Food ideas for a 3 yr old diabetic

[Melanie]

My daughter is 3 yrs old and Avery picky eater. She will only eat certain foods. I was wondering if anyone has any good ideas for snacks (15carbs) and meals. Please help!!!!:eek:

[hartpukas]

I totally understand as I have a 14 month year old with the same issues. Lately, we have been using hummus - all different kinds like black bean, sun dried tomato, etc... I mix the hummus with anything from pita bread to cucumbers all depending on where her bg's are.

She loves pears and I read that they are a good snack source plus they are rather low on the glycemic index. If she is higher than I mix a little pear with more cheese.

Black beans mixed with a touch of sour cream with shredded cheese are a great dinner. Sometimes I make a pizza out of a tortilla (whole wheat), salsa, shredded cheese and black olives and sour cream, she loves it!

Veggie brugers wiht a slice of cheese and a slice of pumpernickel bread seem to make a good lunch for her. We also use the vegetarian nuggets (they come in spinach and broccoli) and she loves them - dip them in a little bit of Creamy Italian/ or Ranch Dressing.

I hope that you may find a few new ideas in this. I emailed the forum a few weeks back and I got some great replys as well as I checked out a bunch of great diabetic cookbooks. I am also really studying up on the glycemic index. Picky eaters and diabetes is such a crazy mix!:rolleyes:

[Sweetkidmom]

I'm not sure I can remember what 3-yr olds like to eat, but Popcorn has always been a great snack for us. (The kind that you pop yourself, not the pre-packaged microwave kind.) Lowest in fat if air-popped in the microwave, but I used a little bit of oil and did it on the stove, when they were small. It's super fast. You can experiment with spices and herbs and can make sure you know exactly what is in them.

Also, 3 cups make up 15g, so it looks like a LOT, and the fibre content is good. And corn kernels are cheap.

Kay

[cydnimom]

I'm not sure what your daughter likes or not or whether you are looking for easy on the go snacks. If you are a little more specific I can probably come up with some pretty good ideas. I guess it also depends on whether you are trying to make it look like more or if it is a condensed snack. I have picky eaters too and it drives me crazy.

My 5 yr old has 20 carb snacks that he has to take to school with him and he eats them on the run so it has to be something easy. Here is some of the stuff I send:

grapes (weigh)
mandarin orange (one is around 9 or 10 carbs)
original baby arrowroot cookies (5 each)
Teddy Grahams (weigh)
Mini choc chip cookies (weigh)
yogurt tubes (can freeze too) (9/10 carbs)
fruit leather (like Fruit to Go) (9/10 carbs)
mini box of raisins (10 carbs)
mini breadsticks w/cheezewhiz (Kraft prepacked) 13 carbs
crispy minis (weigh)
cheese sticks w/crackers (weigh)
craisins or raisins mixed with peanuts (weigh)
fish crackers (weigh)

I could go on, but I need to know what direction to go in. What I have found for my picky eaters is that I need to make it fun sometimes (a little more time consuming, but works).

[Melanie]

Thank you so much for all your great ideas, she loves the pizza. I'm so glad I am able to communicate with people in the same situation. It's nice to be able to ask a question and get such a fast reply. thanks again:D

[Brensdad]

Our daughter loves bananas of all things. And a small one is exactly 15 carbs.

[wendyc]

My daughter is 3 yrs old and Avery picky eater. She will only eat certain foods. I was wondering if anyone has any good ideas for snacks (15carbs) and meals. Please help!!!!:eek:


Hi Melanie,

Two staples in our house are peanuts and popcorn. Popcorn is great because 3 cups is just about 15g of carbs, and that is just about what my 4 year old can manage for a snack. It fills her right up. We also do what we call peanut butter lollipops. Basically, a disposable plastic spoon holds about 1Tbl of pb. My daughter eats it just like a lollipop, and knows she can have seconds Two great resources I have found are "Cooking up Fun for kids with diabetes" by Patti Geil and "America's Best Cookbook for Kids with Diabetes" by Colleen Bartley. Both offer some great recipes that a kid would eat, and they list all nutritional info. The best part is they avoid artificial sweeteners. Good luck:)

[kitty]

I recently saw these at the grocer store when I was buying some snacks for my 2 year old daughter...
Gerber Graduates makes these packs of freeze-dried fruit and veggies, which are only 7 grams of carbs per serving. They are also low in fat and calories. They come in apple, strawberry/banana mix, and corn.

I also saw some Gerber finger foods that look like puffed up cereal bits, in different flavors like sweet potato, apple, banana, and veggie mix. Theses too had very little carbs per serving (1/4 C serving size).

Emma loved the apple Gerber Graduates freeze-dried fruit, and the sweet potato Gerber cereal bits.
These might be good snacks for your toddler that your daughter may really like.

Jessie:cool:

[selketine]

I think with a picky eater you can look for items she likes to eat and give them in 15 carb increments. Of course something more healthy and substantial like crackers and cheese is better than a chocolate bar - but you get the idea! William likes snacking on black olives - but make sure they are cut up because of choking issues.

I'll also add that I learned the hard way NOT to give you child peanut butter until they are 3-4 years old - William developed a severe peanut allergy after I gave him a bit of pb on a cracker when he was 27 months old (about 1 month after he had been diagnosed with diabetes). You might want to consider substituting "sunbutter" which is a butter like peanut butter but made out of sunflower seeds - we really like it! Also watch out on overdoing eggs, nuts, fish and shellfish before the age of 4. (This link has more info on food allergies and when to introduce foods if you scroll down: http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/infant/startingsolids.html).

Believe me, it is bad enough having a 26 month old with diabetes until you get one with diabetes AND a peanut allergy! ugh!