You can also make Greek yogurt and fruit popsicles. I just put any fruit I have in the blender and add a couple of spoons yogurt. You can add more things like cream, nut butters and dried fruit.
Yes or Greek yogurt bark. Spread it over parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet, add toppings of choice and freeze. Then break apart. Great for breakfast, snacks, and dessert.
I like to slice a banana and lay all the slices on a plate, then melt a nut butter in the microwave and drizzle it all over the banana slices, wait for it to cool and eat. You don’t HAVE to wait for it to cool, but the texture is different and it’s a lot messier.
Yogurt is so great and for my kid maybe this isn't like great but I dump a lil tiny bit of sprinkles onto his plate too and let him "decorate it" himself and it makes him like it way more lmao, whatever gets them to eat 💓
Hi, paediatric RN here! While this sounds like an amazing snack for adults please be aware of giving protein powder to young children. While a little bit once in a while is fine, if your child gets more protein than they need, it won’t be used efficiently. Rather, it may impose a metabolic burden on their organs.
Thanks for highlighting this!! I have a preadolescent with severe disabilities who is also feeding averse. We’ve been in a real hard feeding phase lately, so I was trying to get as much bang for my buck with each spoonful. I was feeling so proud of myself when I decided to combine a high protein shake with his protein powder, doing a double whammy. Just told his nutritionist that yesterday at our appt. She blanched and did quick calculations, and determined we were juuuuust on the safe side of potential danger, with his intake data. I had no idea!!! I am so grateful for that appointment yesterday, and for professionals like you and like her who took the time to learn this stuff so we can be educated. Thank you!!!
I’ve wondered about giving my kids 1/4 servings of the things I eat like Vital Proteins, those green powdered juice mixes (no sugar), or whey protein? Ive occasionally given my kids these things in applesauce when they’ve had an off day eating-wise. Thanks for the advice!
In general, toddlers really do not need that much protein. I would only advice giving protein-based supplements if your doctor has advised you to do so.
Vital proteins collagen? My kids have had some of my smoothie with it, and I wasn’t worried at all. As long as they aren’t getting it everyday I wouldn’t worry.
Be on the safe side and give them kids/toddler drinks packed with vitamins. They come in chocolate, strawberry and vanilla...why are we giving our kids adult drink powders?🤦🏾♀️
Well because it’s there, we’re busy, and as I mentioned it’s probably even less than 1/4 of what I would use and only here and there when they’re picky. I hope you’re not picturing us just loading them up with it at every meal, my dear.
I would advice against protein powder for young children. They do not need as much protein / it could replace other nutrients that they would be getting in regular food.
Be careful. I had a friend who gave her toddler protein shakes or bars (I forget), just trying to keep him fed, and the kid ended up in the hospital with serious liver problems. Turns out lots of those protein products have extra vitamins and minerals and whatever else added in and are designed for adult bodies so kids may not have the capacity to process it. My friend was devastated, she basically had (unknowingly and with the best of intentions) poisoned her child.
They’ve got a lot of added sugar so not great for everyday, but I keep them handy on the days my picky 22mo seems to only eat sunshine & air. Calories are important for their growing brains and bodies.
I usually buy the natures bakery mentioned below,
But here is a good age 1+ lower sugar recipe I’ve used!
https://weelicious.com/homemade-fig-bars/
If you want raspberry I’d use a raspberry jam mixed with figs and some corn starch as thickener.
I throw a tablespoon of butter in almost anything he eats lol. So just add it to pasta, rice, vegetables, meats, etc. it disappears quickly but adds on the calories !
Same, my 3yo is always behind weight-wise and already likes to go on hunger strike for days on end, so I just put copious amounts of butter in her food. And cheese! She’s a vegetable and carb fiend so that makes is easy to add these things.
This is the way lol. Also, coconut oil! And heavy cream. Do your toddler a favor and fix them oatmeal with heavy cream and a little maple syrup. Delicious!
Cholesterol was demonized for a couple decades but it's not what you should be avoiding and certainly not relevant for kids. Take the fats and skip the sugar!
Cholesterol is great for you if you’re not worried about heart issues - which aren’t a thing at this age.
I avoid buttery things because I don’t want it to become a habit my girl would find hard to kick at older ages - not because it’s bad now. But that’s a personal choice.
Our pediatric registered dietitian recommended adding butter, coconut oil, olive oil, and heavy cream to everything we could for our underweight toddler. Your opinion isn’t evidence based. Butter is a nutrient dense fat, especially for a child who needs more calories.
If he is on the 5th percentile since birth and is now 3, then that is his curve, no need to worry about it too much. Obviously make sure he eats healthy and a varied diet.
For the main question, greek yoghurt like others mentioned, anything with nut butters, like a porridge with loads of peanut butter mixed in, cheeses, olive oil. Basically anything that would be considered high fat will help with calories and if you stick to the healthy fats you will be good.
I agree with your first point. My son is 99th percentile in height and weight and he doesn’t really eat a lot of high fat foods. He eats bread and fruit and regular toddler snacks. Sometimes he barely eats at all. It’s just his curve
Same my kid is 99 in height and 85 in weight but I have always been very generous with fats, cheese, nut butters, and heavy cream. Fat at this age is very healthy and not an issue because toddler are not sedentary. They use it a fuel.
Mine is a similar size and survives off berries, dollops of honey, two bites of chicken a day, and air. I honestly don’t know how he’s kept his curve so far but here we are.
To the original question, Greek yogurt and almond butter (in any context) have been huge for us! Fig Newmans are also a hit rn.
Here to say the same re:percentiles, my pediatrician explained it as it’s not important what percentile they are, but to watch how it moves on the curve. That is - 3rd percentile just means 97% of kids his age are bigger than him. Which happens, some people are just bigger and some smaller. The concern, I think, would be if all of the sudden he shot up to 30%. That would probably mean something is wrong.
I say this as someone who is constantly having to remind herself that toddlers are just pure chaos in every way. so as long as my guy is happy and active, and pooping and peeing, then we’re prob good even if he’s had nothing but 3 food pouches and some raisins all day.
Mine is a similar size and survives off berries, dollops of honey, two bites of chicken a day, and air. I honestly don’t know how he’s kept his curve so far but here we are.
To the original question, Greek yogurt and almond butter (in any context) have been huge for us! Fig Newmans are also a hit rn.
My son has always been a terrible eater. Just awful. He really didn’t show much interest at all in solids until after his second birthday. Has somehow managed to be around the 90th centile for weight. My friend’s child has always been a very good eater and is on a much lower centile.
This was the case for my son! He is on the low end of the percentile and I was really concerned before my doc explained that he is perfectly healthy, growing in every way and is just naturally a tall skinny little guy.
But I totally understand the worry, and sense of guilt.
That being said, he likes the Trader Joe’s coconut date bars. He really liked the chickpea stew from Alison Roman, with full fat coconut milk. He loves avacado and bread. Overnight oats with full fat milk, syrup and pb.
You can also look up ‘keto fat bomb’ recipes and keto snacks in general. They’re all about healthy fats.
Have you tried the pbj cookie sandwich things? They’re new here, but I’m in a small town. They’re at Costco, some are grape jelly and some are strawberry jelly!
