Food for almost 3 year old, help

[mmps108]

My LO will be 4 days shy of her 3rd birthday while we're touring the parks. I know at 2, she is allowed to eat off my plate at buffets/meals but we are only doing one sit-down meal. The rest will be in our condo (breakfast) and counter service meals. But she's not an early morning eater and we'll be hitting the ground running. Also, she's not a huge eater nor is she an adventurous eater and I really hate to spend $7-$9 on a meal she won't eat.
I am planning to have applesauce/fruit and yogurt squeeze pouches and golf fish, cereal, granola bars, etc. available but that's not a meal in my opinion.

Any advice for portable meals for a kid that won't eat pb&j? Or maybe I need someone to tell me snacking through WDW for 3+ days is not going to matter and I'm stressing over nothing...

 

[PurpleKomodo]

First, snacking through WDW would be totally fine. Other food for thought (pun intended): Many QS meals are pretty large so she may be able to share those with you without having to buy her own meal. At least enough to supplement a snack. Another option is the Gerber Graduate pasta pick-ups. They don't need to be refrigerated or heated and are not too messy because all the stuff is inside the pasta with no sauce.

 

[MinMou]

My 2 year old eats well when he sees other kids his age eating, but otherwise, he is happy to live on Danimals yogurt drinks and goldfish. And to be honest, the Disney parks have so many distractions, it was hard to get him to concentrate on eating well. I just tried to make sure that we kept a good balance between protein (yogurt, milk, cheese) and starch (crackers, goldfish, cereal), and stayed away from cookies and candy as much as possible.

Check the nutrition info on the back of your yogurt pouches and granola bars. You may find that they provide enough components to be considered a meal. If not, you will only be doing this for a few days, so it should be OK.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Someone please correct me I'm wrong, but I seem to remember being able to just buy the kids entree without the sides and it was a bit cheaper? So you could buy your daughter JUST the chicken nuggets or mac and cheese and she could share sides with you. That way you aren't spending as much on food. Or you could do what we usually do and bring in a sandwich or chicken poppers lunchables, and fruit like grapes, and cheese. DD is usually too wound up at WDW to eat meals when we do, so we always have filling small meals/snacks for her on hand when she gets hungry.

 

[Mdieter]

We bought the Power Packs a few times at some of the parks and the resort. They typically come with yogurt, carrots , small bag of goldfish string cheese, a small cookie and a drink for around $6. Not every place had them but they were great for our 2 1/2 year old who is super picky.

 

[kohlby]

We also used the Power Packs - and that was for a 5 year old with sensory issues. As for breakfast, we eat in our room but we bring fruit and cereal and cereal bars - so foods that would be easy to take into the park if someone wasn't ready to eat yet. (Which we did several times when we went last - when our youngest was 5). As for the other meals, we made sure we had enough snacks just in case our child did just snack through the day. We found we used the snacks more as supplements - like adding in a fruit cup we brought to their lunch. Also, you aren't limited to just the children's meals. We are a family of 5 but it was very rare that we bought 5 meals. On our last trip, my daughter was 8 and she and I often split an adult QS meal.

 

[ruthies12]

have you ever tried the Pediasure Sidekicks? Those shakes are supposed to balance out nutrition for picky kids who don't eat well. I use them for my 2 year old and she loves to drink those, calls them milkshakes. Maybe try some of those before your trip and see which flavor your kid likes best. They travel well since they don't have to be refrigerated. My plan for my extremely picky 2 year old for our next trip is to pack snacks similar to what you have described plus one pediasure sidekick per day. then I will share off mine and dh's plates if there is anything she is interested in.

 

[mmps108]

These are all GREAT ideas! Thank you so much.

 

[dizzy daisy]

I'd just feed her as I do at home. Same foods she eats at home, but on the go. If she's a grazer, let her graze as you tour along. Feed her some of your meal too at meal times, she will be happy

I've taken a small lunch bag with an ice pack with things like sliced fruit, sandwich 'fingers' or triangles, tiny bagels with cream cheese, diced cheese, lunch meat pinwheels, hard boiled egg that I've peeled (warning: makes a GIGANTIC mess in a stroller! eat it at a table, lol), cucumber and pepper strips, bean salad, etc. Cups of cereal (or baggies) are good too.

