Needs More Ideas for Feeding a 15 Month Old

PASTA...good way to do those soft, slightly chunky veggies too..and maybe sneak a little ground beef or ground turkey in (altho we usually make with chicken in it around here)...avacados (personally I can't stand them..but I do home daycare and have had many babies love them as baby food and continue to scarf them down as table foods)...hmmm..well my advice is anything you can eat, give him!

If its a chunky soup, just strain the juicy part out (I made a great Olive Garden copycat recipe a few weeks ago...and I am NOT a cook...ugh..not my thing...but my daycare kids loved it and so did my family, even my hubby who is not a soup person..but this was chunky like a stew)....

Any breads and rolls.

And its OK to give him the same things..their tastes are not as complicated and "refined" as adults...they don't mind eating the same things over and over!

Just make sure its well rounded. For me, as a daycare provider on a USDA sponsored Food Program, we have to offer, for a lunch or supper, 5 components...liquid milk, a protein, a bread item, and 2 fruits and/or veggies..and remember his tummy is roughly the size of HIS fist...not much will fit in there at once....small servings!

My Daughter is a picky eater and likes to only feed herself so this is what I give her.
Pasta (any kind)
Rice (like the quick chicken and rice or mexican rice)
Hot pockets
mini pizza's
grilled cheese
slices of ham & cheese on crackers
Poptarts
granola bars
Gogurts (much easier for her to eat herself then yogurt in a cup)
tacos with just hamburger and cheese inside or Tortillas with butter and cheese inside heated up in the microwave.
Dried fruit (she loves strawberries, apples and pears as long as their dried...weird right?)
Hopefully this helps.

http://tarastoyland.webs.com/menu.htm
this is my daycare's menu, by 12 months old all the kids are eating the same thing here. I may steam some harder foods (apples or carrots) but overall they just have things cut into small pieces.

And here is my picky eater plan - because "he doesn't like" is just code for he isn't used to them yet at that age. Every kid in my daycare eats all the foods I offer every time.

There is a great book by William G Wilkoff, MD called Coping with a Picky Eater that every parent or provider of kids should read and have a copy of. http://www.amazon.com/Coping-Picky-Eater-Perplexed-Parent...

This book has what I call the Picky Eater Plan. I have used this plan with kids that literally threw up at the sight of food and within 2 weeks they were eating normal amounts of everything and trying every food.

First you need to get everyone who deals with the child on board. If you are a provider it's ok to make this the rule at your house and not have the parents follow through but you wont' see as good results as what I described up above.

The plan is to limit the quantities of food you give the kid. When I first start with a child I give them literally ONE bite worth of each food I am serving. The book suggests that every time you feed the kids (breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner) you give all 4 food groups. So, for lunch today I would have given the child one tiny piece of strawberry, one spoonful of applesauce, 3 macaroni noodles with cheese on them, and 2 oz of milk. Only after they ate ALL of what was on their plate would you give them anything else. They can have the same amounts for seconds. If they only want more mac and cheese, they only get 3 noodles then they would have to have more of all the other foods in order to get more than that. If they don't eat, fine. If they don't finish, fine. Don't make a big deal out of it, just make them stay at the table until everyone else is done eating. They don't get more food until they are sat at the next meal and they only get what you serve. When I first do this with a child I don't serve sweets at all. So no animal crackers for snack but rather a carrot for snack. Or one of each of those. I don't make it easy for them to gorge on bad foods in other words. Now if they had a meal where they ate great then I might make the snack be a yummy one cause I know they filled up on good foods.

Even at snacks you have to limit quantities of the good stuff or else they will hold out for snack and just eat those snacky foods. I never give a picky eater the reward of a yummy snack unless they had that great lunch prior to it.

It really is that easy.

Pancakes with bananas or berries cooked in are a major favorite here. My daughter then loves dipping the pieces in yogurt. We also make Mac n cheese together and stir in peas or meat. Stirfry is another favorite. Cheesy bread (toasted bread with cheese) with avocado or tomato sauce is also always a hit. Cornbread (particularly in a yummy breakfast fry up). Smoothies...

I make my son a lot of healthy muffins carrot, banana blueberry. I use bran cereal as the base and then wholewheat flour etc. He LOVES them, and they are great for breakfast. Keep them in the freezer and thaw one for 30 sec. in the microwave.
Also he loves tacos I use soft shells. Buy organic refried beans and use ground turkey breast for the meat. Then use the beans to "glue" the whole thing together and roll it up and slice it like a pinwheel and then it's finger food!

My 16 month old eats whatever we eat (I just make sure he also gets a serving of veggies and fruit) - so if we have pot roast - that is what he gets. If my husband grills steak - he gets a portion of mine (finely chopped). My sons favorite is pasta and sauce! I make sure to throw in some chopped carrots or peas and he loves it. Also - in the morning - we do cereal bars (because we rise early and then he has breakfast at daycare).