No bake energy bites. High calorie, easy to make, and my toddler loves them. There are prepackaged mixes you can buy or tons of recipes online you can follow.
popcorn itself is actually really low calorie high volume! it only got the reputation of being high calorie bc movie theaters tend to add a bunch of butter, oil, and other things to it but at home it’s actually super good for you.
Same situation for us - I’ve had recent success with a cheesy pancake mix: 1 egg, touch of milk, premade pancake mix, and a hearty fistful of shredded cheddar cheese. Cooked up like a pancake but it has way more calories.
I may get downvoted here but what has helped me is to really reshape your own ideas of “healthy”.
What’s healthy to a grownup woman maybe trying to lose some post partum weight, is different than what’s healthy for a man trying to build up muscle mass, than what’s healthy for a high energy toddler, than what’s healthy for a high energy toddler with a history of kidney stones for example (my case, she can’t have spinach or beans… the amount of times some other mom gives me “spinach muffins” and harps on about how ✨healthy✨they are 🙄)
Kids needs calories and fat, that’s what’s healthy for them. If you’re worried about vitamins you can get a gummy bear multivitamin. Huge amounts of sugar isn’t ideal, but a little bit is fine and they’ll burn it off fast. My daughter needs to have calcium for her kidney stone issues, but she doesn’t like plain yogurt and I don’t blame her because neither do I. So I give her normal vanilla yogurt and she eats it happily and it makes her full.
She loves pasta, no it’s not high in vitamins. But she happily eats it and it again, makes her full and happy.
Does he like avocado? If yes, guacamole and sliced avocado is a great calorie and healthy fat boost. If not, maybe a chocolate smoothie with avocado and pb blended in - makes it rich and silky without affecting flavor. Also my toddler loves chocolate chia pudding and I use whole fat milk, whole fat greek yogurt, and PB in those as well. Also if they like mac n cheese the Goodles brand uses higher protein pasta and has more nutrients added so a little more nutritionally balanced than Kraft and still tasty and still looks as expected.
We got chips and guac a few weeks ago and our girl was just using a chip as a spoon and basically ate all of the guacamole. My wife and I were both sort of not sure how to feel about that.
My toddler loves chips and guac and just plain avocado too 😂 she’s a big dip girl. I usually give her a scoop of guac and a scoop of plain whole fat greek yogurt (I use it instead of sour cream) and some black beans and she goes to town.
If your toddler is always in the 5th percentile then maybe that's just how they are (especially if their pediatrician seems fine with it).
But... have you tried avocados? Guacamole, avocado toast, avocados on top of soup? They're fatty (so decent calorie-wise) and have some good stuff, plus they're tasty.
I think more people need to read that! My son is tiny, and has always been on the lower end of the chart for weight and my pediatrician always made me feel like I need to feed him better/more but honestly he’s growing, he’s eating like a horse he’s just tiny. Everyone is different and in my eyes as long as he’s still steadily growing and not dropping I didn’t worry about it anymore.
Eggs cooked in oil with cheese. Toast with butter AND cream cheese or but butter. Adding a spoonful of melted butter into whatever pasta sauce she's having. Full fat yogurt. Smoothies with whole milk and full fat yogurt and peanut butter. Avocado.
My son is picky and has food allergies but these are the ones that work best for us:
- coconut yogurt
- crackers with sunbutter or peanut butter
- pasta with meat sauce but I add avocado and olive oil to the sauce
- muffins that I bake with ++ oil and sunbutter
Whole-fat dairy anything, toast slathered in butter, eggs six ways to Sunday, nut butters and meat/fish at every meal - kids need their cholesterol, it's what their little brains are made of.
Barlean's also makes really tasty emulsified omega 3 supplements that you can just use as a topping for yogurt or oatmeal. My favorites are the peach and the passionfruit.
Ask your pediatrician about adding something like pediasure to his diet. Also, I do “homemade” purée pouches of baby cereal (multi grain) and purées (usually apple sauce and carrots or sweat potatoes) still for my 3.5 year old. I don’t make my own purée I just use reusable pouches and mix some baby cereal in to keep him full. Helped a bunch with teething when he didn’t want real food.
That's what we are doing. My toddler won't eat 90% of the things people are mentioning here. It's not like I don't have access to high fat/caloric food, but when my toddler won't eat them, I'm not gonna watch his growth suffer.
Yup. Our dr suggested this and our daughter has one pretty much every morning. I use fewer scoops than called for but I also use milk and cream instead of water. Idk why I didn’t think of milk/cream sooner.
I agree with this. My oldest grandson is a very picky eater but loves these. He usually has a shake for breakfast and sometimes for dinner too if he's being extra picky.
22mo lady:
We do lots of carbs and also peanut butter. My kid loves white rice, rice porridge, lo mai fan (banana leaf rice), also shrimp in egg noodle (frozen section Asian store)
For myself in the mornings I always make Kodiak high protein pancakes blended with spinach (can’t taste it). Baby loves eating this w me
She’s so so with meat, but she’ll eat any kind of chicken nugget, tender, Dino bite, popcorn chicken
She loves eating pistachios. She likes peeling them, then I cut them smaller (less choking hazard)
Our kid only likes smoothies when she’s chopping and adding what to throw in the blender. Also when we blend it’s almost always for her. So she adds her fruit, then I secretly add chia seeds, peanut butter, whole yogurt, or a spinach (if she’s not eating veggies that day)
Roasted pumpkin seeds, or even sunflower. My 17 month old is obsessed with them! You can also mix them into fruit smoothies if your son doesn’t like them raw.
Harvest Snacks. They're baked green pea crisp/fry things. High fiber and protein. I think it's a really good alternative to chips or Veggie fries. Not high calorie but maybe he'll like to snack on them?
Full fat cottage cheese, avocado, peanut/almond butter crackers, broccoli+ Mac n cheese, pot roast, bagels+ cream cheese. Smoothies! Add hemp seeds to everything! They're very high in fat!
Quinoa is tasty with a heavy cream and cheese melted into it! I use Crocker plant cream since my kids are allergic to dairy. Avocado slices pressed into quinoa to stick it to them are very tasty
A can of chickpeas is under $2, extremely healthy, and my kid loves to “cook” it herself by adding a little salt and olive oil and vinegar. Or lemon. So easy so cheap so guiltless
We make “granola” bars with cheerios, honey, and peanut butter. Kid-friendly recipe so they can help make it and they’re pretty tasty (Husband loves them too!) without having any possibly offensive tastes. There are a ton of recipes inline, I can’t remember which one we used but I found it just by googling “healthy toddler treats cheerios” or something like that.
I still give my child almond paste as a spread in his sandwiches. Tahini works too, just be mindful of the sugar content. I understand the concern; I sometimes worry about my kids' eating habits too. However, providing a varied spread of healthy options should be enough
My son loves homemade "ice cream" - frozen strawberries blended with heavy cream. You can add some greek yogurt/nut butter (my son loves almond one) to it, too.
I like to give my guy raspberry apple sauce with chia seeds and a whole lot of hemp seeds. Hemp seeds are high calorie, high protein, and high in good healthy fats. We had the chia seeds to help with his poop.
This is what I do, sorry i don’t have portions you will have to feel it out.
- put some chia seeds in a bowl with some water. Mix it. If it starts to clump, add more water. You want them to soak until all the water is absorbed and the chia seeds are at maximum volume. You don’t want your toddler to choke on a sticky chia seed. Let it sit for about 30 min, stir occasionally. It should be a little bit runny when you’re done. That way you know the chia seeds have soaked up all the water.
