14-month old favorite foods and snack ideas
are getting a little stagnant around here. I recently got a comment asking for some ideas to feed a 14-month old toddler. I’m happy to share some of our faves and also get some of your ideas! While Miss P is a blast to eat with, and loves food (she’ll “MMMM!!!” enthusiastically), we get stuck in the same things over here. I’m excited to switch it up a little bit!
Here are some of P’s 14-month faves:
Breakfast:
I’ll almost always give her a combo of fruit, a scrambled egg, and something fun like a Van’s waffle, banana-egg-oat pancakes, or oatmeal
She loves:
Any berries
Whole apples, peeled (she’ll take bites out of the apple)
Banana
Chopped melon
Toast with melted coconut or olive oil (the ped suggested to cut out all dairy right before our Tucson move)
A pouch (we use mostly the Happy Baby or Plum Organics brands. They’re a good distraction while I cook something or chop fruit)
(The green pouches go in the middle and I usually offer those first. I’d love to make all of P’s purees, but I’m happy that there are so many organic options.)
Lunch
I’ve gotten super boring on the lunch front. I’m having a hard time because she’s dairy-free, and can’t have anything super acidic (tomatoes are a noooooooo). She’ll almost always have some baked sweet potato or steamed squash, steamed peas or broccoli, fruit, a whole avocado, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Since we found out she loves peanut butter (and thankfully isn’t allergic!) I’ll make her a half PB&J on whole-grain bread and she’ll crush the whole thing. If she doesn’t have a PB&J, I’ll give her:
an organic chicken and broccoli patty (from the frozen section at Target)
soup (homemade chicken and veggie soup. I’ll make a batch almost every week since the girls love it)
Snacks:
Pouches
More berries or fruit
Ella’s Nibbly Fingers bars
(the Lollacup is THE BEST)
Dinner:
For dinner, we usually give her what we’re having if she’s awake! She usually goes to bed earlier (around 6:30 or 7), so if we’re having a later dinner, I’ll feed P around 5:30
She’ll usually get something similar to lunch, and will usually have beans (black beans, pinto, kidney, garbanzo or white beans) as the *protein* component
If she didn’t have an avocado with her lunch, I’ll add one in with her dinner
Things I think I can add into her routine:
Homemade nibble bars (super low sugar)
Muffins! Liv used to love homemade muffins when she was a baby
Chia pudding (she had some of mine when we were at breakfast and loved it)
More protein options, like organic burgers, meatballs, meat and pasta, etc.
Smoothies packed with nutrients, like spinach, coconut oil, peanut butter, fruit, etc.
Things that are freaking me out:
Almonds. When we were told to ditch the dairy (which I’m going to tell you right now: it broke my heart because I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her bottle and snuggly time), we gave her some almond milk in her oatmeal. That day, she broke out in an AWFUL rash all over her back and belly, but had no other symptoms. The pediatrician said it was viral, and it got much worse the next day before disappearing, but it freaked me out. I’m going to give it to her again right before her pediatrician appointment next week.
Any other dairy-free non-acidic ideas you think I should try? Mama friends: what’s your kiddo’s favorite food? Anything particular you loved when you were a kid? I used to go crazy for “egg in a hole” when I was a preschooler. Liv still requests these pancakes every morning.
xoxo
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How about vegan mac and cheese with peas or broccoli? Oh She Glows has a great recipe in her newest cookbook.
Baked falafel
Healthier “fried” rice – ground or chopped chicken, frozen mixed veg, brown rice and an egg
these are all incredible ideas. thank you!! making her falafel tomorrow 🙂
Look up Ripple milk. It’s made from yellow peasand has 8 grams of protein and more calcium than dairy.
oh my gosh, i didn’t think of that at all. picking up some at whole foods tomorrow! thank you!
My baby is 11 months and is allergic to dairy as well. We were told to do goat’s milk since it is the most natural. So that is what I’m going to try.
My son who had horrible reflux like P and is dairy free also does really well on goats milk. We get ours at Whole Foods (they have more variety to choose from) and he loves it – as in LOVES it! Only thing is goats milk doesn’t have vitamin D added to it like reg milk so I add 1 drop of all natural baby vitamin D drops to his morning bottle and good to go! Hope that helps. Xx
that’s good to know! i’ll ask the ped about it when we go in next week
Ripple is the best!!!
i bought some tonight and she loved it!!! i’m so happy you all told me about it!