I think you have it pretty covered, great job! It may seem like your in a rut, but I'd say he's got a great variety to work with. With that said just feed him what your eating...At 15 months he'll be fine. Just make sure things are cut up bite size and he should be ready to chow down (unless the problem is the cutting= he wants 'exactly what you have)!

I have a 14 month old and this morning we had waffles with peanut butter bananas and yogurt. I just let him go at it with the yogurt on his own. Surprisingly he does quite well. 'Dano' has a really small yogurt that is made with real sugar (not HFCS) that their lil' spoons can fit in and its a little thicker so they can scoop easier= less of a mess!

For lunch we either have dinner left overs or some type of sandwich; he's eaten tuna salad, egg salad, meats (walmart has the all natural no nitrites deli meat) , and like today it was PB&J on whole wheat..Dinner last night I made breakfast burritos = eggs, onions, cheese and potatoes rolled in a tortilla with salsa..He loved it. Albeit, most of the insides were unrolled, but he ate the tortilla and moved on to the eggs etc.

Have fun with it. They really just need a great variety which it appears you've already got a great menu going for him!!

Good Luck

PS my little guy also loves avocados too!--great healthy fats...

I give my son the boca or morningstar patties. They're in the frozen food section. He loves them, they come in many different varieties, his fav. is the turkey avocado burger, they're easy to make, I put them in the microwave for 45 sec's, cut them up in little bite size pieces and he eats them himself.
I also make him now a half sandwich of tuna salad, goober grape p/b&j, egg salad or liverworst. I use the smart wonder white bread and cut into little pieces. The mayo makes the salad sandwich pieces stick together. He likes mayo so I even put a little on with his liverworst. He loves feeding himself and gives me a break to do dishes or something. Hope that helps.

how about grilled cheese, I make homemade mac & cheese (its really easy) pbj sandwhiches, mini pancakes and waffles. I also boil breakfast sausage it tastes the same only softer. I also give her craisens ( she loves those) pasta and sauce pretty much whatever we eat for dinner she will get for lunch the nest day. It does suck feeling like you are stuck in a food rut but be thankful that we have lo that eat such a range of food now. Infact today we found out she likes queso (sp) dip she is 17mo. go figure. lol you are doing a great job.

I don't know what others have suggested, but have you tried Ella's organics? They are pureed fruits and veggies in interesting combos. They come in a squeeze pouch that kids can feed themselves. Super convenient to carry with you and my son loves them! You can now get them at target or order them on diapers.com.

Rollups -- using soy cheese and peanut butter, or tortillas and cream cheese, or thin soft bread and hummus.

Dips of all kinds -- ketchup, ranch, hummus -- with whole wheat pretzel sticks, juliened veggies, cherry tomatos, baked french fries, etc.

Sandwiches with crust removed.

Mini-pancakes, mini-bagels, crackers, etc.

Raisins, dried cranberries, sliced dried prunes.

Freeze dried fruits of all kinds (trader joes has great variety; they even have freeze dried green beans which my son and his Dad both love!).

Yogurt cups, jello cups, applesauce cups, mandarin orange cups, etc. (Look for no-sugar added.)

By the way, my son is the same way. Loves to feed himself. He's also very experimental and tactile...so eating is a very messy process, but valuable and completely worthwhile. He spends alot of time taking things out of bowls and putting them on the table and into his cup. Is also quite percussive with his spoon and fork. Again, messy but all part of becoming independent.

So...GOOD for you! Your son is on the right track!

I think you should just try letting him feed himself everything you already feed him yourself. We gave our son a spoon at about 12/13 months and now he is 16 months and gets 90% of the food in his mouth. That says a lot, considering where he started! Maybe only 20%!

It may sound overwhelming to let him do it, but they have to learn eventually. Here's some suggestions on how to start. Put a short sleeve or sleeveless shirt on him--maybe even no shirt! Bib, of course. And then give him a suction-cup bowl and a toddler spoon. You can have another yourself to feed him food in between his attempts. They are so distracted usually, that you can slide some spoonfuls in with them not even noticing.

Foods that are good starters are things that stick to the spoon and don't require as much balance. My favorite is mashed potatoes. You can then mix in chicken bits and small chopped veggies and it all stays together in the spoon! Also mac n cheese shells with peas thrown in. Peas get stuck in the shells. Another is a little peanut butter in the bowl or hummus, and then let them eat it with apples or bread or whatever he likes to dip in there.

I won't kid you, he will get extremely messy, so don't worry about it. At least he'll be hopefully open to eating, since he's is feeding himself.

Btw, I love the Boon bowl with the "catch bowl side". Good luck!

hes 15 months he should be feeding himself. I guess i am having trouble with the question. Give him all food that is safe for him to eat, and he should be using a fork and spoon, Of course at first he wont use them well but that will quickly change, My daughter was using a fork and spoon at that age but she started early. If he wants to feed himself he will pick up on it rather fast.

my daughter loves turkey sausage, breakfast bars, graham crackers, pasta, grlled cheese, etc. good luck!