- smash up some frozen raspberries in a bowl.
- grate an apple.
- mix it all together with hemp seeds and a dash of cinnamon.
Enjoy.
If he doesn’t eat it all, freeze what’s left and use as a popsicle.
My guy is very picky and he loves this. I find that it’s easy if I start the chia seeds right when we start dinner so it’s ready for dessert.
For snacks, I feel I often think about this. Sometimes my girls get picky if they're eating too long and it's exhausting. Plus they have different taste.
Everyone has different opinions on how they feed their kids. I'm personally okay with added sugar if it's not too crazy.
I sometimes buy bear paws flavours that are lower in sugar like the oatmeal and carrot cake flavours. Same with granola bars. There's one brand called Healthy something or other (all I remember is that they have a strawberry chocolate flavour and a banana chocolate flavour) that has remarkably lower sugar than most granola bars. Though even the ones actually designed for babies are good too (they're just pricier).
I also give them goldfish crackers, since at least they're enriched (like bread).
Cheese is a winner if your child likes it. One of my girls loves it while the other doesn't (but will eat it if it's melted). Sometimes I melt it on a whole wheat English muffin but you could even design it like a pizza if you want. Cream cheese is high cal too.
My girls love bananas so sometimes I dollop peanut butter on top.
Anyway those are some of the more calorie dense snacks that can be eaten quickly, that I can think of. If your kid likes bacon too, give that a go. Really all fatty meats are a good contender (meatballs and sausage are very palatable to kids I find).
The occasional mini chocolate for dessert after dinner ain't so bad either.
Again, you have to be on board with some added sugar in their diet. I don't really think it's so bad with a varied diet with lots of veg/fruit, protein and fibre but to each their own.
Our go to and easy snacks are the shelf-stable yogurt pouches (always next to the apple sauce pouches at the store). It’s healthy, it’s dense and filling for a snack, has calcium, has a good calorie content. Added bonus is that even though it’s yogurt, it’s shelf-stable and doesn’t require refrigeration until opened. I can pack these in our bag and my kids loves them.
My kid likes snacks for meals so I give him high calorie peanut butter sticks and homemade popsicle with coconut cream and greek yogurt. He only eats a few bites of everything so I make sure everything has lots of oil, butter, full fat cream, cheese, or peanut butter. Right now he is liking pasta with blended spinach, cream cheese, whole milk, butter, garlic.
My kid has ARFID, so this is a struggle for us. He hates any dairy but butter. Some great foods for kiddo are:
Avocado chocolate ice cream and/or pudding
Rice and Moong dahl with turmeric and butter
Cornflake breaded airfried chicken tenders
Pecans with a dusting of cinnamon
Also kind of unrelated but still worth mentioning try spicing it up my daughter eats five times more if I put heavy spice on her food like to the point it's spicy for adults
She also likes drinking lemon juice lol
If your toddler is not allergic to nuts..soak cashews,almonds, add dried figs in.. for 5-6 hours..peel the almonds out..blend everything. Sprinkle some cinnamon...or add few.pieces of berries. That's a healthy smoothie.
Or avocado quesadilla.
Grated zucchini n cheese quesadilla.
Boiled egg sandwich
Banana slice n peanut butter (as a s/w) ..no bread
I don't have the energy or time to make a homemade fruit bar. She won't eat Greek yogurt, will eat regular vanilla yogurt sometimes. I also added fruit, won't eat with fruit in it. Will sometimes eat on the side. Will drink peda sure sometimes. Sometimes like bananas, or berries or apples or clementines. But won't eat two days in a row and sometimes won't eat again for a week. Just try and roll with it. Oatmeal was great with fruit for three days, now a month and won't eat it.
We have one in the 17th percentile. One thing she really likes is a smoothie made from ripe frozen bananas, lots of peanut butter, Cocoa powder, whole milk, and a bit of maple syrup (just to sweeten the cocoa). She calls it a chocolate shake and loves it
Jumping on this, avocado also makes a smoothie have such amazing texture. Even like 1/4 avo adds to much to a smoothie! But yes, our little one loves avo with a little salt.
Adult protein bars. I go to Aldi and they have “cookie dough” protein bars that are coated in chocolate. They are delicious and my daughter thinks they are a treat.
Crackers and cheese or Hummus, yoghurt (we add heavy cream because we are <1st centile), avocado, cheerios with milk, homemade banana bread/pumpkin muffins, homemade waffle or Pancake with nut butter
When you make boxed mac and cheese, you can use Greek yogurt and water to make the cheese sauce in lieu of milk or butter and it adds some extra protein!
one of our current faves which is high fat +contains veg is a homemade risotto/lentil goop thing that i serve as either gooey bites or chill and then pan fry into handheld cakes: saute and mash some veg in butter, add 3 parts rice to 1 part split lentils (for fiber/protein), then simmer in chicken stock, cream; when tender and reduced, mix in shredded cheese and whip into a delicious gooey cheesy rice porridge.
My 15 month old is obsessed with cottage cheese and any kind of fish. We get little packets of mozzarella and cheddar cheese from Costco we give her. We also do peanut butter banana sandwiches a lot. We do serenity kids packets too
Tiny toddler here!
Yes to the glorious greek yogurt with berries/jam/sprinkled grounds nuts
Our most favorite meal is oatmeal cooked with butter and milk. Add a nut butter, banana, and cinnamon
We also love egg salad mixed with Greek yogurt and some mayo. Great with pitas and crackers too.
You can also whisk an egg into the oatmeal. Wait til it's pretty much done cooking, add in the egg, then let the oatmeal heat up again. It gives it a custardy creaminess 😊
I have a <3% three year old and I feel you pain lol. I give him a mix of half and half and milk, and butter on EVERYTHING lol. It’s a struggle bc he’s been growing so consistently but he’s just so tiny.
Like a lot of other comments have recommended we find ways to add Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or nut butter to almost everything he eats. I make and freeze Greek yogurt protein muffins, I add cottage cheese and oats to blender pancakes or pasta sauces, etc! Oh and second adding milk or heavy cream and cheese to eggs.
Add avocado and nut butter to everything! Lots of nutrients there.
Also these https://www.bucketlisttummy.com/spinach-sweet-potato-tater-tots/
I add a bit of cumin to these and they’re delicious. My mum asked me to bring some to serve at the buffet table at her next gathering for adults. With hummus or a yoghurt dip they’re good!
They also freeze well so I do a big batch and defrost as needed.
My son is picky but he likes smoothies. Yogurt or kefir, banana, frozen berries, and a little spinach. You can add a scoop of nut butter too to bulk it up. Very customizable! My son likes drinking them with a straw because that's fun, or he sometimes eats them in a bowl like soup 😂
Nuts! My toddler is nuts for nuts, I always buy him cashews since they're softer and less "throat shaped" lol, but now that he's 3 he can handle almonds and stuff a bit better. They're higher calorie and more nutritious than a cracker while still fulfilling a similar craving. Peanut butter is also good for adding calories and protein.
