Toddler Snacks?

[odcdinah]

Hello,

I suspect my 18 month old son may be showing signs of celiac (I was dx 3 yrs ago). Since the blood work is often inconclusive for this age, I'm thinking about starting a gluten-free diet to see if it helps.

My question is, what do I use for snacks? He loves graham crackers, goldfish, all the standards, and I just don't have time to bake my own graham crackers.

Any suggestions are welcomed!!

Dinah

[khockman]

I would have the blood test done first. My daughter was tested at 15 months and was through the roof positive. If you are going to go 100% gluten free, I recommend transitioning to fruit for snacks. That has worked the best for us. Occassionally, Miriam has one of the envirokidz cereals (koala crisp, panda puffs, gorilla munch) or a gluten-free cookie, but she just does better on whole foods. Plus the gluten free stuff is so expensive.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

You can use Rice Chex.

When you think about it, though,this kind of highlights how very unhealthy our standard Western diet is, especially for toddlers. Fresh fruit would certainly be healthier than sugary, starchy, pre-fab snacks.

Sliced grapes were always a favorite with our toddlers as an on-the-go snack. (Important to slice in half or quarters so that they are not chokable-size.)

For at-home snacks, sliced strawberries, tofu cubes, bits of broiled fish or chicken, very thinly-sliced peeled apples, and tangerines worked well.

If you can't find decent fresh fruit during the winter, you could use well-drained canned diced fruit.

[Genna'smom]

I use fruits but also for fun and not so healthy I use the following for my 2 1/2 year old

Marshmellows

raisins

yogert covered raisins

yogert

M & M's

cheetos - take the place of goldfish for us.

doritos

corn chips

reg chips

popsicles

peanuts

For cereal I use rice chex, coco pebbles and fruity pebbles

these are less expensive and taste better than gluten foods out there. You just have to make sure to read the lables real well. Also a friend of mine told me to make peanut butter cookies using flour from the health store and she puts hershey kisses in it - fun - looks like everybodys and I am going to try this for christmas..... still looking for a good flour for baking with.

[Belinda Meeker]

I saw where one posted *cocoa pebbles & fruity pebbles* sorry folks they r not safe

Malt is in there and malt is a no no for Celiac's also if I'm not mistaken in the fruity pebbles there is a ingredient my son found that was on his list when he was 12 lol that I missed (he is 19 now)

The only cereal safe in reg grocery stores is Rice checks as mentioned!

Even tho they say rice is safe the rice crispy cereal contains malt and most cereal's do unless U get the saw dust tasting ones from the health food store! Except for the peanut butter ball one my hubby says is great without milk .

As far as finger foods my son ate corn chips, gluten-free chetoes (great value at wal mart), gluten-free pretzels,

animal cookies, He is allergic to alot of fruit's, veggies, & nuts, so we couldn't go there but he did do bananna's dipped in gluten-free chocolate on a stick and then freeze and slice was a big treat he likes, also we made pretzels covered in white chocolate he always helped and made it fun for him to eat later.

I make puppy chow just out of the rice chex and gluten-free peanut buter and the rest of ingrd's r gluten-free as well noone could tell the dif. peanut buter fudge squares is another .

I'm not sure ,but if anyone is as sensative as my son he react's to the "Gluten free Pantry produts that say can contain traces of soy " bread and cupcakes were a disater for him he was sick for days due to I made both in the same day

If you are ever in doubt always read your labels my motto is if it doesn't say gluten-free and no traces of any of the bad stuff I purchase that one!

I have some great recp's I have converted over just not mastered a great bread yet, so if interested let me know. (pizza-mufffins-corn dogs-pumpkin roll-fudge-to name a few)

Good Luck!

God Bless

Belinda

[JennyC]

Fruity and cocoa pebbles are gluten free.

The ingredients for fruity pebbles:

Ingredients: RICE, SUGAR, POLYDEXTROSE (SOURCE OF FIBER), HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), SALT, CONTAINS LESS THAN 0.5% OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, RED 40, YELLOW 6, TURMERIC OLEORESIN (COLOR), YELLOW 5, BLUE 1, BLUE 2, BHA (TO HELP PROTECT FLAVOR). VITAMINS AND MINERALS: NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, ZINC OXIDE (SOURCE OF ZINC), VITAMIN B6, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D.

The ingredients for cocoa pebbles:

Ingredients: RICE, SUGAR, POLYDEXTROSE (SOURCE OF FIBER), HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), SALT, CARAMEL COLOR, ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVOR, BHA (TO HELP PROTECT FLAVOR). VITAMINS AND MINERALS: NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, ZINC OXIDE (SOURCE OF ZINC), VITAMIN B6, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D.

