Summer hols food for 18-month old

[theguru75]

Going to a Mediterranean island in August and I am at a loss how to manage to feed my 18-month old while spending hours on the beach, meaning giving her breakfast and lunch outdoors.

Any ideas on food to offer and what equipment I will need would be much appreciated.

Thank you

What will you be eating? Surely there will be stuff there for you to eat

Hours on the beach may not be suitable for that age of child. Where will they nap?

For us it is somewhat different. We have always had robust breakfasts and we are happy to wait until dinner time with only a few snacks (fruit, drinks, etc.). The issue is that the baby will need 'decent' food at regular intervals - can't wait till dinner time, which is the key issue I am enquiring about. Note that we are also not driving so we will not have quick/easy access to food outlets or be able to pop back to our accommodation, should we opt to go to a beach a bit further away form where we are staying.

Could you not have breakfast before you go to the beach, and then just take a cool bag with a picnic in - sandwiches, cucumber/carrot sticks, fruit, the odd bag of crisps etc and plenty of water. Fruit/yoghurt pouches are good too - you can freeze them and use as iceblocks. Probably not great to be on the beach when it's really hot though, so if you can step inside somewhere at peak sun (12-2) would be a good idea.

Ooh this is easy! Daily food list:

2 x Ella's fruit or yoghurt pouches, frozen (they'll be thawed by midday)
2 x pieces of fruit (sturdy is best ie apples, grapes. In Tupperware if squishable)
2 x mini boxes raisins
Ziploc plastic bag of apple rice cakes and breadsticks
Sippy cup for water

Done! DC won't starve, assuming you're probably having a big breakfast each day and he or she will have a big dinner as well. They can graze all day, with top ups from whatever beach cafe type food you eat yourself. Plus ice lollies, of course !

Most of this can be bought cheaply in the UK and taken with you ( it honestly shouldn't take up much room). You save money, and you know you're not going to risk upset tummies with strange ingredients.

Take a big breakfast then a picnic lunch like you would if you went out for the day at home?
Does your DD still nap? Mine is 18 months and will only nap in her cot so we would go home for lunch anyway.
I would pack something like some crusty bread, cheese, sticks of cucumber/carrot, raisins and a yoghurt in a cool bag/box.

The med in August is hot. I doubt you want to be on a beach during lunchtime, I am sure your toddler won't.

I would go after a lunch and nice siesta and stay until late afternoon.

We went with a 2 year old in June to Majorca and all the Spanish people with small children came around 3-4pm. And we only had 30 degrees, August can easily mean 40.

I would also say picnic stuff is your best bet - bread, cheese, ham, fruit, cherry tomatoes, yoghurts, plenty of water - my dd would have been in heaven! She still likes this type of meal best of all.

Will there not also be beach-side cafés you can take her to for lunch?

I suppose you could buy a little camping stove and cook things for her if you really wanted to?

I too would be wary about the long days on the beach, just thinking of my dd at that age - she was very fractious in the heat. Think she would have got bored, too. But every child is different.
Hope you have a lovely holiday!

But yes, agree with noramum. We went to Spain with DD last sep and temps reached 40 degrees. We stayed inside between 11 and 3, it was far too hot for DD.

Just go and get food somewhere. The they will need to be in the shade 11-4pm min so they usually means somewhere near a restaurant if not the hotel.

We often stay on the beach all day, but make sure we get lots of au beds with parasols rented. They are usually part of a beach bar/ another hotel/ restaurant or similar. So around 11am ish the kids move into shade and play games/ we read books/ they draw / dig in shade. Midday we head to a beach bar or similar where again we are in shade and they can eat/ drink ( and us), then after lunch they can snooze on sunbeds in shade under a towel