feeding goes well, it’s great. When feeding doesn’t go well, it affects the whole family and can be all-consuming.
Not all families - and not every human - are meant to eat the same way. We have different tastes, preferences, nutrient needs, and genetic makeups. We feel different eating different foods, and that’s OK.
HOW you feed your kid is as important as WHAT you feed your kid. Pressure, negativity and tension at mealtime can influence your child’s eventual eating habits even more than the foods they were exposed to.
Culture affects what we eat and how we perceive food. Many of our beliefs and values around mealtime are common to the culture in which we grew up.
Perfection is not the goal. Over-preoccupation with healthy food is actually now a defined eating disorder, orthorexia. Nourishing foods are important, but so is balance (and cookies)!
It’s OK for you to want to do things differently with your kids than your family did with you. We recommend approaching family members with sensitivity and grace when explaining how you manage food, and realize that we all do our best given available information.
Not everyone prioritizes or values nutrition. That’s OK.
Yes, a bowl of cereal or cheese and crackers DO count as dinner. We have to go easy on ourselves - parenting is no joke!

Need more help? Our online courses are here to help you navigate feeding your kids under age 7! The infant course is appropriate for new eaters and babies who haven’t learned to self-feed; our toddler course is best for kids 10 months - 6 years.

Creamy Bruschetta Chicken

11/1/2019

Do you struggle finding fast meal ideas and need help with filling, nourishing, tasty foods that your whole family can enjoy? Good news - we are in the same boat too! I think everyone struggles with the weeknight mealtime hustle. It’s hard to fit in everything, especially when you’re juggling busy after school schedules, work, cranky babies, or toddlers who decide they hate eating every other day.

We got you - being a parent is hard work. Do your best - which may mean takeout tonight - and give yourself grace to use easy convenience options! There are so many good ones out there!

This is one of my favorite simple chicken hacks using the beloved Trader Joe's Bruschetta Sauce - sub out marinara or even salsa if needed. It pairs nicely with Primal Kitchen avocado oil ranch (dairy-free), but use whatever ranch you’d like! We love this option for our dairy-free families who struggle to find meal ideas that lend creaminess similar to cheese!

Here's what you need:

1 tub of Trader Joe's Bruschetta sauce (or sub marinara sauce or salsa)
2-4 tablespoons ranch
1.5-2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts

Here’s the "recipe":

Mix the sauces together.
Pour in the stuff.
Cook. (See below for options.)
Eat with veggies and a starch of your choice.

Cooking Options:

Instant Pot: high pressure for 8-9 minutes
Crockpot: low for 5-6 hours
Oven: 375F for 30-35 minutes

Expert Tips for Boosting your Milk Supply

11/1/2019

Feeding Littles | Certified lactation consultant shares the tops three things you can do to boost your breastmilk supply. She also shares how to determine if your milk supply is actually low.

Using a pump can help with supply.

National Breastfeeding Month is a time we talk about breastfeeding and milk supply, but we wanted to share a few milk supply tips from the lovely Stephanie Nguyen, RN, MSN, WHNP-C, IBCLC, owner of Modern Milk and amazing Nurse Practitioner/IBCLC.

First off, a word on milk supply: many moms think their supply is low, but in actuality it’s just fine! True low supply is when you are not making enough milk to meet baby’s needs or baby isn’t gaining weight. Ask yourself these questions.

Is baby gaining weight?
Does your baby seem satisfied after nursing? (Keep in mind that cluster feeding is normal, especially during growth spurts!)
Does your baby have at least 6-8 wet diapers/day?

If you answered yes to these questions, chances are your milk supply is fine! If you’re concerned about any of these questions, seek out your local IBCLC.

Perhaps you’re pumping and need a boost or you’re working on improving milk supply per your pediatrician. Here are Steph’s top 3 things you can do NOW to boost your supply!