For snacks we use:

Kinnikinnick graham crackers and animal cookies

Glutino pretzels and chocolate snack bars

Ener-G crackers with cream cheese

Glutino round crackers with cheese

Walmart brand Cheetos

string cheese

Nut Thins

[celiac-mommy]

Toddlers also love Pirate's Booty-staple in our house!!

We do mostly whole foods, here are a few ideas:

Cheese cubes

fruit

partially cooked and cooled veggies

yogurt

cottage cheese

dried fruit-Freeze dried "Just Fruits"

health valley rice bran crackers

applesauce

tofu "pasta"-saute cubes of tofu, add chopped frozen spinach and a little tomato sauce

scrambled eggs

[bear6954]

My son is a picky eater. He loves Mi-Del arrowroot cookies (like animal cookies) and their cho. chip cookies. He also likes the Enjoy Life apple cookies. I normally keep a bag in the car for him to munch on. Glutino Pretzels are wonderful. Stax potatoe chips and cheetos are good also. My non-celiac daughter loves all of the above and so does my son and he is real picky. I also keep GoGurt on hand. Some people that reply must forget what is it like having a small child. Sometimes we need to go now and cutting grapes in not a option. In my case, fruit sugars give my son very messy poops and it burns his bottom, so we try to stay away right now. I hope this helps.

[Darn210]

My daughter eats the following for snacks (only listing things I haven't read yet):

popcorn (not sure if 18 month old is ready for popcorn . . . might need to break into smaller pieces)

Back to Nature Rice Thins

Chex Mix (Home-made with rice chex and health valley corn crunchem's and glutino pretzels)

fruit chillers (Del-Monte)

[purple]

How about mini muffins. You can put lots of yummy things in them, reduce the sugar and use applesauce to sweeten them. Google recipes on here. Bake a couple of kinds and freeze them.

Pumpkin, apple, applesauce, lemon, choc/chip, nut, raisin, cinnamon and spices, coconut, peanut butter and jelly, carrot, berry, etc. Or just add different goodies into the muffin tins if you use a basic recipe.

[Juliebove]

I saw where one posted *cocoa pebbles & fruity pebbles* sorry folks they r not safe

Malt is in there and malt is a no no for Celiac's also if I'm not mistaken in the fruity pebbles there is a ingredient my son found that was on his list when he was 12 lol that I missed (he is 19 now)

The only cereal safe in reg grocery stores is Rice checks as mentioned!

Even tho they say rice is safe the rice crispy cereal contains malt and most cereal's do unless U get the saw dust tasting ones from the health food store! Except for the peanut butter ball one my hubby says is great without milk .

As far as finger foods my son ate corn chips, gluten-free chetoes (great value at wal mart), gluten-free pretzels,

animal cookies, He is allergic to alot of fruit's, veggies, & nuts, so we couldn't go there but he did do bananna's dipped in gluten-free chocolate on a stick and then freeze and slice was a big treat he likes, also we made pretzels covered in white chocolate he always helped and made it fun for him to eat later.

I make puppy chow just out of the rice chex and gluten-free peanut buter and the rest of ingrd's r gluten-free as well noone could tell the dif. peanut buter fudge squares is another .

I'm not sure ,but if anyone is as sensative as my son he react's to the "Gluten free Pantry produts that say can contain traces of soy " bread and cupcakes were a disater for him he was sick for days due to I made both in the same day

If you are ever in doubt always read your labels my motto is if it doesn't say gluten-free and no traces of any of the bad stuff I purchase that one!

I have some great recp's I have converted over just not mastered a great bread yet, so if interested let me know. (pizza-mufffins-corn dogs-pumpkin roll-fudge-to name a few)

Good Luck!

God Bless

Belinda

Nope. No malt in them.

[Juliebove]

My daughter loves Tings and Ener-G pretzels called Wylde. No soy in them. When she was a toddler she loved raw baby carrots, black olives (pitted) and green beans straight from the can. To this day her favorite foods are green beans and black olives.

[Kehmgrl]

Nope. No malt in them.

I contacted Post directly and they said they are both gluten-free. They also said that for all Post, Kraft, and Nabisco products, they will state in plain terms if any ingredients is derived from wheat, barley, rye or oats. It will actually say (from barley) in plain terms. All their modified food starches are from gluten free sources unless specified, and so is their caramel coloring. I'm new to this whole gluten-free diet thing (my 12 month old was dx at 9 months) and I call every company directly. In addition to getting the most up to date gluten-free foods lists from them, they like to send coupons and samples . Hope this helps the "Great Pebble Debate" lol!

[HopeMum]

I have a 2.5 year old celiac and a 4.5 year non celiac who are both big snackers. I agree that the specialist gluten-free stuff is so expensive and often horrible. We do a lot of the above mentioned, esp cheese sticks, cubes etc and I know baking is tough with kids but I have an awesome quick, cheap recipe....

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Cup sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp baking soda.

Mix, drop blobs on cookie sheets and bake at 350 for approx 10 mins.

