Parents who don't eat as well as they should and older babies/toddlers

[NicoleWisconsin]

A little background:

I have an 11 1/2 month old son.
I work away from home 4 days a week.
I breastfeed and pump for him while I am away. I will continue to nurse after a year, but I plan on discontinuing pumping and using whole milk while I am away. (I think, haven't decided 100% yet.)

My DH and I don't eat a wonderful 100% balanced diet. We try to eat well, but I'm not a big fruit person, so I don't eat a lot of fruit and my husband doesn't eat a lot of fruits or vegetables.

What do you do with your children's meals if you don't eat that well? I have read posts on what people are feeding their older babies/toddlers and have never eaten some of it. (For example, I have no idea what hummus is.) Do you eat it all, too? Or is it stuff for them? Do you make separate meals? Do you make yourself eat better?

I know my DS will get enough protein and carbohydrates, but it's mainly the fruits and veggies I am concerned about. Suggestions?

Also, any ideas for "bag lunches" for him? I imagine I will be packing his lunches to go to the babysitter's, though we haven't really discussed it yet. (My babysitter is a SAHM that has 2 school age children and babysits my son and 2 other babies.) She eats things like pizza, mac n cheese, corn dogs... easy foods for lunch, so I wouldn't really depend on her to feed him a balanced diet, KWIM?

Thanks for any and all imput!

[octoberkate]

I don't actually eat most of what my son eats - largely because by the time we get home from work/daycare (6:15-6:30) he's starving and I need to get him something FAST. Also DH and I tend to eat like crap, and I don't want him eating like that. I know we need to set a good example, and I plan on working on that once DS can wait more than 5 minutes after getting home to eat.

I don't "cook" seperate meals per se. I have a lot of things that are frozen or that you can heat up just a few of. For example (my son is 15 mo btw) I always have a bag of frozen veggies (peas&carrots, green beans whatever) and I just scoop out what he needs and microwave it. He usually gets a slice of american cheese or some string cheese, then I microwave some pre-cooked grilled chicken (either some I've cooked and saved or those "quick cuts" packs they have) or soy nuggets or whatever. Then for dessert he and I usually split some kind of fruit I've cut up or he has some yogurt. When it's not summer I have frozen fruit for him instead - I barely microwave it because he seems to like it cold and it makes less mess.

So I don't eat the same, and I don't really cook - I rely a LOT on frozen for things like fresh fruit and veggies. Sometimes I let him eat that while I'm making our meal and then he can have some of whatever protein/carb we're having.

Re: bag lunches, I think those yo-baby yogurts or a string cheese, some frozen veggies, some grilled chicken, and some piece of fruit would make a great lunch.

[Renrel]

We also don't tend to eat with DS. He eats breakfast and lunch at daycare and dinner at home before we do. We do often feed him our left overs, or if by chance what we are eatting is ready on time, the same thing we are eatting. We eat OK but as healthily as our son. I eat lots of junk but I don't let him see it. He has been raised eatting lots of fruit with meals and for snacks. We keep lots of it in the house for him - blueberries, mango, cantalope, watermelon, apples, pears, peachs, strawberries ect. The darker the better for nutrients. He does not get as many vegis, since we don't eat as many and they take more prep, but we always have frozen peas around as well as fresh carrots and broccolli and serve these to him often. He eats the frozen peas as a snack right out of the bag. He also likes fresh peas and we occassional give him some of these. When we order chinese food we often get some kind of sauted vegi, like pea pods, and he will eat that.

We also get seasoned tofu which is easy to keep around and serve to him cold or heated in microwave.

Hummus is just a spread made of chick peas and tahini. Tasty and easy to serve. DS does not care for it though so we don't serve that.

Beans right out of a can are a good health finger food. Heated or cold.

We try to give DS whole wheat bread and whole wheat cracker so he get used to these instead of white bread and processed wheat crackers. This is pretty easy to do.

We do not serve DS any cookies or cake or candy at home. He does get animal cracker or graham crackers in the car and if we are out visiting or at a resturant or party or there is a sample of something in the store he usually can have as much as he wants, though we will try to offer enough good food first so that he fills up on good stuff first. This way he is not deprived of the yummies but he does not expect them frequently. They are a treat.

[Natasha]

Anyone have kids who REFUSE to eat veggies? my 2 y/o won't eat them. if i mix them into somthing, he will either pick the veggies out, or refuse to eat the entire thing!

[NicoleWisconsin]

Thanks for the ideas so far!

Re: Veggies:
I read somewhere where the child wouldn't eat vegetables and the mom would serve the child green beans and let them dip them in ketchup like fries. It worked.

My aunt also ground carrots and mixed them in with her ground beef for anything... meatballs, meatloaf, tacos... all had carrots in it.

[Renrel]

You can puree vegis into lots of foods, like soup and sauce and vegi breads and the kids will have no idea they are there. And many fruits are as good as vegis, like cantalope and blueberries - the darker the better. Lots of vitamin A and fiber and other good stuff.