Add in some extra pumping sessions! Squeezing in some 10 minute pumping sessions during the day (try after the first morning feed or before you go to bed) can help increase your supply. Breastmilk is a supply and demand system, so the more milk you remove from your breasts (from nursing and pumping) the more milk your body will make!
Try a hospital grade rental pump (like a Medela Symphony or Ameda Platinum). They are much more efficient at removing milk from the breasts and stimulating your milk supply than regular pumps. These pumps can be a lifesaver for working moms who pump a lot - many say it is the only reason they were able to maintain their supply after returning to work.
Power pump! This is an hour long pumping session where you alternate pumping and breast massage. Pump and massage your breasts for 10 minutes, then turn off your pump and just massage your breasts for 10 minutes, repeat until you reach an hour. Try doing this 1-2x day for 3 days for best results. This is best when done using a hands-free pumping bra and watching Netflix.

Storytime Snack Ideas

11/1/2019

Feeding Littles | Create a fun snack time memory with your kids! Using a story to help theme your snacks will help your child be excited to eat as well as creating a memory with you. Novel presentation of food can help prevent picky eating in toddlers and young kids.

We were thrilled to be part of the #storytimesnacks in September project, spearheaded by Literacy for Littles. Each Tuesday in September, we joined some wonderful accounts in featuring snacks that fit the theme of a favorite children’s book! Reading is one of the most important things you can do with your child, and so many books pair beautifully with simple themed snacks! Even though September is over, you can still use some of these books and snack pairing ideas with your little ones throughout the year!

Our first book was “If I Could Keep You Little” by Marianne Richmond. It’s a beautiful book that describes how many of us feel about parenting - we wish we could freeze time and keep our kids from growing up, and yet if we never saw them grow we would miss so much magic along the way! I cry hysterically every time I read it but still read it nonetheless.
Our snack was inspired by the lines, “If I could keep you little, I’d cut your bread into shapes. But then I’d miss you finding, 'Hey, I LIKE ketchup with my grapes!'” To celebrate this part of the book, we’ve made peanut butter and sliced strawberry sandwiches with whole grain bread, cut into shapes. Sub any nut or seed butter for allergies. It’s a simple, filling snack that can be enjoyed before or after reading the book! We recommend eating separately from reading (as opposed to reading and snacking at the same time), as we want our kids to have the chance to eat mindfully.

Our second book was “Don’t Push the Button” by Bill Cotter. It’s funny and silly and encourages kids to interact with the story. The premise of the book is monster Larry doesn’t want the reader to push the button, but eventually his curiosity takes over and a hilarious sequence of events ensues.
You know that we are big fans of sensory play during mealtime (if your tot can’t touch something he likely won’t eat it), so we decided to make “buttons” with food in honor of this fabulous book. Simply place three dips in the end of a muffin tin (we love novel food presentation) and place a button on top! Here’s what we used:
- Yogurt with blackberries
- Roasted red pepper hummus with cucumbers
- Guac with Simple Mills crackers

Encourage your kid to “push the button” and get a little messy with the food. Perhaps they want to taste the button next. Maybe they want to try again by pushing more buttons. It’s a fun, interactive experience for kids and adults alike!

“On the Night You Were Born” by Nancy Tillman is a beautiful celebration of a child - “You are the one and only ever you...” - and it makes me cry every time I read it. I always read this one to my girls on their birthdays! In this book, the author describes how the earth celebrates the birth of each new baby.
The line, “Who in the world is exactly like you - Who - Who - Who?” inspired this cute little rice cake owl as seen on Pinterest (and it’s definitely more of a crafty snack!). For those of you who like super simple, these Babybel cheese ladybugs (also from Pinterest) are perfect, inspired by the lines, “If the moon stays up until morning one day, or a ladybug lands and decides to stay, or a little bird sits on your window awhile, it’s because they’re all hoping to see you smile...”

Here's how we made them:

Owl - brown rice cake body, apple wings (thinly slice for kids under 4), O’s cereal front feathers, strawberry beak, banana/blueberry eyes.
Ladybug - This is where it gets interesting. You can peel the Babybel cheese down the middle, slightly separate, and dot the wax with cooled melted chocolate or another dark food liquid...or you can use a sharpie (#momhack). It doesn’t bleed through the very thick non-edible wax (I double-triple checked), but it may come off on hands so I would help your little ones peel it all the way off! It’s a cute, simple way to be all crafty but...not.

“Heaven blew every trumpet and played every horn on the wonderful, marvelous night you were born.”

When this series started we were contacted by Simon Kids/Simon and Schuster to check out a few of their children’s books, and the ones they sent were so sweet!