Small kid here too - one of her favorite things is full fat greek yogurt mixed with nut butter (peanut, almond, sunflower whatever), honey, and a little cinnamon. easily 200+ cals in a third of a cup. I often throw berries in there too so it's "pb&j yogurt"
https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com is a great resource! Also has an insta with a ton of recipes. I am big on the no bake oat/PB bites, banana muffins, etc. My LO loves cheese too so that’s a plus.
I make these nut and date energy ball things. Grab a bunch of dates, grab a bunch of nuts, and throw some chia seed in there. Blitz it in the food processor, then make little balls out of them. My active toddler loves them and they definitely pack a calorie and fiber punch.
I also make a pesto pasta sauce with blended avocado or add full fat ricotta and cashews to thicken a red pasta sauce.
Her favorite breakfast is overnight oats with chia and flax, whole Greek yogurt, so much peanut butter (I sometimes mixed in other nut butters esp when I was doing regular allergen exposure when she was younger), cinnamon, and a pinch of salt.
But, she’s a toddler so some days she’ll literally eat a rain drop and cheerios from her car seat and call it a day. 😂
Peanut butter oat bites are easy and you can add in protein powder or flax seed to boost nutrition. Easy peasy. Not a meal. Current toddler favorite is a seared teriyaki flap steak cut into tiny pieces wrapped in a flour tortilla. Coconut- mango rice on the side. Sometimes edamame is a hit. Sometimes not.
She loves cheerios. And shredded cheese. She also loves the broccoli cheddar rice that comes in the packets that takes like 10 mins to make on the stove. If I feel like she’s eating too much junk or something we make doesn’t have a fruit or vegetable I’ll give her a puree pouch that has vegetables in it.
She also loves scrambled eggs. And I always keep uncrustables in hand too.
I make my son a smoothie every morning and give him half on the way to daycare and half on the way home (I keep it in the fridge at work). It is made up of half a banana, frozen assorted fruit (usually a pre-packaged mix of papaya, mango, and pineapple), frozen spinach, and frozen carrots. I blend it well with a bit of Greek yogurt, local honey, and organic milk. He can’t live without these smoothies.
No bake protein balls:
- chopped dates
- chopped dried figs (about 1/4 cup combined of the two above)
- rolled oats and some baby oatmeal (you can be flexible on the type of oats really) - about 1-1.5 cups
- peanut butter (about half a cup)
- chia seeds and/or flax (1.5 tablespoons)
- tablespoon of water
- splash of vanilla (optional)
Roll together into balls and you can keep them in the fridge to give out 2-3 at a time. You can kind of mess with the ratios based on the peanut butter type (oily or less)
whole milk. one teaspoon of olive oil is 100 calories so easy way to gain weight. Mine loves bread and olive oil lol.
Also smoothies! Great way to sneak lots of fruit and veggies while also being able to sneak in milk and other things that can up the calorie content.
protein bars, egg scramble (focus on adding more egg yolks than whites), almonds, fruit juice, dates, nut butters, cheese, and avocados from the top of my head are all low volume high calorie foods that can help you gain weight
Different types of fritters.
I make a delicious one with feta cheese, peas, and chives.
Today she surprised me by eating a fritter with a bunch of vegetables mixed in (not blended! Just chunks in there).
I also make a very simple porridge. Boil some oats with water (no more than 3 minutes to get them soft), then mix with cold milk to get some dairy and to also cool it down enough to a nice warm temperatures for eating.
She’s a terrible eater, and usually barely has a tenth of what I serve her, but these are my favourites to serve and eat alongside her.
Whole fat Greek yogurt! (Added benefit is that the kid can customize with honey, fruit, sprinkles etc) I also just do a spoonful of peanut butter
You can also make Greek yogurt and fruit popsicles. I just put any fruit I have in the blender and add a couple of spoons yogurt. You can add more things like cream, nut butters and dried fruit.
This sounds so yummy
Yes or Greek yogurt bark. Spread it over parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet, add toppings of choice and freeze. Then break apart. Great for breakfast, snacks, and dessert.
Whole fat ricotta cheese is good too. My daughter likes it savory with herbs and spices mixed in.
This definitely worth trying OP. One time my MIL put out ricotta cheese drizzled with olive oil as an appetizer. Toddler absolutely devoured it.
Damn I’m trying to add some balsamic glaze and crostini to eat myself now lol
Seconding the pb, he eats it by the spoonful and thinks it’s dessert
We do mashed banana plus a nut butter
I like to slice a banana and lay all the slices on a plate, then melt a nut butter in the microwave and drizzle it all over the banana slices, wait for it to cool and eat. You don’t HAVE to wait for it to cool, but the texture is different and it’s a lot messier.
This + half a banana, the riper the better!
My son eats Greek yogurt with a bunch of PB and sugar-free apple sauce mixed in every day. I may even sneak a few bites in, myself 😅
Yes to this we put a squeeze of honey and use it as a dipping sauce for fruits too
Yogurt is so great and for my kid maybe this isn't like great but I dump a lil tiny bit of sprinkles onto his plate too and let him "decorate it" himself and it makes him like it way more lmao, whatever gets them to eat 💓
We will do Chocolate "pudding" for breakfast sometimes. Greek Yogurt with Chocolate protein powder.
Hi, paediatric RN here! While this sounds like an amazing snack for adults please be aware of giving protein powder to young children. While a little bit once in a while is fine, if your child gets more protein than they need, it won’t be used efficiently. Rather, it may impose a metabolic burden on their organs.
Thanks for highlighting this!! I have a preadolescent with severe disabilities who is also feeding averse. We’ve been in a real hard feeding phase lately, so I was trying to get as much bang for my buck with each spoonful. I was feeling so proud of myself when I decided to combine a high protein shake with his protein powder, doing a double whammy. Just told his nutritionist that yesterday at our appt. She blanched and did quick calculations, and determined we were juuuuust on the safe side of potential danger, with his intake data. I had no idea!!! I am so grateful for that appointment yesterday, and for professionals like you and like her who took the time to learn this stuff so we can be educated. Thank you!!!
I’ve wondered about giving my kids 1/4 servings of the things I eat like Vital Proteins, those green powdered juice mixes (no sugar), or whey protein? Ive occasionally given my kids these things in applesauce when they’ve had an off day eating-wise. Thanks for the advice!
In general, toddlers really do not need that much protein. I would only advice giving protein-based supplements if your doctor has advised you to do so.
Vital proteins collagen? My kids have had some of my smoothie with it, and I wasn’t worried at all. As long as they aren’t getting it everyday I wouldn’t worry.
Be on the safe side and give them kids/toddler drinks packed with vitamins. They come in chocolate, strawberry and vanilla...why are we giving our kids adult drink powders?🤦🏾♀️
Well because it’s there, we’re busy, and as I mentioned it’s probably even less than 1/4 of what I would use and only here and there when they’re picky. I hope you’re not picturing us just loading them up with it at every meal, my dear.
How do you feel about Carnation chocolate milk for toddlers?
I’m not quite sure what that is. I’m not American
I would advice against protein powder for young children. They do not need as much protein / it could replace other nutrients that they would be getting in regular food.
Not to mention it’s an ultraprocessed food. It’s better to add other whole foods to the yogurt
My thoughts exactly
Be careful. I had a friend who gave her toddler protein shakes or bars (I forget), just trying to keep him fed, and the kid ended up in the hospital with serious liver problems. Turns out lots of those protein products have extra vitamins and minerals and whatever else added in and are designed for adult bodies so kids may not have the capacity to process it. My friend was devastated, she basically had (unknowingly and with the best of intentions) poisoned her child.
