Navigating mealtimes during the festive season can be challenging for parents of toddlers. Family gatherings, irregular schedules, and an abundance of new foods and treats can quickly disrupt your child\u2019s carefully established eating routine. Try these tips to help ensure your toddler remains well fed and happy throughout the holidays.<\/p>\r\n
1 Preserve familiar eating rhythms<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Consistency is the cornerstone of successful toddler nutrition. Even amidst the holiday excitement, strive to maintain your child\u2019s regular meal and snack times as best you can. Late nights and disrupted schedules can significantly impact a toddler\u2019s eating patterns. Prioritising regular bedtimes and creating a calm eating environment can help minimise disruption.<\/p>\r\n
Even when travelling or visiting relatives, try to recreate familiar bedtime rituals and mealtime experiences. This approach provides comfort and helps your toddler feel secure amidst the holiday excitement. If you\u2019re staying with family or friends, let them know your child\u2019s eating routine and pack your child\u2019s favourite plate, cutlery and sippy cup so that they can provide a sense of normalcy when they are away from their familiar environment.<\/p>\r\n
Making sure that your little one gets their meals, snacks and drinks on time will help prevent emotional meltdown and energy dips (or surges if they have too many sugary treats!) that can arise from hunger or disrupted routines.<\/p>\r\n
2 Prep and plan<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Stock your freezer and pantry with ready-prepped meals and snacks so that you always have food on hand, even when you\u2019re juggling a jam-packed holiday schedule. Batch cook some of these favourites that are loaded with Squish goodness: Toddler-friendly Chicken Curry<\/span><\/a>, Veggie-Packed Cottage Pie, <\/span><\/a>and Mac & Cheese. <\/span><\/a> If you\u2019ve got a stash of Squish 100% Veg Purees<\/b> in your grocery cupboard, you can create a delicious meal in a flash. Simply stir Squish 100% Veg Puree<\/b> through cooked pasta or leftover mash then top with cheese and pop under the grill. Squish 100% Fruit and Veg Purees<\/b> are a convenient and delicious solution for parents of toddlers. They contain only fruit and veg and don\u2019t have any colourants, flavourants and preservatives.<\/p>\r\n 3 Pack favourites<\/b><\/p>\r\n Being out and about and visiting restaurants or family and friends can expose your child to a lot of new foods and flavours. Introduce new foods gently, alongside familiar options, and avoid pressuring your toddler to eat specific items. Pack a small cooler box with some of your toddler\u2019s favourite snacks, a couple of pouches of Squish 100% Fruit and Veg Purees<\/b> or Yogi<\/b> pouches, and some Squish 100% Juice<\/b> boxes so that you can offer them an easy alternative if there isn\u2019t anything suitable being offered for them.<\/p>\r\n 4 Offer alternative treats<\/b><\/p>\r\n The holiday season can mean an abundance of sweet treats that are loaded with artificial sugar. While an occasional treat is fine, maintaining boundaries is essential. You\u2019ll find a whole range of fruity treat recipes your little one will love under the Quick + Easy Recipe Tab<\/span><\/a> on the Squish website, including Fruit Crunchies<\/span><\/a>, Banana Sushi<\/span><\/a> and Frozen Fruity Yoghurt<\/span><\/a>. Have these on hand to offer as alternatives.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Navigating mealtimes during the festive season can be challenging for parents of toddlers. Family gatherings, irregular…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,33,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-12mnths","category-36mnths","category-6mnths","odd","has-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3862"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3864,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862\/revisions\/3864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/squish.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}