Here is another helpful post for mothers with toddlers by Emily, The Toddler Expert!

Let them work for exercise, even if they are only half dressed.

One day I was a really bad mom.  It started in the morning, when I got my one-year-old son out of his crib and strapped him in his highchair for breakfast.  He was freed from his highchair only to be buckled into his carseat.  Then into his stroller while I helped at the school, and back in the car again.  The next stop was the grocery store where he rode in the cart.  And home for lunch (back in the highchair) and then to his crib for a nap.  Which means that in FOUR HOURS his feet never even touched the floor. 

As life gets busier, it is so easy to just strap my little ones in and go, go, go.  But kids should be running, dancing, exploring and just being kids.  They don’t deserve to be strapped in like prisoners all day.  When they play well, they sleep better.  They eat better.  And I feel better.

I should have woken mine up a bit earlier to play before the busy day began.  I should have saved the grocery shopping for another day and left some time in between stops for him to run around.  I should have hired a nanny to run all my errands. 

Okay, maybe not the nanny part.  But it would be nice…

Other Posts by Emily

Distraction Makes the Food Go Down

Let Your Kids Win

Feeding Toddlers Christmas Morning

Another post by Toddler expert Emily;

I hope you all have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!  We’ll be back Monday with some great ideas!!! Stay Tuned!!

Other Posts by Emily

Distraction makes the food go down

Let Your Kids Win

Another informative post from Emily for all you parents with toddlers. If you missed her last one, read it here.
When I taught 4-year-old dance, I learned to distract the little dancers with games so they wouldn’t know they were stretching. Children don’t like to be uncomfortable; anything that hurts is bad. I sang songs and recited nursery rhymes to take their minds off the pain, but they still got the benefit of the stretches.

It’s the same with food; I have to distract my younger children so they will eat foods that aren’t their favorite. Here are some ideas and games to distract even the most determined toddler:

1. Airplane, with a morbid twist. Yes, an airplane spoon flies into their waiting mouth, but this time, there’s somebody on it. “Here comes daddy on an airplane. Here he comes! Oh, no, don’t eat Daddy! Ahhh, you ate daddy! Oh no, please don’t chew him. Oh dear! She swallowed Daddy!” We have eaten most of our extended family this way, along with our favorite cartoon characters.
2. Tell a story. Any story will work, but a repetitive one like “The Three Little Pigs” is good. Everytime you say a certain word (like “Pig”) they should take a bite of their food. (You can take a bite, too, but don’t go on with the story until they take their bite.) Use crazy sound effects, silly voices, things that will make them REALLY want to hear the whole story. Dads make excellent wolves, by the way. (They really know how to “huff and puff”)
3. Follow the leader. Take turns being the leader. The leader will choose the food to eat next. “And now everyone take 1 bite of lettuce.” And it goes around the table, 1 bite of corn, 3 bites of carrot, and pretty soon, dinner’s done!
4. Mystery foods. Our most successful game has been to have our children cover their eyes, and we feed them a bite so they can guess what it is. Combo bites work really well for this, so we can sneak in the green bits they normally wouldn’t eat.
5. Role play. “How would a rabbit eat that cucumber?” “Pretend you are a mouse while you eat your pasta.” You’ll love what they come up with. (My 5-year-old does a fabulous groundhog impression.) Other great animals to copy: chickens, dogs, bears, snakes, cats, birds, worms… or try family members. “How does Grandpa eat a tomato?”
6. Give praise. We reward good eaters with praise. My 1-year-old son still claps for himself after every bite he takes, crazy kid. A bite of spinach, a shred of carrot, the crowd goes wild.

This is a lot of effort to put into dinner at the end of the day, but it is only for a season. As children grow, mealtimes will be filled with pleasant conversations instead of clapping and clucking. But in these toddler years, distraction really is the best medicine.

LaDonna asked if I would talk about feeding those stubborn but adorable toddlers, but I really couldn’t remember much of our toddler days.  That’s when I turned to toddler expert, dancer, housewife, primary president, neighbor and friend EMILY!  Here is what she wrote for LaDonna and all those having trouble feeding toddlers.

Feeding my children is one of my biggest challenges as a mother.  It would be so easy to toss a few chicken nuggets in the microwave, (I’ve been there), but as my oldest daughter started school this year, I panicked.  I was sending her to a public school full of germy coughs and snotty sneezes; how could I protect her?   Instead of investing in a gas mask; I realized I could fortify her immune system with two things: healthy foods and adequate sleep. 

That was the plan, but my children (ages 1, 2, and 5) don’t always agree with me.  Still, I have a few ideas for feeding babies, toddlers and children that have worked in our family. There is no simple solution for every child, and even when we find one that works, it might only work for a week!   Feeding my two-year-old is the greatest challenge.  She resists me all day long, from getting dressed to getting in the car, and the dinner table is the ultimate war-zone.  I can force her to do most things, but I can’t make her eat.  The best way to convince a two-year-old to do anything is to let them do it their way; let them win on something.  So we let her win: 

“Megan, please eat 100 bites of broccoli.”
“No, I’m two!”
(Here’s where you give in, and let her win.)
“Oooo-kay, I guess you can just take two bites.)
“Megan, PLEASE take a bite of this plate!”
“(giggling) MOMMY, you can’t eat PLATES!”
“Oh, sorry!  I forgot!  Okay, how about peas?  Can people eat peas?  I don’t believe you… show me.  Oooh, you really can eat peas? I think I’ll try some too!”
Outrageous suggestions are the best, because they keep the mood silly.  Let them correct you, let them be smarter than you, (and keep them laughing), and you may just be able to get them to eat.