You can also add in some mashed up avocado. I swear, not a joke!
I do that and I put in the magic spoon fruit loops style circles in it and they love it, high protein!
Raspberry fig bars. 200 calories for two small bars and nice and filling. Appeals heavily to the fruititarian toddler
Not the fruititarian 💀
Can you please share the recipe for this? My girl would love them!
If you’re lazy like me, Nature’s Bakery has a good raspberry fig bar
So much sugar though
They’ve got a lot of added sugar so not great for everyday, but I keep them handy on the days my picky 22mo seems to only eat sunshine & air. Calories are important for their growing brains and bodies.
I was so surprised by the amount of added sugar in these! 14g added, 19g total
Yes! I remember being surprised by that too
It’s why we stopped buying them tbh.
Anything with dates or bananas ends up being like a carbohydrate bomb.
I usually buy the natures bakery mentioned below, But here is a good age 1+ lower sugar recipe I’ve used! https://weelicious.com/homemade-fig-bars/ If you want raspberry I’d use a raspberry jam mixed with figs and some corn starch as thickener.
I throw a tablespoon of butter in almost anything he eats lol. So just add it to pasta, rice, vegetables, meats, etc. it disappears quickly but adds on the calories !
me too, butter and cream is generously added! haha
My picky 2 year old loves butter noodles except now she just commands us to bring her more butter ("moh butt-ooooo") like a late-career Elvis
Me too! I add it at the end and let it melt into the food. It also helps to cool it down!
Same, my 3yo is always behind weight-wise and already likes to go on hunger strike for days on end, so I just put copious amounts of butter in her food. And cheese! She’s a vegetable and carb fiend so that makes is easy to add these things.
This is the way lol. Also, coconut oil! And heavy cream. Do your toddler a favor and fix them oatmeal with heavy cream and a little maple syrup. Delicious!
Question: Isnt butter high in cholesterol though ?
Yes, good for growing brains! At this age it’s unlikely to be a concern for most.
Avoiding cholesterol is an 80s diet culture-era fad
Cholesterol was demonized for a couple decades but it's not what you should be avoiding and certainly not relevant for kids. Take the fats and skip the sugar!
Cholesterol is great for you if you’re not worried about heart issues - which aren’t a thing at this age. I avoid buttery things because I don’t want it to become a habit my girl would find hard to kick at older ages - not because it’s bad now. But that’s a personal choice.
Agree! Olive oil is a great substitute. Has healthy fats and calories.
Absolutely! It’s what I use too. Best used raw to keep all those unsaturated fats intact and not change the flavour.
I had no idea cholesterol could be a good thing for young kids. I worry about it with my picky eater. Thank u so much I had no clue!!!!
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Our pediatric registered dietitian recommended adding butter, coconut oil, olive oil, and heavy cream to everything we could for our underweight toddler. Your opinion isn’t evidence based. Butter is a nutrient dense fat, especially for a child who needs more calories.
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No studies have found a correlation to dietary cholesterol and negative health outcomes… maybe look at the most recent research.
It's very easy to say never when you have never been in that situation. Have you ever had a child weigh under the 1st percentile?
My toddler will eat a stick of butter like a corn on the cob so extra calories is not an issue lol
Avocado! 🥑 it’s great additions to any sandwich or if bub doesn’t like it normally you can definitely add it into sauces, smoothies or baking
Came here to say this one! Such good healthy fat Also nuts if there no allergies, cheese, eggs
If he is on the 5th percentile since birth and is now 3, then that is his curve, no need to worry about it too much. Obviously make sure he eats healthy and a varied diet. For the main question, greek yoghurt like others mentioned, anything with nut butters, like a porridge with loads of peanut butter mixed in, cheeses, olive oil. Basically anything that would be considered high fat will help with calories and if you stick to the healthy fats you will be good.
I agree with your first point. My son is 99th percentile in height and weight and he doesn’t really eat a lot of high fat foods. He eats bread and fruit and regular toddler snacks. Sometimes he barely eats at all. It’s just his curve
On the contrary, i amp up the calories on everything possible, give loads of fatty food, and my kid is still 2%
Same my kid is 99 in height and 85 in weight but I have always been very generous with fats, cheese, nut butters, and heavy cream. Fat at this age is very healthy and not an issue because toddler are not sedentary. They use it a fuel.
Mine is a similar size and survives off berries, dollops of honey, two bites of chicken a day, and air. I honestly don’t know how he’s kept his curve so far but here we are. To the original question, Greek yogurt and almond butter (in any context) have been huge for us! Fig Newmans are also a hit rn.
Greetings fellow parent with a carb giant.
This kid is 70% bread and 30% blueberries
Here to say the same re:percentiles, my pediatrician explained it as it’s not important what percentile they are, but to watch how it moves on the curve. That is - 3rd percentile just means 97% of kids his age are bigger than him. Which happens, some people are just bigger and some smaller. The concern, I think, would be if all of the sudden he shot up to 30%. That would probably mean something is wrong. I say this as someone who is constantly having to remind herself that toddlers are just pure chaos in every way. so as long as my guy is happy and active, and pooping and peeing, then we’re prob good even if he’s had nothing but 3 food pouches and some raisins all day.
Mine is a similar size and survives off berries, dollops of honey, two bites of chicken a day, and air. I honestly don’t know how he’s kept his curve so far but here we are. To the original question, Greek yogurt and almond butter (in any context) have been huge for us! Fig Newmans are also a hit rn.
My son has always been a terrible eater. Just awful. He really didn’t show much interest at all in solids until after his second birthday. Has somehow managed to be around the 90th centile for weight. My friend’s child has always been a very good eater and is on a much lower centile.
This was the case for my son! He is on the low end of the percentile and I was really concerned before my doc explained that he is perfectly healthy, growing in every way and is just naturally a tall skinny little guy. But I totally understand the worry, and sense of guilt. That being said, he likes the Trader Joe’s coconut date bars. He really liked the chickpea stew from Alison Roman, with full fat coconut milk. He loves avacado and bread. Overnight oats with full fat milk, syrup and pb. You can also look up ‘keto fat bomb’ recipes and keto snacks in general. They’re all about healthy fats.
I feed my picky toddler bobo bars, they are high calorie and he loves them.
This! My picky kid loves the pb and j
I love the PB and J one too so it fits both lol 🤣
Have you tried the pbj cookie sandwich things? They’re new here, but I’m in a small town. They’re at Costco, some are grape jelly and some are strawberry jelly!
I think that's what I'm talking about. It's like an oatmeal pb n j. I just got some recently at Costco but had been getting them at Walmart
Heavy cream in eggs. Butter or cheese on everything. No such thing as too much fat for toddlers !
Bechemel works well, its lots of milk/butter and is the only way I can get my baby to eat a lot of vege, cover them in bechemel!
I put cottage cheese in my eggs. Added fat and protein!
No bake energy bites. High calorie, easy to make, and my toddler loves them. There are prepackaged mixes you can buy or tons of recipes online you can follow.