My two also love rice krispy treats made with gluten-free brown rice puffs (few brands around) and melted marshmallows/little butter. These are easy to take in car etc.

Good luck

Claire

[stolly]

My kids love

-The new Honey Kix (3g fiber per serving)

-Rice Chex (plain or make a chex mix recipe from their website substituting gluten-free ingredients)

-Glutino pretzels

-Corn chips; sometimes we make "cheesy chips" aka nachos

-Frito's (a new discovery yesterday)

-Animal crackers: Envirokidz or Mi-Del

-Josef graham crackers (they have cinnamon/graham plus chocolate or vanilla); we buy at Wegman's

-String cheese, sliced cheese

-Rolled deli ham

-Yogurt

-Fruit- cups or fresh grapes, strawberries, bananas, pineapple

-Mini pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, banana chocolate chip muffins

[elonwy]

Kinnikinnick makes a "graham style" cracker that is excellent. I think this is a new product, it just showed up on the shelves of my local health food store. They are a little harder than normal graham crackers, but they seem like they would be a good kid snack (I don't have any yet, so I'm just guessing here)

[Kehmgrl]

Some great take along finger foods that my 12 month old loves are:

Gerber Graduates wagon wheels (apple)

Walmart's Great Value Brand Smilies fruit snacks (I bite them in half)

Gerber Grad's Fruit Twists

Gerber Grad's Mini Fruits (freeze dried)

Envirokids' Crispy Rice bars

a bag of gluten-free cereal (Envirokids Peanut Butter Puffs, Gorilla Munch or Rice Chex)

Frozen peas (they thaw in the baggie before she eats them)

Enjoy Life's gluten-free Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies

mini pancakes (I make tons of them at once using Pamela's Mix and freeze them on a plate and then put them frozen in to a bag so they don't freeze in a lump)

Blue Diamond Nut Thins

These are just what's in her cabinet now, and I went to the regular food store for it all. I even keep a stash of these in the diaper bag for emergency situations.

[Pattymom]

Most of the Disney cereals are also gluten free, My dd loves the Dora's cinnamin stars., we also use Little Einsteins and Pooh. Fruta bu fruit snacks are all fruit no sugar, those are also a hit with my kids. I also make batches of mini-muffins and those are popular while they last.

Patty

[HiDee]

My kids love

-The new Honey Kix (3g fiber per serving)

I though KIX was not gluten free. Last time I read the ingredients they weren't gluten free. Has that recently changed? Or is it just this new flavor that is gluten free?

[HiDee]

One other that my kids like are Baby Mum Mum's. My local Walmart carries them or you can find them on Amazon. They are good for little ones because they dissolve easily in mouth and they are just rice.

[stolly]

I though KIX was not gluten free. Last time I read the ingredients they weren't gluten free. Has that recently changed? Or is it just this new flavor that is gluten free?

Honey Kix is a new cereal by General Mills and it does not have gluten ingredients. It tastes great! I think some on the board has said regular Kix is also changing, but I have only seen regular Kix with oats, so we're sticking with Honey Kix for now.

[carebell]

Fruity and cocoa pebbles are gluten free.

The ingredients for fruity pebbles:

Ingredients: RICE, SUGAR, POLYDEXTROSE (SOURCE OF FIBER), HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), SALT, CONTAINS LESS THAN 0.5% OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, RED 40, YELLOW 6, TURMERIC OLEORESIN (COLOR), YELLOW 5, BLUE 1, BLUE 2, BHA (TO HELP PROTECT FLAVOR). VITAMINS AND MINERALS: NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, ZINC OXIDE (SOURCE OF ZINC), VITAMIN B6, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D.

The ingredients for cocoa pebbles:

Ingredients: RICE, SUGAR, POLYDEXTROSE (SOURCE OF FIBER), HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), SALT, CARAMEL COLOR, ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVOR, BHA (TO HELP PROTECT FLAVOR). VITAMINS AND MINERALS: NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, ZINC OXIDE (SOURCE OF ZINC), VITAMIN B6, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D.

For snacks we use:

Kinnikinnick graham crackers and animal cookies

Glutino pretzels and chocolate snack bars

Ener-G crackers with cream cheese

Glutino round crackers with cheese

Walmart brand Cheetos

string cheese

Nut Thins

[carebell]

Hi my son was diagnosed 2 weeks. He has been Gluten Free for a week and a half now. I'm a little confused about the Corn Chex. Is it Gluten free? And what about Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles. I read they are Gluten free and I ran to the store to buy some. Any inforamtiom will be helpful.

Thank you

Carrie

[stolly]

Fruity Pebbles and Ccoa Pebbles are gluten free...they are made by Post, a Kraft company, so any gluten would be listed as wheat, barley/malt, rye, or oats. Corn Chex have barley malt extract, so they are not gluten free.