Banana Pancakes
/{I want to preface this post by saying I am a first time mom and still figuring everything out through a continual process of trial and error. A friend yesterday sent a meme that said, "first child is basically a rough draft." Well, I guess I have two rough drafts in the making but I always want to hear of what works well for others so please feel free to comment or message me with your tips for toddler eating habits. We can think of this post as a "rough draft" and I can update it often with new ideas and tricks.}
Today started like any regular day with preparing breakfast for the girls. We basically have the same few things on repeat but their absolute favorite is banana pancakes and Greek yogurt with fruit. (I posted two pancake recipes below in case you need to add something to your toddler recipe arsenal.)
I had a moment of silence to sip my coffee (aka my life source) once I successfully wrangled them in their high chairs. I stood back and took in the scene of them chatting in their twin language while happily eating. It occurred to me they have become much better eaters over the past couple months. I'm not talking quantity of food. I'm talking about how they actually eat their food. Many people ask me what is the hardest thing about being a mom to multiples and my honest answer since they started solids is meal times. I don't know if this is just me being a clean freak or if it's because there's two of them but meal times stress me out. They are food throwers to the point that sometimes for no reason they will just dump their plates simultaneously while staring directly at me. Okay, okay- maybe I just feel like they are staring directly at me and have a personal vendetta against me drinking warm coffee.
I was at my wits end at one point and started to research products that could help me with meal times and to lessen the mess. I also asked my village of seasoned mom friends for their tips. I added pictures and descriptions below of my favorite things that help make meal time easier and what has worked best for my girls. The majority of these products are available on amazon. (Can I get a hallelujah for Prime Now) We have tested each of these products so I can confidently say they have worked for our family and I hope they work for yours as well.
Great products definitely help with meal times but they do not solve all of our eating woes. I took a look at our routine and realized I need to be more present during their meals. A lot of the time I would try to fit in a house chore while they eat because they are contained to their high chair. Or *gasp* I would take a quick peek at social media and text my girlfriends. I realized that's when the majority of the food throwing would occur because they wanted my attention. One way I decided to be more present is to read to them during their lunch time and this has helped tremendously with the mess and getting them to eat more. I chose lunch for story time because they have already been awake for hours and I can pick books that relate to their day even if that book is titled, "teeth are not for biting." Lunch also usually falls pretty close to nap so it's a win win with story time.
I also spoke with their pediatrician about the girls tossing their food. She gave me some solid advice that I want to shout from the roof tops. Her first gold nugget was to not overwhelm them with so many food choices at one time. This idea might sound pretty easy but most toddler plates are sectional. I always felt like I needed to fill each section but she told me I can give them one to two things at a time and that will encourage them to eat more. Giving them less at first also encourages my girls to ask for more. At first they would sign "more more" and "all done." Now they can talk and tell me if they want something else. I have their second and third options ready to go in case they want additional choices. If they don't want what else I have to offer them that's ok too and I save it for their next meal or snack. Giving emmy and elle less food choices at one time really helped cut out their habit of throwing food.
The second tid bit which I think is the most important is our pediatrician talked to me about the amount of food I should expect the girls to eat during the day. When I first started solids we went by the rule of, "food before one is just for fun." The girls were getting everything they needed from my breast milk and formula. Introducing solids is "fun" to let babies explore flavors and textures but is not 100% necessary until their first birthday. Once they hit their first birthday we thought we needed to follow the three meals per day in addition to a snack between each meal schedule. This works well for so many of my friends but my girls usually only pick one meal per day to pig out and the rest they just graze. I was so relieved to hear my pediatrician say this is totally okay. The new feeding information also help me cut down on food waste. I was becoming frustrated with the amount of food I felt like we were preparing and subsequently throwing away when the girls did not have a big appetite. Being told by a trusted medical professional that babies and toddlers really do eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full was music to my ears.
Looking back at introducing solids and purees you just have the embrace the mess. Babies need to explore and play with their food. One tip my sister gave me was to let my girls hold their own spoon while I was spoon feeding them. This really helped us and I hope it makes a difference for your little one too!
I always have to think about the future even though emmy and elle have come a l o n g way with their eating habits. Next step will be for them to help with food prep. A Learning Tower is the number one item on their third birthday wish list. I want them to help me actually make the pancake batter or their PB&J sammies. I feel like they will take a sense of pride in their edible creations the same way I do when I make a healthy meal for my family.
