Q. my 2.5 year old daughter, doesn't seem to eat much. i watch very carefully throughout the day, and it doesn't seem like much. she will drink water, then eventually at night time have her night bottle, which seems to be what satisfies her. she wakes up twice a night,obviously because she is hungry.
if i put fruit, vege sticks, sandwiches cheese slices, rice cakes in front of her during the day, she will literally mouse nibble it. i will leave it there for a few hours (in her reach), and it's all still there almost untouched.
just thought i would mention, i still give her night bottle (which isn't much) because, she has to have something in her stomach and otherwise i would feel like she be neglected.
please help
any recipes or meal suggestions welcomed
if i put fruit, vege sticks, sandwiches cheese slices, rice cakes in front of her during the day, she will literally mouse nibble it. i will leave it there for a few hours (in her reach), and it's all still there almost untouched.
just thought i would mention, i still give her night bottle (which isn't much) because, she has to have something in her stomach and otherwise i would feel like she be neglected.
please help
any recipes or meal suggestions welcomed
Answer
As far as giving her a bottle, what about her teeth? Is her pedi concerned about her weight if not I wouldn't worry much. I read somewhere this can be a stage that toddlers go through. If you are worried about her getting the proper nutrients try carnation breakfast, or pedisure that should help.
1. Offer a nibble tray. Use an ice-cube tray, a muffin tin, or a compartmentalized dish, and put bite-size portions of colorful and nutritious foods in each section. Call these finger foods playful names that a two-year-old can appreciate
2. Dip it. Young children think that immersing foods in a tasty dip is pure fun (and delightfully messy).
3. Spread it.
4. Top it.
5. Drink it. If your youngster would rather drink than eat, don't despair. Make a smoothie – together. Milk and fruit – along with supplements such as juice, egg powder, wheat germ, yogurt, honey, and peanut butter – can be the basis of very healthy meals. So what if they are consumed through a straw? One note of caution: Avoid any drinks with raw eggs or you'll risk salmonella poisoning.
6. Cut it up. How much a child will eat often depends on how you cut it.
7. Package it. Appearance is important. For something new and different, why not use your child's own toy plates for dishing out a snack? .
8. Become a veggie vendor.
9. Share it. If your child is going through a picky-eater stage, invite over a friend who is the same age or slightly older whom you know "likes to eat." Your child will catch on. Group feeding lets the other kids set the example.
10. Respect tiny tummies. Keep food servings small.
11. Make it accessible. Give your toddler shelf space. Reserve a low shelf in the refrigerator for a variety of your toddler's favorite (nutritious) foods and drinks. Whenever she wants a snack, open the door for her and let her choose one. This tactic also enables children to eat when they are hungry, an important step in acquiring a healthy attitude about food.
12. Use sit-still strategies.
13. Turn meals upside down.
14. Let them cook. Put pancake batter in a squeeze bottle and let your child supervise as you squeeze the batter onto the hot griddle in fun shapes, such as hearts, numbers, letters, or even spell the child's name.
15. Make every calorie count. Offer your child foods that pack lots of nutrition into small doses. This is particularly important for toddlers who are often as active as rabbits, but who seem to eat like mice.
16. Count on inconsistency. .
17. Relax. Sometime between her second and third birthday, you can expect your child to become set in her ideas on just about everything – including the way food is prepared. Expect food fixations . If the peanut butter must be on top of the jelly and you put the jelly on top of the peanut butter, be prepared for a protest. It's not easy to reason with an opinionated two-year-old. Better to learn to make the sandwich the child's way. Don't interpret this as being stubborn. Toddlers have a mindset about the order of things in their world. Any alternative is unacceptable. This is a passing stage.
As far as giving her a bottle, what about her teeth? Is her pedi concerned about her weight if not I wouldn't worry much. I read somewhere this can be a stage that toddlers go through. If you are worried about her getting the proper nutrients try carnation breakfast, or pedisure that should help.
1. Offer a nibble tray. Use an ice-cube tray, a muffin tin, or a compartmentalized dish, and put bite-size portions of colorful and nutritious foods in each section. Call these finger foods playful names that a two-year-old can appreciate
2. Dip it. Young children think that immersing foods in a tasty dip is pure fun (and delightfully messy).
3. Spread it.
4. Top it.
5. Drink it. If your youngster would rather drink than eat, don't despair. Make a smoothie – together. Milk and fruit – along with supplements such as juice, egg powder, wheat germ, yogurt, honey, and peanut butter – can be the basis of very healthy meals. So what if they are consumed through a straw? One note of caution: Avoid any drinks with raw eggs or you'll risk salmonella poisoning.
