Snacks for 18 month old

[itshappened]

My daughter has always been quite big... she was over 8pounds at birth and was on the 93rd centile length and 50th weight.she had severe silent reflux which went undiagnosed for a long time and would comfort eat when I was bfing, so gained weight pretty quickly.Since we have got her reflux under control with medication and dietary restrictions, e.g. no dairy, she has been much better. But when we started weaning, she was like a bottomless pit! She would eat absolutely everything I made her, and never seemed full. We're talking fruit and vegetables and fish pretty much exclusively for the first year. All homemade.

Anyway fast forward to now and she is 1.5 yrs old. She attends full time nursery where they feed her a range of meals and snacks... all pretty healthy though. They say she eats very well.

But with me, she is turning into a bit of a nightmare when it comes to food. She is constantly hungry and is pretty plump and stocky which I'm concerned about; but also extremely energetic and active. When I feed her, she refuses pasta, rice (most of the time), potatoes and bread. She still loves fish and pretty much all vegetables, and has recently started accepting things like fish fingers, sausages, goujons etc. All other protein gets thrown on the floor. She will not touch eggs or anything creamy like coconut yogurt.obviously she is dairy free, so things like cheese are not allowed. She used to love porridge for breakfast, but will now only accept cereal like Cheerios in oat milk or occasionally toast. Desserts are pretty much only fruit pots.

The problem is she doesn't have enough protein to fill her up, so within ten minutes of having her meals, she is chasing me for snacks. And she will ask for snacks pretty much all day. She has started refusing most fresh fruit weirdly... mango, apples and blueberries being the only thing she will eat at the moment, but even they frequently get thrown on the floor. However she will eat all dried fruit. I'm just at a loss as to how to fill her up and keep her diet healthy so her weight gain steadies out a bit. I confess I've given in a bit recently and have started giving her oat bars, rice cakes, raisin pots, kiddilicious snacks when out and about, as she won't accept things like cucumber sticks and has a huge tantrum, cries and cries until I give her something she likes!

I would love some advice on how to manage her diet and food intake better! Do I just need to let her have a tantrum and cry until she realises it won't get her anywhere? Any tips on how to feed her up with more healthy meals and snacks? Thanks!!

Peanut butter. My daughter likes to dip Apple into peanut butter.

Hmmm she hasn't ever shown much interest in sauces or spreads. But I'll try again!

Boiled eggs
Chicken pieces
Cheese cubes
Full fat yogurt

Around age 2 ds lived on a predominantly pig based diet (ham, ham sandwiches, sausages, mini sausages as snacks, sausage rolls, pork pies). They get very fussy as toddlers. He eats all sorts now

Thanks birdsofafeather. the problem is she is dairy free so can't eat cheese or yogurt (doesn't like the non-dairy versions). Also she refuses eggs and chicken!

I'm so concerned that she is getting over weight, and whilst i persist with all the healthy snack options I can think of, its just impossible persuading her to eat them!

My dd is this age and she is getting her molars (has two already) and I have found she is off some foods since then. Going off my other dc they do go a little fussy as they discover new tastes and textures.

Children of that age just like to eat, I don't think they're always hungry. My 2 year old would eat all day long if I let him, I just offer two snacks a day and distract the rest of the time. Sometimes will surprise him with a celebration chocolate or chocolate coin randomly as well.

yes i think maybe i just need to be stricter... when she is screaming in the buggy i often give her something to keep her quiet, so prob need to just put up with her moaning so she learns to think about something other than snacks!

Will she eat eggs in any form? Scrambled with baked beans mixed in? Or a veggie and mushroom omelette? Mines not keen on plain eggs but will eat them if I disguise with other flavours

no she picks the vegetables out of omelettes and leaves the egg! i have tried all types of eggs, and for some reason she refuses them all. also doesn't eat baked beans as she doesn't like sauces...

Carrot cucumber pepper fingers and bread sticks with hummus
Marmalade jam lemon curd or cheeky choc spread on toast
Crackers
Roasted courgette, peppers.
Corn on the cob
Diced lamb or beef, even duck (my Ds would eat duck but not chicken)
Pasties or sausage rolls
Quorn pieces

Children are nearly always funn and fussy with rice pasta and potato tbh.
Change the colour of the rice example a bit of beetroot, broccoli or carrot in with boiling will do the trick.
As for pasta I found my DC prefer spaghetti but no idea why.
As for sandwiches I used to use cookie cutters to encourage my ds to eat bread. Every day without fail he will ask for a sandwich, toast or toastie now!

It's not nice being strict, but he kept dragging me to the snack cupboard and pointing, was rooting through my bag looking for food, etc. He's learnt not to eat all the time and will ask for snacks or 'seetees' (sweeties) but is usually ok if I distract. If he isn't then I might offer him something else like a banana.

I also ask what he wants for pudding and he gets that at the same time as his main meal. He seems to eat more main meal that way, and also with him telling me what he wants seems to stop asking for so much at other times.

We have a 21 month old with diary, egg and peanut allergies, so have a similar worry to you about protein.

Have you tried the Tesco kids diary free yoghurts, the ones with the monkey on the packaging? Ours was a yoghurt refuser until we tried these.

What are you putting in the porridge? We mash a few raspberries and blueberries in before it gets cooked, this helps to get a few extra fruits in and sweetens the porridge. We've also found that it has to be the alpro toddler soy, oat milk porridge gets refused.

One of our main snacks is an oat biscuit made into a sandwich with cashew butter, or apple slices with cashew butter. Great for a protein hit.

Homemade beef stew in the pressure cooker, served with sweet potato mash is also a huge hit. Its great freezer food, and brilliant for hiding veggies. I have little frozen pots of cooked broccoli which get thrown in when defrosting the stew.

If all else fails, beans on toast never gets refused.

I think the main thing is to relax, don't let her see you get stressed, and try to think of her diet over a day / week. One bad day isn't the end of the world. Also, she's very young still, so don't worry too much about the weight of she's very active.

GummyGoddess thats so interesting what you mention about pudding... my daughter asks for her fruit pot half way through her meal, eats most of it, and then will eat more of her main meal. My husband says we should not let her do that though, and that if she insists on having her pudding, then she needs to learn thats the end of her dinner and not give her anymore!

i think she does have a bigger appetite than most children though, as she is always asking for more!