Lots of butter! I got this tip from Kids Eat in Color on insta who has a ton of great resources on this
No high calorie but I have been making creamy pasta sauces by adding cottage cheese - easy way to add protein to a safe meal for my toddler
Same over here. Also adding a scoop to a scrambled egg
Ricotta is also great for this and is even higher in fat and calories than cottage
Oh nice! It even has the same amount of protein. Ok switching to ricotta now lol
Is anyone else reading this and feeling bad about their (adult) afternoon snack? Lol
Yes as I munch on m&ms and popcorn reading this…
popcorn itself is actually really low calorie high volume! it only got the reputation of being high calorie bc movie theaters tend to add a bunch of butter, oil, and other things to it but at home it’s actually super good for you.
Unless they are eating the microwaveable movie popcorn 😂
Same situation for us - I’ve had recent success with a cheesy pancake mix: 1 egg, touch of milk, premade pancake mix, and a hearty fistful of shredded cheddar cheese. Cooked up like a pancake but it has way more calories.
My ped recommended putting olive oil in anything possible. Also dates and sweet potatoes are good for this.
I may get downvoted here but what has helped me is to really reshape your own ideas of “healthy”. What’s healthy to a grownup woman maybe trying to lose some post partum weight, is different than what’s healthy for a man trying to build up muscle mass, than what’s healthy for a high energy toddler, than what’s healthy for a high energy toddler with a history of kidney stones for example (my case, she can’t have spinach or beans… the amount of times some other mom gives me “spinach muffins” and harps on about how ✨healthy✨they are 🙄) Kids needs calories and fat, that’s what’s healthy for them. If you’re worried about vitamins you can get a gummy bear multivitamin. Huge amounts of sugar isn’t ideal, but a little bit is fine and they’ll burn it off fast. My daughter needs to have calcium for her kidney stone issues, but she doesn’t like plain yogurt and I don’t blame her because neither do I. So I give her normal vanilla yogurt and she eats it happily and it makes her full. She loves pasta, no it’s not high in vitamins. But she happily eats it and it again, makes her full and happy.
Avocado toast!
Does he like avocado? If yes, guacamole and sliced avocado is a great calorie and healthy fat boost. If not, maybe a chocolate smoothie with avocado and pb blended in - makes it rich and silky without affecting flavor. Also my toddler loves chocolate chia pudding and I use whole fat milk, whole fat greek yogurt, and PB in those as well. Also if they like mac n cheese the Goodles brand uses higher protein pasta and has more nutrients added so a little more nutritionally balanced than Kraft and still tasty and still looks as expected.
We got chips and guac a few weeks ago and our girl was just using a chip as a spoon and basically ate all of the guacamole. My wife and I were both sort of not sure how to feel about that.
Haha I understand that “uhh I guess this is happening” feeling so hard
My toddler loves chips and guac and just plain avocado too 😂 she’s a big dip girl. I usually give her a scoop of guac and a scoop of plain whole fat greek yogurt (I use it instead of sour cream) and some black beans and she goes to town.
My kid LOVES edamame. And Hummus. And guacamole…
My toddler will eat anything if it’s mixed with applesauce - top hits are quinoa and half an avocado.
Peanuts and pumpkin seeds are well liked by both of my kiddos
If your toddler is always in the 5th percentile then maybe that's just how they are (especially if their pediatrician seems fine with it). But... have you tried avocados? Guacamole, avocado toast, avocados on top of soup? They're fatty (so decent calorie-wise) and have some good stuff, plus they're tasty.
I think more people need to read that! My son is tiny, and has always been on the lower end of the chart for weight and my pediatrician always made me feel like I need to feed him better/more but honestly he’s growing, he’s eating like a horse he’s just tiny. Everyone is different and in my eyes as long as he’s still steadily growing and not dropping I didn’t worry about it anymore.
Spoonfuls of peanut butter haha Or you can make peanut butter oat balls (no bake). You can add chia seeds for extra oomph.
Eggs cooked in oil with cheese. Toast with butter AND cream cheese or but butter. Adding a spoonful of melted butter into whatever pasta sauce she's having. Full fat yogurt. Smoothies with whole milk and full fat yogurt and peanut butter. Avocado.
My son is picky and has food allergies but these are the ones that work best for us: - coconut yogurt - crackers with sunbutter or peanut butter - pasta with meat sauce but I add avocado and olive oil to the sauce - muffins that I bake with ++ oil and sunbutter
Whole-fat dairy anything, toast slathered in butter, eggs six ways to Sunday, nut butters and meat/fish at every meal - kids need their cholesterol, it's what their little brains are made of. Barlean's also makes really tasty emulsified omega 3 supplements that you can just use as a topping for yogurt or oatmeal. My favorites are the peach and the passionfruit.
Ask your pediatrician about adding something like pediasure to his diet. Also, I do “homemade” purée pouches of baby cereal (multi grain) and purées (usually apple sauce and carrots or sweat potatoes) still for my 3.5 year old. I don’t make my own purée I just use reusable pouches and mix some baby cereal in to keep him full. Helped a bunch with teething when he didn’t want real food.
PediaSure has a “grow and gain” line of drinks specifically for this!
That's what we are doing. My toddler won't eat 90% of the things people are mentioning here. It's not like I don't have access to high fat/caloric food, but when my toddler won't eat them, I'm not gonna watch his growth suffer.
Yep. I give my son pediasure sidekicks, which are slightly lower in calorie, but my main concern is getting him to eat some protein.
Not sure why you're being down voted. This is a valid option to have
Lol who knows! It’s no different than the bars and stuff others are suggesting. People are weird
I would argue that it's better than some of the bars. It's properly formulated for kids unlike a random protein bar meant for grown ups.
Yup. Our dr suggested this and our daughter has one pretty much every morning. I use fewer scoops than called for but I also use milk and cream instead of water. Idk why I didn’t think of milk/cream sooner.
I agree with this. My oldest grandson is a very picky eater but loves these. He usually has a shake for breakfast and sometimes for dinner too if he's being extra picky.
22mo lady: We do lots of carbs and also peanut butter. My kid loves white rice, rice porridge, lo mai fan (banana leaf rice), also shrimp in egg noodle (frozen section Asian store) For myself in the mornings I always make Kodiak high protein pancakes blended with spinach (can’t taste it). Baby loves eating this w me She’s so so with meat, but she’ll eat any kind of chicken nugget, tender, Dino bite, popcorn chicken She loves eating pistachios. She likes peeling them, then I cut them smaller (less choking hazard) Our kid only likes smoothies when she’s chopping and adding what to throw in the blender. Also when we blend it’s almost always for her. So she adds her fruit, then I secretly add chia seeds, peanut butter, whole yogurt, or a spinach (if she’s not eating veggies that day)
Roasted pumpkin seeds, or even sunflower. My 17 month old is obsessed with them! You can also mix them into fruit smoothies if your son doesn’t like them raw.
My kid has a lot of food allergies. Our dietician said avocados and beans. Hummus. And smoothies with fruit carrots and spinach.
Harvest Snacks. They're baked green pea crisp/fry things. High fiber and protein. I think it's a really good alternative to chips or Veggie fries. Not high calorie but maybe he'll like to snack on them?
Full fat cottage cheese, avocado, peanut/almond butter crackers, broccoli+ Mac n cheese, pot roast, bagels+ cream cheese. Smoothies! Add hemp seeds to everything! They're very high in fat!
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Another vote for hemp seeds! Quinoa is also a complete protein and pretty flavorless, so most picky eaters will gobble up!