My 13 month old daughter is dairy free, too. We roast a ton of squash(butternut, acorn or whatever), sweet potatoes, broccoli and carrots every Sunday for her to snack on and eat with lunch. Proteins are usually eggs, grilled chicken, salmon or my mom makes her dairy free meatballs (sub chicken stock for traditional milks) and she goes to town on them! And always homemade muffins with tons of spinach blended up inside!
Thank you for this post! I have a 15 month old and am always looking for good new snack/ meal ideas. We do a lot of similar things that you do, but I also often have several frozen options from Trader Joes on hand (turkey meatballs, southwest black bean/ veggie burgers, and salmon patties). I am not sure which of these are dairy free, but they are worth looking into. My daughter also loves raisins for snacks and she will eat plain chick peas as the protein for her lunch or dinner.
This is a great list. My little man loves hummus, butternut squash mac & “cheese”, any type of bean, meatballs, salmon, baked oatmeal.
i can’t believe i forgot salmon on the list. p goes crazy for it!
My guy who is 14 months does a lot of the same. He loves pita bread and hummus too. I usually give that to him either as part of lunch or dinner.
that’s a great idea- she loves hummus!!
Great ideas! I have a 18 mo and it is so hard keeping things fresh. She goes to bed much earlier than we eat dinner so lunch for her is typically leftovers from the night before. On Sundays I like to make a nice braised dish with either chicken thighs or chuck roast or beef stew meat, potatoes, and carrots. She will then have that for a day or two with brown rice. We also do a lot of homemade soups and freeze them – she loves chicken quinoa soup and a vegetable lentil stew. We do a lot of pasta dishes but that is definitely tough without dairy or tomatoes…maybe pesto? She loves the baked chicken meatballs from Hip Chick Farms and the Dr. Praegers broccoli littles. Homemade savory muffins have also been a hit.
thank you so much for all of these ideas!! i’ll check out the chicken meatballs and broccoli littles. i definitely need to make some savory muffins!
I second the Dr. Praegers broccoli/spinach littles and veggie burgers. I’ve also made Black Bean Burgers and the kiddo loves them. Smoothies, hummus and toast, beans and rice, beef stew and lentil soup
i bought some of the broccoli littles and she goes crazy for them!! love the black bean burger idea, too. i’ll make her some this week- thank you!
Just want to say I feel you on giving up the bottle. My baby is 16 months and just weaned herself from the night time bottle and it made me sad 🙁 However we have made a new bedtime routine where we still get our cuddles in. We rock and she drinks milk from her cup and we read books. So we still get cuddle time, but yeah no more bottle. I get it.
ugh. it’s devastating. it was especially the worst when we had to cut it out and she’d sign milk and say, “mek mek mek”
i wanted to make a bottle and curl up with her so badly 🙁
Gaaah – she’s such a little cutie.
LOVE your updated site, by the way. I saw your Snap… and you’re pictures look fab. 😉 Can’t wait to check out your updated migration, too. It’s so easy to find everything!
XO, Jessica
http://www.semisweettooth.com
thank you so much <3
Can she have coconut milk? My LO loves butternut squash soup! I put a whole can of full fat coconut milk and lots of cinnamon. I’ve also used curry powder and he loved that too!
I also love these pouches for outings: https://www.amazon.com/WeeSprout-Double-Zipper-Reusable-Pouch/dp/B00TXBSHBQ/ref=sr_1_5_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1484866587&sr=8-5&keywords=baby%2Bpouches&th=1
I like the pouch idea while cooking. My LO has started hanging on my legs more and more in the kitchen and I am running the house solo now so it can be tough. Gotta love a baby’s boy though =)
oh that’s an awesome idea!! thank you!
and yes, i have to give her distraction food while i’m making her meal.. or the hanger comes out
Can’t you just make some vegan recipes for Penelope and then add some extra meat?
There are so many things you can cook to avoid dairy.
I also think hummus might be a good option to feed her as well as edamame.
yes, that’s such a great idea! eat, drink and be vegan has a ton of recipes she’ll love. it’s easy for me to get tunnel vision haha. she does love hummus, too!
I totally get that, especially when you feel like you are forced to cut out something… makes you only focus on what you can’t have more!