6. Cut it up. How much a child will eat often depends on how you cut it.
7. Package it. Appearance is important. For something new and different, why not use your child's own toy plates for dishing out a snack? .
8. Become a veggie vendor.
9. Share it. If your child is going through a picky-eater stage, invite over a friend who is the same age or slightly older whom you know "likes to eat." Your child will catch on. Group feeding lets the other kids set the example.
10. Respect tiny tummies. Keep food servings small.
11. Make it accessible. Give your toddler shelf space. Reserve a low shelf in the refrigerator for a variety of your toddler's favorite (nutritious) foods and drinks. Whenever she wants a snack, open the door for her and let her choose one. This tactic also enables children to eat when they are hungry, an important step in acquiring a healthy attitude about food.
12. Use sit-still strategies.
13. Turn meals upside down.
14. Let them cook. Put pancake batter in a squeeze bottle and let your child supervise as you squeeze the batter onto the hot griddle in fun shapes, such as hearts, numbers, letters, or even spell the child's name.
15. Make every calorie count. Offer your child foods that pack lots of nutrition into small doses. This is particularly important for toddlers who are often as active as rabbits, but who seem to eat like mice.
16. Count on inconsistency. .
17. Relax. Sometime between her second and third birthday, you can expect your child to become set in her ideas on just about everything – including the way food is prepared. Expect food fixations . If the peanut butter must be on top of the jelly and you put the jelly on top of the peanut butter, be prepared for a protest. It's not easy to reason with an opinionated two-year-old. Better to learn to make the sandwich the child's way. Don't interpret this as being stubborn. Toddlers have a mindset about the order of things in their world. Any alternative is unacceptable. This is a passing stage.
Flying with a toddler?
Devon
I have to take a my 2 1/2 year old daughter on a 3 hours plane ride. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep her occupied and make this as hassle-free as possible?
Answer
I'm a former Flight Attendant and I fly a lot with my kids. Great that it's such a short flight. Our flights are usually 11 1/2 and 10 1/2 hours and I'm alone with three.
My no. 1 recommendation is *bring your car seat*. Toddlers are not only safer but more comfortable and will wiggle less in the familiar seat. The adult seatbelts don't hold small children very well in an emergency and you don't risk being "off-loaded" because you couldn't control your offspring. It's really hard to keep a wiggly toddler still in their seat if they want to move and they must be seated for take-off and landing.
I will say that my toddlers were much more settled and much easier when they were in their familar seat. I will admit that I've strapped down an unhappy little one more than once. Toddlers hate to be confined and simply don't understand that they have to be seated sometimes. Firmly anchored in, I could then consol them while we landed.
Make sure your car seat if approved for airline use. If it's a U.S. company, this is the relevant page. Most seats sold in the U.S. are;
http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/crs/
If it's a company of another nationality, search with the name of the airline followed by "children" and that usually will give you the right page. Different airlines have different car seat policies.
Taking your car seat onboard virtually guarentees that it'll be there at your destination. Checking them risks damage and loss in the hold and rental car seats are dodgy.
For entertainment, usually at this age, less if more. Leave any noisy toys at home or check them (even a quiet noise is annoying to other passengers if played 10,000 times). Blocks, coloring things, stickers, pipecleaners, chunky books with windows that open and no one will mind if you read to her. I recommend a new toy to surprise her once on board (pick your moment wisely and they're great tantrum-distractors).
I don't recommend a portable DVD player or computer for watching movies unless you're sure she'll wear the earphones. I wouldn't go out and buy one for such a short trip but if you already have something (or can borrow/rent one), try it at home first and see if she cooperates. Do not plan on playing it through the speakers. I personally think it's a lot to carry for a 3 hour flight but you decide what will work for the two of you.
Just some other small tips;
-Bring a change of clothes
-Bring way more diapers than you think you'll need
-Learn to change her standing up (don't try to fit her on one of those tiny babychangers and toddlers hate to lie down in strange places)
-Bring an empty sippy cup to fill during the services. This will prevent spills in the air.
-Get up and move around with her but keep an eye out. Those carts the F/A's use are the perfect height for hiding little ones
-Bring snacks. Don't fret security. I've never had anything taken away (yes, water but not snacks) and that's the only risk. If you have something not allowed, they simply remove the item. No scenes, no speeches, no arrests!
-Try to sit in a bulkhead seat so that there's no one in front of you
-Bring slippers, especially if you're not in the bulkhead!