Remember to limit the sugar to avoid tummy trouble or constipation (!) and keep her well hydrated. Maybe a fun new water bottle to keep it in her.

Sharing with her should not be an issue at all at CS restaurants. I've never tried ordering a child meal without the sides, but we do that with the adult meals sometimes so maybe you can (there are 5 of us - 3 older kids - we'll order two baskets of chicken and fries for example along with one or two orders of just chicken and share all of it. More than enough food for us, nothing gets tossed and we save a few bucks.) If you are at a CS location that offers kids meals in a 'souvenir' something, or if the drink comes in a special cup you can order the meal without those things and save a few dollars this way.

 

[wilkeliza]

By 4 days shy of 3 do you mean she turns 3 during the trip? I'm not 100% sure how it works for offsite but I know onsite she is the age that she was when the vacation started. Would be hard I guess since you are offsite.

 

[Meeko5]

We easily had plenty of food to share with our toddler, and he was content with snacks vs meals most days anyway. The power packs are nice too! We never bought any meal specifically for my almost 2 year old, and he is a BIG eater.

 

[ruthies12]

I also think you should keep in mind just how little their tummies are at that age. We may not think of a certain amount of food as equaling a "meal" but it really is better for them to eat smaller amounts more frequently so "snacking" is a great approach IMO. Especially when you use quality proteins mixed with complex carbohydrates instead of simple sugars, will really keep their blood sugar on a more even keel and less likely to have tantrums or meltdowns during the day.

 

[BLAZEY]

Our DD6 is a grazer too. I think as long as you have healthy option mixed in she should be fine. Keep her hydrated, and from what I'e read you can get fruit and veggie snacks to give her.

 

[Bluegrrl]

When my son turned 3, we took him to Crystal Place for his annual birthday celebration. Since he's little, we just had a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with food. He just shared off of our plates. Yes, the Disney Lords have specific menus for sit down places, but I don't think a 2 turned 3 should really be expected to handle a full kids meal. And we always tried to get him to eat more interesting foods than the standard meal. Now that he's 3 going on 4, we mainly do either QS (when we split meals with him), buffets (where we pay for him and he gets more adult food - or is encouraged too - and we snack a lot. A LOT! Gummies, fruit squeezes, lots and lots of water, granola, fruit, Cheerios, "Sun Snacks" (his term for plain Raisin Brand), and peanuts. Do remember to drink water as it can get hot. But buffets for sit down are great, and I seriously think you will be ok with kids free pricing on his actual birthday. It's not like they ask you to bring a birth certificate or anything. Now a serious 3 going on 4 is a totally different deal.

BTW: don't be afraid to introduce your kid to new foods. Like, who knew my son liked hummus, raspberries, coffee flavors (I am raising a future starbucks addict), anything related to chocolate, omelets, bagels, salmon, grapes, bacon, any and all Italian food, Greek food, Moroccan food, Chinese - there are all sorts of flavors out there! If you demonstrate the flavors, she might like them too. Although, my son likes frozen waffles and pancakes. Don't know where he got that one from.

 

[SaraMc]

When DD was that age we would have snacks ready to go in our bag for her and then when it came to meal times we would have her eat off our plates. We would just ask the server to bring her a plate that she would be eating off our plates. A little bit a few different things seemed to go well for her.

 

[monorailsilver]

When my oldest was 15 mo and my middle child was 22 mo (different trips) we brought a soft cooler and ice pack to the parks with zip lock bags and whatever they didn't finish went in the cooler and they had no issues eating it reheated. My ds loves chicken legs (still does at age 12) and he could only eat 1 at that age and he got 2 so we saved the next one for the next meal. I remember a kid pizza my 15mo could not eat so we saved half for dinner or lunch the next day. She was fine with that (we do leftovers reheated in microwave at home so there was no issue).