Did her rash appear right after she had the almond milk? I agree that it sounds viral, but I understand your fear-my son has food allergies and he had a viral rash the other day, and we were back and forth with his allergist about it.
You could also ask the pediatrician if they’re cool with you giving her almond butter or almond milk in the office, so that someone is there if she reacts.
Also, it’s somewhat rare but you could have a delayed reaction to a food, and it is also possible to have what’s called a biphasic reaction, where you react, recover, then react again hours later.
My 16 mo old just recently swapped from eating us out of house and home to bird eater. We are also allergic to dairy over here (me and the LO) and no whole foods so I have to stick mostly to making from scratch so we get stuck in lots of ruts. Thank goodness for smoothies! Girl is all about them… sometimes two a day… even when she won’t do the individual fruit anymore.
i got her a smoothie from jamba juice yesterday and she went crazy for it!
We had to take our daughter off cows milk at about 14 months. Not sure if your ped would approve, but we’ve had great success with the goats milk from Trader Joe’s. She’s had no reactions whatsoever & she LOVES it! It’s quite expensive, but may be worth talking to the doc about.
amazing. i’ll ask the ped about it next week! i’m a huge fan of goat’s dairy over cow’s, but i’m just crossing my fingers she doesn’t get sick or react
I wrote about my favorite toddler foods a few weeks back and this gives me even more ideas. For us, my trick to making sure we have dinner for my son is putting away a small plate for him the night before- then he has whatever we had the previous night for dinner while I cook the current day’s dinner and then we eat after bedtime. It’s working for us!
Such a cutie she is! We are dairy free (and many other things too). What about so delicious coconut milk yogurt? I like the Greek style one best. Hemp milk was what my kids drank after weaning. It has an earthy taste but they liked it. Smoothies my kids love. You can pack them with so many good things. Can she do deli meats? Plainville organic has no additives, sugar, etc. chicken sausages my kids have always loved too. Daiya cheese one kid loves–the shredded cheddar. Earths balance soy free butter is also dairy free and works as a good substitute. Sounds like you are doing a great job!
You can try adding ghee for some variety. Ghee is dairy free and it should be ok on toast or lentils for example. I personally put ghee in almost anything . Ayurveda recommends adding ghee to kids’ diets. It’s a good fat when made from organic unsalted butter.
Gosh she eats so well! Our little guy is 14 months I struggle to feed him anything but bananas, peanut butter, toast and yogurt! I’m going to have to try the turkey lentil muffins!
she LOVES food, thankfully! it’s just finding things that won’t upset her stomach
French toast was always a hit. Egg salad. Black olives. Pretty much any homemade muffin (freezeable for quick snacks). Ground beef mixed with guacamole. White fish. Meatballs are a great idea! I think it’s so much fun to feed toddlers who will actually EAT! But I agree it’s easy to get in a run with food. We are constantly trying to keep things interesting over here, especially now that I have a kindergartener who brings a packed lunch each day. Luckily he isn’t picky – as long as there is enough food in there to keep him full he’s happy 🙂 My 3-year old LOVES any type of meat, especially steak. A girl after her daddy’s heart 🙂
these are all incredible ideas!! thank you!!
liv LOVES steak too haha. she can eat a whole ribeye
I didn’t read all of the above comments but my son who is Olivia’s age was dairy free until a few months ago. HE loved everything your already feeding but some other staples for us were hummus, coconut milk yogurt, “Elmo crackers” from whole foods (I have no idea their real name), oatmeal, avocado toast, turkey roll ups and since I was dairy free as well through nursing 2 years he just ate what I did. I’m trying to think of some go to recipes but I think I just use pinterest for recipe inspiration using mainly paleo as a guide since they are dairy free and healthy. Good luck!
Gina, what kind of smoothie recipes do you use for the kiddos? I have a 17 month old and I would like to start making her some!
i keep it super simple with just milk (or pea milk for p), banana, strawberries or blueberries, peanut butter and spinach
Not sure if this was mentioned, but check out The garden lite brand. Their muffins are delicious (the blueberry oat is my fav) and are good for a quick snack or breakfast. We get a big box from Costco.
Have you ever given P nutritional yeast? I make my DF 16 month old “cheesy” chicken and rice by adding nutritional yeast, seasonings, pulled chicken, and peas or broccoli. I make it creamy by adding DF soy free earth balance and chicken broth. He gobbles it right up and I do too! 🙂