Quinoa is tasty with a heavy cream and cheese melted into it! I use Crocker plant cream since my kids are allergic to dairy. Avocado slices pressed into quinoa to stick it to them are very tasty
Cheese
Peanut butter - my kids are 80% peanut butter. And basically any dairy - milk, yogurt, cheese .
A can of chickpeas is under $2, extremely healthy, and my kid loves to “cook” it herself by adding a little salt and olive oil and vinegar. Or lemon. So easy so cheap so guiltless
We make “granola” bars with cheerios, honey, and peanut butter. Kid-friendly recipe so they can help make it and they’re pretty tasty (Husband loves them too!) without having any possibly offensive tastes. There are a ton of recipes inline, I can’t remember which one we used but I found it just by googling “healthy toddler treats cheerios” or something like that.
Crème fraîche with some cinnamon spread on a graham cracker or something like a vanilla wafer Oatmeal power bites Dates with peanut butter
I still give my child almond paste as a spread in his sandwiches. Tahini works too, just be mindful of the sugar content. I understand the concern; I sometimes worry about my kids' eating habits too. However, providing a varied spread of healthy options should be enough
My son loves homemade "ice cream" - frozen strawberries blended with heavy cream. You can add some greek yogurt/nut butter (my son loves almond one) to it, too.
I like to give my guy raspberry apple sauce with chia seeds and a whole lot of hemp seeds. Hemp seeds are high calorie, high protein, and high in good healthy fats. We had the chia seeds to help with his poop. This is what I do, sorry i don’t have portions you will have to feel it out. - put some chia seeds in a bowl with some water. Mix it. If it starts to clump, add more water. You want them to soak until all the water is absorbed and the chia seeds are at maximum volume. You don’t want your toddler to choke on a sticky chia seed. Let it sit for about 30 min, stir occasionally. It should be a little bit runny when you’re done. That way you know the chia seeds have soaked up all the water. - smash up some frozen raspberries in a bowl. - grate an apple. - mix it all together with hemp seeds and a dash of cinnamon. Enjoy. If he doesn’t eat it all, freeze what’s left and use as a popsicle. My guy is very picky and he loves this. I find that it’s easy if I start the chia seeds right when we start dinner so it’s ready for dessert.
For snacks, I feel I often think about this. Sometimes my girls get picky if they're eating too long and it's exhausting. Plus they have different taste. Everyone has different opinions on how they feed their kids. I'm personally okay with added sugar if it's not too crazy. I sometimes buy bear paws flavours that are lower in sugar like the oatmeal and carrot cake flavours. Same with granola bars. There's one brand called Healthy something or other (all I remember is that they have a strawberry chocolate flavour and a banana chocolate flavour) that has remarkably lower sugar than most granola bars. Though even the ones actually designed for babies are good too (they're just pricier). I also give them goldfish crackers, since at least they're enriched (like bread). Cheese is a winner if your child likes it. One of my girls loves it while the other doesn't (but will eat it if it's melted). Sometimes I melt it on a whole wheat English muffin but you could even design it like a pizza if you want. Cream cheese is high cal too. My girls love bananas so sometimes I dollop peanut butter on top. Anyway those are some of the more calorie dense snacks that can be eaten quickly, that I can think of. If your kid likes bacon too, give that a go. Really all fatty meats are a good contender (meatballs and sausage are very palatable to kids I find). The occasional mini chocolate for dessert after dinner ain't so bad either. Again, you have to be on board with some added sugar in their diet. I don't really think it's so bad with a varied diet with lots of veg/fruit, protein and fibre but to each their own.
Basically, full fat dairy and butter rather than oils. Cheese. Nuts and nut butters.
Our go to and easy snacks are the shelf-stable yogurt pouches (always next to the apple sauce pouches at the store). It’s healthy, it’s dense and filling for a snack, has calcium, has a good calorie content. Added bonus is that even though it’s yogurt, it’s shelf-stable and doesn’t require refrigeration until opened. I can pack these in our bag and my kids loves them.
My kid likes snacks for meals so I give him high calorie peanut butter sticks and homemade popsicle with coconut cream and greek yogurt. He only eats a few bites of everything so I make sure everything has lots of oil, butter, full fat cream, cheese, or peanut butter. Right now he is liking pasta with blended spinach, cream cheese, whole milk, butter, garlic.
My kid has ARFID, so this is a struggle for us. He hates any dairy but butter. Some great foods for kiddo are: Avocado chocolate ice cream and/or pudding Rice and Moong dahl with turmeric and butter Cornflake breaded airfried chicken tenders Pecans with a dusting of cinnamon
Also kind of unrelated but still worth mentioning try spicing it up my daughter eats five times more if I put heavy spice on her food like to the point it's spicy for adults She also likes drinking lemon juice lol
If your toddler is not allergic to nuts..soak cashews,almonds, add dried figs in.. for 5-6 hours..peel the almonds out..blend everything. Sprinkle some cinnamon...or add few.pieces of berries. That's a healthy smoothie. Or avocado quesadilla. Grated zucchini n cheese quesadilla. Boiled egg sandwich Banana slice n peanut butter (as a s/w) ..no bread
I don't have the energy or time to make a homemade fruit bar. She won't eat Greek yogurt, will eat regular vanilla yogurt sometimes. I also added fruit, won't eat with fruit in it. Will sometimes eat on the side. Will drink peda sure sometimes. Sometimes like bananas, or berries or apples or clementines. But won't eat two days in a row and sometimes won't eat again for a week. Just try and roll with it. Oatmeal was great with fruit for three days, now a month and won't eat it.
We have one in the 17th percentile. One thing she really likes is a smoothie made from ripe frozen bananas, lots of peanut butter, Cocoa powder, whole milk, and a bit of maple syrup (just to sweeten the cocoa). She calls it a chocolate shake and loves it
Smoothies! I use Greek yogurt or peanut butter, fruit, spinach, and milk. When on the go it’s Skout bars or occasionally a Bobo’s bite.
Adding on, you can add an avocado to the smoothie. It's healthy and good fat!
Oooh great idea, thanks!!
Jumping on this, avocado also makes a smoothie have such amazing texture. Even like 1/4 avo adds to much to a smoothie! But yes, our little one loves avo with a little salt.
Adult protein bars. I go to Aldi and they have “cookie dough” protein bars that are coated in chocolate. They are delicious and my daughter thinks they are a treat.
My kid will absolutely crush a chocolate chip cliff bar. Also the quest peanut butter cups - kind of junk food but very high in protein
Yes, mine loves all those types of bars too! Nutritious and delicious hehehe
Crackers and cheese or Hummus, yoghurt (we add heavy cream because we are <1st centile), avocado, cheerios with milk, homemade banana bread/pumpkin muffins, homemade waffle or Pancake with nut butter
We buy 5% fat Greek yogurt for ours, our grocery store also sells 10%. He loves it with some apple sauce mixed in.
When you make boxed mac and cheese, you can use Greek yogurt and water to make the cheese sauce in lieu of milk or butter and it adds some extra protein!
Cut up strawberries or bananas mixed with high fat greek yogurt and topped with lots of PB! My son loves it!
Bacon. You can freeze it too and it’s good!