Baby and toddler stages can sometimes go by fast or you feel like you will never get to the day where your child eats a full meal without tossing the rest on the floor. I am here to tell you there is a light at the end of the tunnel and things do get better with maturity and patience (from both mama and baby). Here's to hoping I am not talking too soon and they throw their dinner tonight! Fingers crossed since we are venturing out for a family date night!
Here are the two recipes I use the most to make banana pancakes. The first is a more traditional recipe and the other is made with rolled oats instead of flour. Both recipes are super yummy and toddler approved. I decide which one I am going to make based on whatever ingredients I have on hand.
Traditional Pancake Recipe
- 1 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar (you can do less sugar if you have really ripe bananas)
- 1-2 teaspoons baking powder
- dash of vanilla
- 2 tablespoons of oil (substitute for applesauce)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup of milk (sometimes you can add more if you feel like the batter is too thick)
- 2 ripe bananas
Mix together all ingredients well in a large bowl. Either cut or mash the bananas and add them last to the batter. Melt a little unsalted butter in a skillet on medium-low heat. Add two heaping spoonfuls of batter to the skillet and let it cook until small air bubbles form at the top. Flip, cook on the other side, and enjoy!
Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
(I also refer to these as the Y pancakes because thats actually where I got the recipe. Thank you YMCA!)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 bananas, mashed
- 1/2 cup of old fashioned rolled oats, uncooked
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- dash of cinnamon (emmy and elle are not a huge fan so I usually leave this out)
- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
In a large bowl, combine eggs, bananas, rolled oats, sugar(optional), baking powder, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Batter should be cohesive and without lumps. Heat olive oil in medium skillet on medium-low heat. Once heated, spoon 1/4 cup portions of the batter onto skillet and cook until golden brown on both sides (about 4 minutes on each side).
Emmy loved to take off her bib during meals. Then I found this yellow bib and it's been a total game changer!
Do you see the mats under their high chairs? I have used multiple "splash mats" and these are by far my favorite. They are easy to clean, machine washable, and I think they are pretty cute too. Bye-bye sticky floors and dings in my hardwoods from fallen sippy cups. They come in a variety of colors and designs. Check out the splash mats here and the cute silicon bib Elle is wearing. The bumkin company makes bibs out of the same material as the splash mats. We wear the bibs when we are out to eat. They also make long sleeved bibs that are great for mac & cheese night and messy crafts. I really like Bumkins because they are so easy to wipe clean or to throw in the wash.
I feel like i might always be on the hunt for the perfect sippy cup but the contigo is our current "go-to" water bottle. Before the contigo Auto-spout we loved and still do use the zoli sippy cup. We also love the plates the girls are using from skip hop. they are not only adorable but i like how there are only two sections. (please excuse my candid pictures. the idea for this post came to me at the start of their breakfast so i grabbed my camera and took a few shots.)
all moms need a yeti tumbler. You can enjoy warm coffee for hours because of the yeti. If you are local then check out Hearth and Patio's selection of yeti products. They are an awesome family owned store here in Charlotte. This yeti was given to me as a gift for being one of the hosts for a baby shower. I loved the idea of having a decal made and copied this present for my sister. The decal makes it easy to tell your yeti apart from all the other moms at the tot lot. Check out Vinylcreations6 on etsy for super cute decals. I have used her store a handful of times for favors and presents because she makes awesome monogram decals in the CUTEST shapes such as states and honestly anything else you can imagine.
This book is on repeat whenever we have a biting EPISODE between the girls. Luckily, there are not many but this story book helps me teach them that, well, teeth are not for biting. There are a lot of books in the good behavior series such as "hands are not for hitting" and "feet are not for kicing." best of all you can also find them on amazon!
These little guys were not pictured but I could devote an entire blog post to how much I love the Choome sip'n food pouch toppers. They easily fit over the opening to your child's favorite SQUEEZe pouch. This item is one I tell moms about all the time because it makes it so much easier for your baby to enjoy a SQUEEZie without the entire contents of the pouch ending up all over their face/hair. Gerber organic squeeze pouches do not work well with these but happy baby, Plum, and other brands are perfect for the choome.
If you need another idea of a suction plate then I recommend the Kirecoo Babies Highchair feeding tray which is made from silicon so its easy to clean. Pro-tip: make sure the high chair is always clean and dry before you place the mat down so it stays in place better.
