Christmas Dinner is a wonderful shared meal, and one babies and toddlers will love to be included in! We spoke to mum and weaning influencer Sian Stephanie, one half of to get her tips on making a toddler-friendly festive feast.
Many of the foods on the plate are great for the whole family and with just a few tweaks can even be suitable for your tiniest eaters. Here are some top tips for building the perfect Christmas plate for your little ones:
Meat
Turkey is definitely a meat they can enjoy and the darker meats such as the thigh are richer in iron, zinc and other nutrients that are great for a weaning baby. Save meats such as ham and pigs in blankets for the grown ups as these are processed and very high in salt. If you do decide to serve pigs in blankets to older toddlers you should cut them into quarters lengthways, as sausages can be a choking hazard.
Veggies
As long as they鈥檙e cooked softly, any veggies get the green light to go on your little one鈥檚 plate! Babies under 12 months should not have honey (due to the risk of ), so if you normally drizzle this on your parsnips or carrots then separate out their portion before adding any. Brussels sprouts should be cut into quarters or mashed down, as serving them round and whole can create a choking risk.
Stuffing and sauces
Packet stuffing can be high in salt, so skip this for younger babies and only offer a smaller amount to older toddlers. Similarly, store bought gravy is very high in salt and should be avoided for little ones. Homemade gravy with minimal salt, or watered down low-salt gravy, can be offered sparingly to toddlers. Alternative sauce options are a little tablespoon of bread sauce, or a small bit of cranberry sauce. Just be aware that cranberry sauce is high in sugar. For younger babies make sure there are no whole, round cranberries hiding in their serving as this could be a choking risk.
Sian shares her tips for making a child-friendly Christmas Dinner plate
Take it easy where you can and involve them in the fun
The main thing to remember is that Christmas dinner is a wonderful meal to share together. Don鈥檛 stress about how much they eat, it鈥檚 a very exciting day so don鈥檛 be surprised if they are too distracted to get through very much of their plate. They will just be having too much fun sat with all of the people they love, enjoying being together on Christmas Day.
- Why not try playing some of our Christmas table games together before and after your meal?
- Prep time can give you plenty to chat about too, with both toddlers and older preschoolers.
In case you missed it
Weaning FAQs
Children's dietitian Angharad Banner and a team of health visitors answered some common weaning questions from parents.
