SURVIVING MEAL TIME WITH A TODDLER

I thought it would be helpful to do a quick little post on surviving meal time with a toddler :) If you're lucky, you've got a perfectly behaved toddler who eats all of his veggies and doesn't drop one ounce of food on the floor. After the meal he immediately says "thank you mama" and helps you clean up. Hey a mama can dream right?

So real talk:
My toddler hates all veggies. And usually, he won't eat because he simply doesn't want to. And I don't have time to keep making different meal options for him. So here are some things I have found that have helped:

-make lots of food ahead of time (like sunday night) and keep it in the fridge to heat up quickly and serve. I like to make a big batch of whole GRAIN (whole GRAIN is healthier than whole wheat) spaghetti for the week. It's one food I know Kai will always eat, and that way I dont have to spend extra time boiling noodles and cleaning pots everyday. They also have "veggie noodles" you can buy, he loves those too. You can do this meal prep with chicken, pre-slicing fruit, or whatever it is your toddler likes!

-cut their food into shapes (im ordering a mickey mouse cookie cutter right now to use for his sandwiches). You can do this with cheese, toast, sunny side up eggs, pancakes, pizza etc). Eating is always more fun for them when they see their favorite characters in the food!

-I always bribe Kai by saying "if you finish your broccoli then you get to have your gummy vitamin!" Obviously he loves his gummy vitamin because it tastes like candy, but it's super healthy too, so it's a win win :) I try to avoid bribing him with desserts or candy so the vitamin bribe is perfect.

-Buy their favorite character utensils to eat with and be enthusiastic about it. I always say things like "Kai do you wanna eat with your Cars spoon? Or your cool Mickey fork?!"

-make smoothies with veggies and fruit in them. Of course don't go overboard on the juice you add because that's not healthy, but Kai loves the green smoothies I make. We usually do something like a few frozen strawberries, frozen banana, frozen pineapple, a big handful of spinach, chia seeds, a little orange juice (1/2 or 3/4 cup of the Simply Orange brand because it's not from concentrate), and 1/2 to 1 cup water. Or a peanut butter greek yogurt almond milk spinach smoothie. Sounds gross but it's not and Kai always drinks it :)

-Give them choices. Toddlers are developing independence and love to make their own choices. Ask them which color of cup they want to use, if they want orange or apple slices, broccoli or carrots, etc. If they feel like THEY are choosing it they are more likely to eat it :)

-Last but not least, these Nuby section plates make meal time a whole lot neater and organized! They suction to the table which comes in super handy with my crazy eater. Kai love this plate because I think he likes seeing all of his food divided up and it doesn't all blend together and get gross. Also, it's super easy to clean! You can even throw it in the dishwasher if you're lazy like me. Buy it here at Babies R Us! Side note: it's also BPA and phthalate free which I'm allll about.

Go visit my instagram @brinleybradley for a chance to win one of these great plates!