Many flying tips say to make the child suck on something or drink during take-off and landing. This is actually a myth. ENT specialists say to have the child awake about an hour before landing (top of descent, landing or touch-down is too late).
http://www.entcda.com/AAOHNSF/earsandaltitude.htm
I can confirm that is when I saw problems at work, which was rare. Take your child to the doctor in the last few days before you fly to make sure her ears are clear and infection-free. Heathy ears can handle pressurization changes. No need to wake a child on take-off, remove her from her seat, force her to drink or make her take a pacifier. None of my children had paci's, two never had bottles and I kept all strapped into their seats for take-off and landing without any ear problems.
About 8 years ago, I wrote an article on flying with children for an expat newsletter. Over the years many parents have contributed. I later put it on a blog so that parents had access to non-commercial information from someone with both practical and professional experience on the web.
I go into more specifics, especially about getting car seats through airports.
http://flyingwithchildren.blogspot.com
It was also featured last month on the Expat Women website;
http://www.expatwomen.com/mothers/flying_with_children.php
Have a great flight!
I'm a former Flight Attendant and I fly a lot with my kids. Great that it's such a short flight. Our flights are usually 11 1/2 and 10 1/2 hours and I'm alone with three.
My no. 1 recommendation is *bring your car seat*. Toddlers are not only safer but more comfortable and will wiggle less in the familiar seat. The adult seatbelts don't hold small children very well in an emergency and you don't risk being "off-loaded" because you couldn't control your offspring. It's really hard to keep a wiggly toddler still in their seat if they want to move and they must be seated for take-off and landing.
I will say that my toddlers were much more settled and much easier when they were in their familar seat. I will admit that I've strapped down an unhappy little one more than once. Toddlers hate to be confined and simply don't understand that they have to be seated sometimes. Firmly anchored in, I could then consol them while we landed.
Make sure your car seat if approved for airline use. If it's a U.S. company, this is the relevant page. Most seats sold in the U.S. are;
http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/crs/
If it's a company of another nationality, search with the name of the airline followed by "children" and that usually will give you the right page. Different airlines have different car seat policies.
Taking your car seat onboard virtually guarentees that it'll be there at your destination. Checking them risks damage and loss in the hold and rental car seats are dodgy.
For entertainment, usually at this age, less if more. Leave any noisy toys at home or check them (even a quiet noise is annoying to other passengers if played 10,000 times). Blocks, coloring things, stickers, pipecleaners, chunky books with windows that open and no one will mind if you read to her. I recommend a new toy to surprise her once on board (pick your moment wisely and they're great tantrum-distractors).
I don't recommend a portable DVD player or computer for watching movies unless you're sure she'll wear the earphones. I wouldn't go out and buy one for such a short trip but if you already have something (or can borrow/rent one), try it at home first and see if she cooperates. Do not plan on playing it through the speakers. I personally think it's a lot to carry for a 3 hour flight but you decide what will work for the two of you.
Just some other small tips;
-Bring a change of clothes
-Bring way more diapers than you think you'll need
-Learn to change her standing up (don't try to fit her on one of those tiny babychangers and toddlers hate to lie down in strange places)
-Bring an empty sippy cup to fill during the services. This will prevent spills in the air.
-Get up and move around with her but keep an eye out. Those carts the F/A's use are the perfect height for hiding little ones
-Bring snacks. Don't fret security. I've never had anything taken away (yes, water but not snacks) and that's the only risk. If you have something not allowed, they simply remove the item. No scenes, no speeches, no arrests!
-Try to sit in a bulkhead seat so that there's no one in front of you
-Bring slippers, especially if you're not in the bulkhead!
Many flying tips say to make the child suck on something or drink during take-off and landing. This is actually a myth. ENT specialists say to have the child awake about an hour before landing (top of descent, landing or touch-down is too late).
http://www.entcda.com/AAOHNSF/earsandaltitude.htm
I can confirm that is when I saw problems at work, which was rare. Take your child to the doctor in the last few days before you fly to make sure her ears are clear and infection-free. Heathy ears can handle pressurization changes. No need to wake a child on take-off, remove her from her seat, force her to drink or make her take a pacifier. None of my children had paci's, two never had bottles and I kept all strapped into their seats for take-off and landing without any ear problems.
About 8 years ago, I wrote an article on flying with children for an expat newsletter. Over the years many parents have contributed. I later put it on a blog so that parents had access to non-commercial information from someone with both practical and professional experience on the web.
I go into more specifics, especially about getting car seats through airports.
http://flyingwithchildren.blogspot.com
It was also featured last month on the Expat Women website;
http://www.expatwomen.com/mothers/flying_with_children.php
Have a great flight!
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