Hi there!
My name is Isabelle and I am a registered dietitian, and at the time of this post, my little boy is 15 months old.
I began practicing baby-led weaning with my son from the time he was 4 months old, so he has been a pretty eager eater and despite only having 3 teeth on top and 4 teeth on the bottom, he can handle a lot of textures!
We are on the go a lot since we live about 7 hours from family and drive home quite often. For this reason I have been trying to keep my snack list innovative and sustainable. I’ll explain what I mean by this below.
Before I dive too deep, I just want to let you know that if you’re a mom struggling with time management (aren’t we all just trying to stay afloat?!), picky or selective eatings, Autism, ARIFD, cooking struggles, and more, we have amazing dietitians who help provide you with skills to help yourself and your child(ren).
Things I look for in snacks for my little
whole grains: this includes wheat flour, maybe some nuts and seeds mixed in as well. There are many options for whole grain crackers, bars, and in fact, many of your go-to items may be whole grains and you not even know it. What I prefer about whole grains is they offer more nutrition for my little one than simply white flour, and they provide more energy so he is full longer.
fat: this is a super important nutrient for a little person. Their bodies need a lot of fat and some of the best ways my little guy gets it in is through nut butters and dairy. Anytime I can find a simple, easy to take on the road, snack with fat in it, I am super happy!
melts in mouth or soft texture that is not too dry: this is especially for new eaters, or babies who don’t have many teeth and mechanically breaking down the food is impossible. My tip: the parent should always eat the snack first, then determine how small of pieces to break it into. If it is super dry, that can increase risk of choking. Always have water or milk on hand to help combat this.
variety: children don’t like to eat the same things over and over. Just like adults, we get sick of things quickly and like to mix it up. That doesn’t hold true for every baby though. There are of course benefits to having that snack always on hand that you know your child will always eat. When in doubt, we want them to fill their bellies on something! Even if it is the same peanut butter crackers they have been eating for weeks straight. But variety should always be consistently offered.
my current favorite snacks
Let me preface by saying my go-to stores are Trader Joes, Aldi, and Target for baby snacks. I will still go through the baby aisle in walmart, hyvee or other grocery stores, but I get my staples from these other places.
mini peanut butter crackers: these are the best combination of easy to eat and they have fat! My child loves these. They are a staple because I know he will always eat them, therefore I always have them in the diaper bag.
kodiak bear bites: I prefer these to animal crackers because they have a tad more protein and whole grains than other crackers, leaving him full longer. They are dry and hard to bite so right now I am breaking them in half.
bunny grahams: these are also fun crackers, not just because they are small and easy to eat, plus shaped like cute little bunnies! But they come in lots of different flavors. There are also bunny cheese grahams, similar to goldfish, that are nice to offer too. These are small enough that I serve them whole.
freeze dried fruit: this is a very easy thing to bring with because they are shelf stable. I like to get lots of types of freeze dried fruits such as banana, strawberries, mixed berries, mango, etc. This is another food that the parent should try before serving. I noticed the freeze dried blueberries can be really hard and don’t melt in the mouth easily so I don’t give those to my little one yet.
dried fruit: the difference between freeze dried and dried is that freeze dried will melt in your mouth and dried does not. So these foods I offer in very small bites that are okay to swallow whole if that happens. They do require tight wrapping in a container or bag and don’t be alarmed if they come out whole in the poop! My little guy really likes dried apple slices.
Nature’s Bakery fig bars: I prefer these to regular fig bars in the cookie aisle because they currently have four different flavors: apple cinnamon, fig, blueberry, and raspberry. They are also whole grain and as I mentioned above, this is preferred to keep the little people full! I also enjoy these myself and they come in a package of two bars so if I am hungry I can eat one as well. Its awesome having snacks that double for mom and kiddo!
pouches: I choose my pouches based on a couple of things. One, simple ingredients, and Two, exposure of other foods. I don’t pay attention to the marketing advertisements of “high protein” or “high fiber,” that is really not important to me. Pouches are purely for exposing the tastebuds to different flavors, or a snack, but not meant to replace a meal. They don’t need to be high protein or high fiber. I like to choose lots of different options so he can try many different flavors.
cheese sticks: although not shelf stable, they are easy to pack in a cooler and bring with. At 15 months my little guy requires me to rip off bite size, easy to swallow pieces.
go-gurts: these can be another great source of dairy and vitamin D, for those kids who are still breastfeeding and not drinking Vitamin D milk. I look for whole milk (kids need all the fat), and/or vitamin D fortified. I try to stray away from super sweet yogurts because at this age, sugar isn’t really important for them.
I’d love to hear from you!
There are so many options for snacks out there. There are different foods for different ages. Please note that this list is not an all encompassing list, but gives you some more ideas and let’s you know from a dietitian’s perspective, what it is about these snacks that I really like for the health of my little one.
Follow us on instagram and share with us other snacks that you feed your little at their age. Not all snacks are appropriate for all ages and stages of development.
about bamboo nutrition
Bamboo Nutrition is a group of registered dietitians and therapists who want to help you experience peace with food. We have dietitians who specialize in different areas of the life cycle and nutritional challenges/disease states. If you reach out to us, we can pair you with the dietitian who is specialized in your desired area of focus.
For parents, we have a dietitian who works with mothers throughout and after postpartum, we have dietitians for food allergies if this is something you or your little struggle with. We also have dietitians specialized in eating disorders if this is a concern of yours or you are worried about your young one.
We’d love to be on your team. Reach out to us with questions and complete our form to be paired with one of our dietitians today.