How to Feed a Toddler

Yes, I know this title seems kind of, I don't know... rude? But it wasn't written with the thought that YOU don't know how to feed your toddler. It was written for yours truly.

My son is a very picky eater. He will not even test a food before turning it down. It just has to look at him wrong before he vigorously shakes his head. Sometimes I will shove food onto his tongue, hoping he will get a taste. Because I know he would love whatever I'm about to serve if he will just try it! But I've given up that game. It's exhausting and frustrating. So now I am resorting to tricking him. At least until he has developed enough language skills for me to reason with him. Or at least try to.

Every day I make myself a protein shake. One day I let him try some. He loves drinking from a straw, so it was fun for him to suck down the thick concoction. I'm sure if there was no straw, he wouldn't have wanted any. Anyway, he LOVED it. All it was was frozen berries, low fat milk, ice, and of course my protein powder. I am now thinking of making a kid friendly version minus the protein, which is a bit much for a toddler. The only issue is that I will have to supervise this closely. It has the potential to make a huge mess. But that is the only way I can think of to get him to eat more fruit, especially bananas. I may even throw in some carrots I chopped up in the food processor. It just kills me that he doesn't have a very balanced diet right now. I'm all about mixing it up and keeping it balanced. SO hopefully that works. I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

My next thing is mashed potatoes with other yummy things mashed along with it (like carrots). I did this once a while back and it was a success (just more work). Plus, orange mashed potatoes are fun!