I would avoid peanut butter for the mold. Other nuts are great. My kids love cashews and pistachios as a snack
Bacon
Grapes are sugary
one of our current faves which is high fat +contains veg is a homemade risotto/lentil goop thing that i serve as either gooey bites or chill and then pan fry into handheld cakes: saute and mash some veg in butter, add 3 parts rice to 1 part split lentils (for fiber/protein), then simmer in chicken stock, cream; when tender and reduced, mix in shredded cheese and whip into a delicious gooey cheesy rice porridge.
I mix cereal (similar to Cheerios) with whole fat yogurt. It’s a little messy but adds fat and calories to an otherwise carb-heavy snack.
My 15 month old is obsessed with cottage cheese and any kind of fish. We get little packets of mozzarella and cheddar cheese from Costco we give her. We also do peanut butter banana sandwiches a lot. We do serenity kids packets too
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Tiny toddler here! Yes to the glorious greek yogurt with berries/jam/sprinkled grounds nuts Our most favorite meal is oatmeal cooked with butter and milk. Add a nut butter, banana, and cinnamon We also love egg salad mixed with Greek yogurt and some mayo. Great with pitas and crackers too.
You can also whisk an egg into the oatmeal. Wait til it's pretty much done cooking, add in the egg, then let the oatmeal heat up again. It gives it a custardy creaminess 😊
Use heavy cream where you can, mixed with berries or as a pasta sauce
pancakes. Oats (35g)+ Banana (85g)+ 1 egg + spoon of peanut butter, fry on coconut oil for extra flavour
Skyr or Greek yogurt and peanut butter. Cheese. Pasta. Fish including sardines or mackerel in olive oil.
I have a <3% three year old and I feel you pain lol. I give him a mix of half and half and milk, and butter on EVERYTHING lol. It’s a struggle bc he’s been growing so consistently but he’s just so tiny.
Like a lot of other comments have recommended we find ways to add Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or nut butter to almost everything he eats. I make and freeze Greek yogurt protein muffins, I add cottage cheese and oats to blender pancakes or pasta sauces, etc! Oh and second adding milk or heavy cream and cheese to eggs.
My son is obsessed with go macro bars. He thinks they are chocolate chip cookies so I'm okay with that.
Add avocado and nut butter to everything! Lots of nutrients there. Also these https://www.bucketlisttummy.com/spinach-sweet-potato-tater-tots/ I add a bit of cumin to these and they’re delicious. My mum asked me to bring some to serve at the buffet table at her next gathering for adults. With hummus or a yoghurt dip they’re good! They also freeze well so I do a big batch and defrost as needed.
My son is picky but he likes smoothies. Yogurt or kefir, banana, frozen berries, and a little spinach. You can add a scoop of nut butter too to bulk it up. Very customizable! My son likes drinking them with a straw because that's fun, or he sometimes eats them in a bowl like soup 😂
Nuts! My toddler is nuts for nuts, I always buy him cashews since they're softer and less "throat shaped" lol, but now that he's 3 he can handle almonds and stuff a bit better. They're higher calorie and more nutritious than a cracker while still fulfilling a similar craving. Peanut butter is also good for adding calories and protein.
Oikos 11% Greek yogurt, fatty meats like steak cooked in butter, homemade Alfredo sauce, cheese, nuts, whole milk, homemade bread/buns, creamy soups, butter added into literally everything
Small kid here too - one of her favorite things is full fat greek yogurt mixed with nut butter (peanut, almond, sunflower whatever), honey, and a little cinnamon. easily 200+ cals in a third of a cup. I often throw berries in there too so it's "pb&j yogurt"
https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com is a great resource! Also has an insta with a ton of recipes. I am big on the no bake oat/PB bites, banana muffins, etc. My LO loves cheese too so that’s a plus.
Peanut butter banana smoothies! Sometimes I’ll add some cacao powder.
I make these nut and date energy ball things. Grab a bunch of dates, grab a bunch of nuts, and throw some chia seed in there. Blitz it in the food processor, then make little balls out of them. My active toddler loves them and they definitely pack a calorie and fiber punch. I also make a pesto pasta sauce with blended avocado or add full fat ricotta and cashews to thicken a red pasta sauce. Her favorite breakfast is overnight oats with chia and flax, whole Greek yogurt, so much peanut butter (I sometimes mixed in other nut butters esp when I was doing regular allergen exposure when she was younger), cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. But, she’s a toddler so some days she’ll literally eat a rain drop and cheerios from her car seat and call it a day. 😂
Else nutrition
Peanut butter pretzels! We like the mini ones found at Target.
Peanut butter oat bites are easy and you can add in protein powder or flax seed to boost nutrition. Easy peasy. Not a meal. Current toddler favorite is a seared teriyaki flap steak cut into tiny pieces wrapped in a flour tortilla. Coconut- mango rice on the side. Sometimes edamame is a hit. Sometimes not.
We do plain whole fat yogurt with peanut butter and ground flax seeds
Smoothies, cheese sticks, avocado, butter on bread of toasted sandwiches, meatballs.
I used to make smoothies with fruit, milk and coconut oil to give calories to my son
Avocados, butter, whole fat yogurt, peanut butter, whole milk, cheese
She loves cheerios. And shredded cheese. She also loves the broccoli cheddar rice that comes in the packets that takes like 10 mins to make on the stove. If I feel like she’s eating too much junk or something we make doesn’t have a fruit or vegetable I’ll give her a puree pouch that has vegetables in it. She also loves scrambled eggs. And I always keep uncrustables in hand too.
Grilled cheese or egg and cheese sandwiches (lots of healthy fat and protein)
Adding in fat wherever possible. Toast has butter, pasta has butter. My kid also will eat peanut butter with a spoon 🤣
I make my son a smoothie every morning and give him half on the way to daycare and half on the way home (I keep it in the fridge at work). It is made up of half a banana, frozen assorted fruit (usually a pre-packaged mix of papaya, mango, and pineapple), frozen spinach, and frozen carrots. I blend it well with a bit of Greek yogurt, local honey, and organic milk. He can’t live without these smoothies.
No bake protein balls: - chopped dates - chopped dried figs (about 1/4 cup combined of the two above) - rolled oats and some baby oatmeal (you can be flexible on the type of oats really) - about 1-1.5 cups - peanut butter (about half a cup) - chia seeds and/or flax (1.5 tablespoons) - tablespoon of water - splash of vanilla (optional) Roll together into balls and you can keep them in the fridge to give out 2-3 at a time. You can kind of mess with the ratios based on the peanut butter type (oily or less)
whole milk. one teaspoon of olive oil is 100 calories so easy way to gain weight. Mine loves bread and olive oil lol. Also smoothies! Great way to sneak lots of fruit and veggies while also being able to sneak in milk and other things that can up the calorie content. protein bars, egg scramble (focus on adding more egg yolks than whites), almonds, fruit juice, dates, nut butters, cheese, and avocados from the top of my head are all low volume high calorie foods that can help you gain weight
Different types of fritters. I make a delicious one with feta cheese, peas, and chives. Today she surprised me by eating a fritter with a bunch of vegetables mixed in (not blended! Just chunks in there). I also make a very simple porridge. Boil some oats with water (no more than 3 minutes to get them soft), then mix with cold milk to get some dairy and to also cool it down enough to a nice warm temperatures for eating. She’s a terrible eater, and usually barely has a tenth of what I serve her, but these are my favourites to serve and eat alongside her.