AIBU to ask for good snacks for a toddler on go, go, GO?

[Senpai]

DD is 18 months. Running, climbing, getting into everything. Typical toddler stuff.

But she doesn't eat much at meals and prefers to just snack while exploring during the day.

I've given up trying to withhold snacks so she'll eat more during main meals, but it just results in her being cranky and still not eating much. I'm trying to figure out a better way to get more nutrition into her eating habits while keeping my house unstained and as unsticky as possible.

My question is what are good snacks for toddlers on the move?

I've tried whole grain cereal, popcorn, and bread but they don't really keep her satisfied and she still gets cranky because she needs food. Well, bread does, but I it's not really good to have it all the time like she wants. She's also on the move so "squishy" foods like bananas are a no go RIP couch cushions, but I'm willing to compromise on things like apple slices and carrot sticks (they're just not filling and too much fruit isn't good for her diapers).

She's not a picky eater, but I have a hard time finding snacks are easy to eat on the go, healthy, won't ruin my stuff if she plays with it, and will fill her up.

Also, she's perfectly healthy and good weight/height, but high energy and fast metabolism. Just need snacks for my sanity and wanted to know what you guys do.

Ideas? Recipes? :)

Savoury muffins
Banana bread
Rice cakes with humous/cream cheese
Cubes of cheese and ham
Veg sticks
Courgette crisps
Smoothies
Fruit salad
Homemade Yogurt drops (you can get yogurt makers if you're worried about ingredients)
Hard boiled eggs
Oaty bars
Homemade Bread sticks

You'll probably find a lot of recipes in the food and recipes section.

Eggs
Pastry 'biscuits'
Fruit -,mostly whole apples, and pears,
Dry cereal
Pasta twirls
Cooked but cold boiled veg - carrots, broccoli and cauliflower are favorite
Cold uncooked hotdogs
Rice cakes

And tbh qe often would have a bowl of the last meals left overs always at the same place in the kitchen and he would just go and take some when hungry. Now he is two so just goes to the fridge or looks for general left overs on top of the oven.

Energy balls made with peanut butter, oats and dates. Super calorific.

Hummus and guacamole with breadsticks - for when she's sitting down.

Sweet potato falafel - Leon recipe

Salmon pieces - you can buy ready cooked in supermarket but they are ££, or you could make fish cakes

Mini quiches made in muffin tins, great hot or cold, can fill them with anything, tons of recipes online. My kids have always loved them.

Thank you! I have ingredients on hand for a few of these, I'll try them out when she wakes up from her nap.

does she have a childs table and chairs for a tea party? That might help with the saving of cushions etc

Plain, cooked pasta spirals or tubes. My toddler cannot get enough of these. I often add some peas or sweet corn while cooking it, cool it, bung the whole lot in Tupperware.

When I get this out at the park I end up surrounded by toddlers shunning their lovingly prepared snacks in favour of the world's most boring food stuff. Just to warn you!

We do pasta and peas and sweet corn too I can't get it put until we are clear of nursery for fear of being mobbed!

Baby bells (or other cheese), those mini sweetcorns, mini hotdogs/sausages/normal size ones cut up, spanish omlette cut in cubes (I used to do a 1 egg omlette with a slice of cheese folded up in it, left to cool, and given for breakfast - like sushi egg), pork pie (!), cubed fruit (tinned if need be this time of year)

DS1 was like that for a while, he used to have 1 of everything in the fridge, then start over again.... very good eater though, willing to give anything a go.

Babybels
More Babybels

I've got one like this...and similarly seeking inspiration! Some great ideas so will lurk along!
It's a long time since I last had a toddler, are we generally of the consensus that eat-on-the-go is the best tactic and get them to the table whenever its not going to be a battle...? In the spirit of picking your battles an all that...

does she have a childs table and chairs for a tea party? That might help with the saving of cushions etc

She does, but getting her to sit at them without wandering off with food in or on her hands is another matter entirely.

I do take her outside for messy snacks weather permitting. But... winter is coming.

She does love noodles, peas, corn. I could try that.

Corn cakes or rice cakes with peanut butter
Cheese grated or cut into slices
Coleslaw/sweetcorn/peas/brown bread
Porridge with cinnamon
Pancakes
Boiled egg with beans and toast sliced
Potato mash with beans and black pudding
Mini pizza
Scrambled egg
Soup with bread
Pasta swirls with tomato sauce

My advice would be to sit her at the table and serve her proper meals. But I suspect you dont want that?

Wow, so you are already setting up your toddler to become obese or diagnosed with one of these strange, modern phenomena?
3 meals a day at that age, sitting at the table.
Milk and an apple or other piece of fruit mid-morning, ditto mid-afternoon (or whatever the child's nap schedule is).
Definitely not food on the hoof as and when you think they need it.
Tragic.

Pendant Yes, you're very edgy for "telling me like it is". You little rebel. :) Now be a good little girl and reread my original post before you embarrass yourself further.

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My advice would be to sit her at the table and serve her proper meals. But I suspect you dont want that?

I do, but at the moment her biological eating schedule consists of little meals instead of 3 big ones. She still eats with us during breakfast, lunch, and dinner at our table (not her kiddie play set one), but she doesn't eat much at a time so resorts to snacks 20 minutes later.

It's more along the lines of as long as she's eating healthy and sitting with us at meal time to learn manners, I'm not going to make food a battle.

Intradental here you go - I use less dates than this and a bit more oats so theyre a bit less sweet

minimalistbaker.com/3-ingredient-peanut-butter-granola-bars/

We of course do 3 meals a day at the table and six months on ds is getting a bit more into the idea but sometimes he just isn't hungry at that time.

I understand you dont want to make food a battle but the way you are doing things are making things harder for yourself in the long run.

20 mins after a meal shes barely eaten shes asking for a snack?? Well you point to the food she left and say your food is there.

As for walking around with food everywhere and apparently she wont sit at the table? Well you teach her that when you eat then you sit at the table. If you dont sit at the table then you dont have it.

Your the parent, shes the child.

My ds loves mejool dates, I usually have a couple of those in a tub along with some mini oatcakes, a satsuma, a baby below and one of these cookies.

watching-what-i-eat.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/banana-oat-breakfast-cookies.html?m=1

I make a batch of these cookies most weekends because they freeze well and are handy for the mornings when I'm running late and can't deal with mess!

Baby below?! Babybel ffs! :)

My son was hungry ALL the time and now eats really well. They are growing, so as long as they're getting nutrients, that's all that matters. I'm sure she'll grow out of it!

As for walking around with food everywhere and apparently she wont sit at the table? Well you teach her that when you eat then you sit at the table. If you dont sit at the table then you dont have it.

Where did you get that?

That was in response to her kiddie play time table. Not the kitchen table. I'm not making her sit at a kiddie table to eat. It's a play table for pretend food and unstructured play. I'm not making rules about how she uses her toys.

Our dining room table she does sit until we're all finished and we make her put her silverware on her plate and pick up reasonable pieces of food when she's done.

Your the parent, shes the child.

Exactly, and as the parent I am asking for nutritious snacks between meals, not "advice" about how to force her to eat/sleep/progress on my schedule. I do understand you mean well, but I am mostly just looking for ideas on snacks that would keep her happy and healthy.

I do like the peanut butter bars, I will try those as they look easy to make and I have ingredients on hand.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, I am definitely taking ideas down! :)