Feeding stress

It really seems like all I do all day is prep food, feed, and clean up food! They only get 3 meals plus a snack, but I feel like half of my brainspace and 3/4 of my time is taken up by toddler food. Sometimes it's kinda fun, because I look forward to being able to cook for someone who eats better than my super boring/picky eater DH. I try to offer them at each meal a carb/starch, a protein, a fruit and a veggie. They're generally good eaters and willing to try new things. (Today they had salmon!) I try to follow the 'it's your job to offer the food and their job to eat it or not' rule and I'm usually okay if they decide to eat just bananas for a day. Just the whole big day-after-day job gets to me sometimes! Then I was just reading lately, in Super Baby Foods I think, that the time period from 1-2 years old is when their food habits/tastes for their life is established. No pressure, zhesh! I guess I don't have any particular question, just wondering if other people are feeling the stress of this.

 

:hug: i definitely think we all do! i have to choose to let it go on a daily basis. it's hard not to worry about what your toddlers are (or aren't) eating, especially because it does feel like such a huge part of the job right now.

it sounds to me like you're teaching your children some lovely eating habits that will serve them well the rest of their lives - they're eating smaller meals, frequently throughout the day, they're eating as much (or as little as they want) and are learning to listen to their bodies, as well as trying a variety of different foods (salmon! ). keep up the great work! :good:

one thing i do to try and minimize the actual amount of work that goes into food prep is to make large batches of things and then freeze them in meal size portions so i just have to reheat some meals, rather than cook every meal from scratch (pasta dishes work really well for this - AND you can puree veggies to hide in the sauce! ).

 

I think this is bunk. I ate *everything* when I was a toddler, and turned into the world's pickiest eater as a child/teenager. Then I started eating more foods in my 30s and now eat almost everything (except red meat :bad: ). So don't let anyone pressure you into feeling bad about the variety you feed your kids. Sometimes I worry that I'm giving them the same things over and over; DH and I just had this conversation the other day. Then I reminded him that his grandmother literally served 3 meals EVER. Fried chicken, beef noodles, and fried steak. I don't even think she varied the sides too much. ardon: Her kids didn't end up being super picky eaters and she is still remembered as a good cook to this day. I figure I can do better than that! :lol:

I keep a steady rotation of easy-to-prepare foods for the nanny to serve at lunch, then get more experimental with dinner. If they like it, they get the leftovers the next day. My goal in life is to get them to eat what we eat, and make them a part of the family. Eating is as much of a social thing as a health thing.

ITA; it's really hard not to worry. Please don't beat yourself up; it sounds like they're getting the opportunity to try lots of good foods. A little repetition will not hurt them, and might make things easier for you.

 

I have a girl friend that is pregnant and has been on full bed rest for 3 weeks. Her DH was complaining that all he does is cook now, "every three hours I have to prepare a meal or snack and then clean up, I do everything now!" I laughed! "Ha! You better get used to that for when the baby gets here!” I feel the same way. It wouldn't feel so hard if you weren't trying to do a good job!
My mother fed us well, and as a teenager/young adult I ate poorly and was a super picky eater. But when I say "well", I mean she served a balanced-type meal, not necessarily a huge variety. BUT both my husband and I feel the reason why we are attracted to a better way of eating now is because of the way we were raised. You really do go back to that.

 

They eat great now but I'm just waiting for the shoe to drop and them to become the infamous toddler eaters. I feel like I'm feeding two little timebombs, waiting for them to go off and start eating only white foods. It's silly, and probably a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I can't shake it.

TaurusTwins, my eating experience as a kid has greatly affected how I serve my kids, too. On one hand, we had a very boring repetitive diet, because my mom was always working. But on the other hand, we had a huge garden and orchard and I never ate fruit or vegetables from the store, so we ate very seasonally and I learned what quality produce tasted like. I'd like to give my kids the benefit of living in California, with the wide variety of fresh food and ethnic food. I guess it's just that, dang it, I love food and want to share that with someone because DH is the world's dullest eater!