After a baby’s first year, growth slows down and so does the appetite. Here is a list of foods to try with your toddler. Present food as good, rather than good-for-you. Have happy mealtimes. Encourage without urging, forcing, or rewarding a child to eat.
Finger Foods
Toddlers enjoy the independence of eating by themselves. Eating with fingers is a good way to give this independence before baby has the skill to use utensils. As baby sees you eating with utensils, he’ll want to develop his skill. Start with a child’s spoon for spoon foods.
Fruit – cut into appropriate sizes
- Apples, peeled – raw or cooked
- Bananas
- Blueberries
- Canned fruit and fruit cocktail
- Canned Mandarin oranges
- Cantaloupe
- Dried fruits softened by soaking in a little hot water (or they can be chopped)
- Figs
- Grapefruit sections
- Grapes, halved or quartered
- Kiwi, peeled
- Oranges, sectioned
- Peaches, peeled
- Pears
- Plums
- Strawberries, halved
- Sweet cherries, halved and pitted
- Watermelon
Vegetables
- Cooked asparagus tips
- Ripe avocado
- Steamed broccoli
- Carrots, steamed or grated
- Cooked Cauliflower
- Celery, with strings removed
- Cooked green beans
- Shredded lettuce
- Cooked mushrooms
- Slightly cooked green peas
- Potatoes, mashed or french fries (oven-baked)
- Cooked squash, zucchini and yellow
- Tomatoes, peeled
Meats
- Beef roast, sliced thin or ground
- Crisp bacon
- Chicken or turkey, diced or sliced very thin
- Frankfurters cut in small pieces that could not cause choking
- Ham, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Hamburger, meat balls, or meat-loaf pieces
- Lamb
- Luncheon meats
- Tuna
- Veal
Dairy
- Cottage cheese (add fruit, or blend and make into dip. Serve on crackers)
- Cream cheese on cracker or bagel
- Eggs, scrambled, or hard-boiled, deviled, omelets
- Mild cheese – small pieces, or grated
Breads
- Arrowroot cookies
- Bagels
- Biscuits
- Bread pudding
- Breads – white or dark
- Cereals, hot or cold, unsweetened varieties (with or without milk)
- Cooked pasta (noodles, macaroni – different shapes and colors, spaghetti, ravioli, and many others)
- Cookies – oatmeal, or plain
- Corn bread
- French toast fingers
- Graham crackers – plain or with peanut butter
- Milk toast
- Pretzels – without excess salt
- Sandwiches – egg salad, lunch meat, tuna or chicken salad, peanut butter and jelly and many more
- Soda crackers
- Toast strips, with a little butter
- Zwieback
Other Toddler Foods
Drinks
- milk
- eggnog
- fruit juice
- milk
- fruit juice blends
Spoon foods
- Casseroles of meat or fish, vegetables, and pasta
- Cereal with fruit
- Cooked spinach
- Custards or puddings
- Eggs (soft-cooked, baked with milk, creamed hard boiled)
- Gelatins
- Ice cream
- Junket
- Soups
- Tapioca or rice pudding
- Yogurt (plain, vanilla, or mixed with baby fruits)