We especially loved “Not Quite Narwhal,” a beautiful story about identity and inclusiveness, written by kid author Jessie Sima. My girls love it. Of course we had to share this book - and themed snack - with you, since we’re all about narwhals, unicorns, mermaids, and rainbows in this house!
Fruit kebabs are a simple way to put food on a stick (everything’s better on a stick, right?). Our toddler course grads know how important it is to serve food in a novel way and add dips, so for some fun - and fat, protein and blood sugar balance - we’ve added a yogurt dip (use dairy-free if necessary). Simply mix full-fat Greek plain yogurt with sweetener of choice (or keep unsweetened) and serve with strawberry, peach, cutie wedge (2 different orange colors!), banana, kiwi and blueberries on a stick. Cut the sharp end. Make sure to keep this for kids 2+ and always supervise when kids are eating!

We hope you continue to make fun snacks and read to your kiddos!

Fig Vinaigrette

11/1/2019

Late summer is fig season! These fun, high-fiber and mineral-rich fruits are awesome eaten raw, but I especially love them as a salad dressing or dip!

I’ve been making this Fig Vinaigrette for years, and every time I make it I love it even more. This recipe is heavy on the vinegar (because that’s how I like it - bring on the sour and strong flavors!), but you may not like as much acid. It’s perfect on a big green salad with feta, walnuts and strawberries. Watch whole nuts for kids under 4; if you use walnuts on your salad, finely crush them for your tot.

Dips are great to start serving as early as infancy (6+ months) because as a child gets older, a familiar dip makes a less familiar food not so scary. Hummus and guacamole are great places to start, but we also love vinaigrettes, marinara, fruit purees served as dips, ranch, Greek yogurt, ketchup, etc. Serve dips often so that when your tot inevitably shuns a new food, the familiar dip makes it much more appealing.

Here's how to make it:

8 fresh figs
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Dash maple syrup
1 clove garlic
Salt/pepper to taste

Blend until smooth. Enjoy as a dressing or dip!

Kid-Approved Toast Toppings

11/1/2019

Feeding Littles | Need quick morning breakfast ideas? Try out these kid approved toast topping ideas for a quick breakfast for the whole family. Variety and fun helps picky eating turn into more adventurous eating.

Any day can be Toast Tuesday! (And yes, Toast Tuesday is a thing!) We want kids to eat what we eat, but sometimes the super creative toast topping ideas are a little too out there for more reluctant eaters. Here are some ways to mix up how you serve toast to your kids. Of course, these ideas may be too "out there" for your family, but give them a shot!

Smashed avocado and scrambled egg
Sunflower seed butter, smashed raspberries, and a few halved blueberries
Cottage cheese (add diced peaches if desired)
Peanut butter, banana slices, and chia seeds or mini chocolate chips
Cream cheese and sliced strawberries or strawberry jam
Poached egg, crumbled bacon, and diced tomato

Are you trying to introduce your child to new foods? Make sure to start small. Make one tiny change in how you offer toast one day - perhaps you have your tot spread the peanut butter himself and ask him if he wants to add some fresh fruit. Lay off the pressure - just model and have fun! Don’t be discouraged if they pick off all the toppings and eat them - or not - first.

We love Dave's Killer Bread and Food for Life Ezekiel bread as great whole grain options! Watch for honey for infants and large seeds for kids under 4.

When it comes to raising adventurous eaters, it’s all about repetition, variety, and approaching mealtime with curiosity and fun (not pressure or anger). Huge change doesn’t happen overnight. Your kiddo will get there!

Need help with a reluctant eater? Our online Toddler Course is perfect for kids 10 months (who are self-feeding) through 5-6+!

If you want even more creative Toast Tuesday ideas, head to Milk & Honey Nutrition!

Managing Thanksgiving with New or Selective Eaters

Tips for self-feeding babies.

Tips for selective eaters.

Managing allergies?

Teach your Child How to Eat Tacos

Sandwich Skewers Appetizer

Perfect for game day!

Inspiralized Littles

Truths from Feeding Professionals

Creamy Bruschetta Chicken

Expert Tips for Boosting your Milk Supply

Using a pump can help with supply.

Storytime Snack Ideas

Fig Vinaigrette

Kid-Approved Toast Toppings

Authors

Archives

Categories