Day 3! Any other moms to toddlers?

[KJK]

The "hangover" well and truly hit me half way into day 2. Now 24 hours later my head still hurts, intense sinus pain and back pain. 

Please let it be over soon. Lol.

I'm still feeling committed though. And I know eating off plan foods won't make any difference right now. 

Does anyone have any advice with getting through Whole 30 with a toddler (2 years and 3 months old)? I gave him porridge for breakfast but otherwise he's having the same food as me. What's the best approach?

Anyone else suffering and/ or also catering for a 2 year old?

 

 

[jmcbn]

The SWYPO rule doesn't apply to kids so if your son will eat pancakes (or similar) feel free to make them for him - just remember they're still off limits for you...

Another good option would be veggie sticks with mayo or guac as a dip, or things like compliant chicken tenders (almond meal rather than breadcrumbs), potato wedges, & meatballs - all great options for kids.

I don't have a toddler, but I do have a teen - and that's a whole other can of worms!! 

[Gaeliceyes]

I have a toddler, and although I'm giving him the same stuff I'm eating, he still gets off plan stuff too. This morning he had pancakes. We'll have fajitas this week and he and my hubby will get to have tortillas. I'll use lettuce leaves. 

Of course, there are other perils. I'm on day 2 and this morning my 2yo shoved his syrup covered finger into my mouth. I decided it didn't count as breaking plan since it was an insignificant amount. 

[nutmegh]

I've done it twice with little ones.  3.5 and 2 years old.  They ate 'paleo' versions of food like, banana bread and pancakes. But don't expect them to eat just like you. Unless you have kids that will eat everything. Mine were, and are still, very picky (something I'm still struggling with, but another topic for another day). The hard part was making the right amounts of food for them and not eating their leftovers (I hate wasting food). If I needed to taste something, I would and then spit it out.  As far as the carb flu, just hang in there..it will pass. Just try and sleep as much as your child will allow you to.  Remember it's only 30 days and as bad as you may feel now, will only be a memory in about a week or so.  Best of luck!

[Eileenb526]

I have an almost 2 year old (and 4, 5, and 8 year olds as well)...and I'm on Day 30...and we survived! I think on Day 6 or something, my kids said how much nicer I was...I was like, what?! They said I was crabby for a few days...and here I thought I was doing good those days with them (maybe not others). In any case, I didn't have my kids share the journey with me other than trying to have them eat dinners if I thought they would like them (roasted vege's, roast chicken, etc) and I did have them try others....like Pad Thai made with Zucchini noodles and Curried Turkey Meatballs....they stomached the meatballs, but the Pad Thai...oh my gosh, I just about thought they were going to have issues at the table. So needless to say, I did cook some dinners for me and a separate meal for them. My husband always ate my dinners. Then I let them eat whatever during the day. For whatever reason, it didn't bother me to not be eating what they were eating...which I was so grateful for b/c I know I really could have struggled there (have to admit that about 4 days ago, my husband bought a treat for them that I used to binge eat and yeah, that was a little hard, but I survived...- but that craving is why I'm continuing on past day 30). I couldn't taste anything I made for them which was also hard...especially to see if it was done. But again....only 30 days hard....anything is possible.

One of the more difficult things was the sleep. That is hard if your little one gets up at night. Nothing to give advice on with that one. It's 3'ish now and I want a nap...but I don't think it's b/c I'm food crashing anymore.

In any case, good luck!!

[KJK]

18 hours ago, jmcbn said:

The SWYPO rule doesn't apply to kids so if your son will eat pancakes (or similar) feel free to make them for him - just remember they're still off limits for you...

Another good option would be veggie sticks with mayo or guac as a dip, or things like compliant chicken tenders (almond meal rather than breadcrumbs), potato wedges, & meatballs - all great options for kids.

I don't have a toddler, but I do have a teen - and that's a whole other can of worms!! 

What is the SWYPO rule? I'm such a newbie I clearly need to get up to speed on the lingo. Lol.

My son does not like mayo but avocado is one of his favorites.

Bascially you're suggesting feed him paleo compliant but not strict whole 30 rules? 

I think we may be having a lot of meatballs and similar. We live in Japan to make things more complicated. I may order turkey mince and a few other things which aren't normally available from my local shops just to switch things up a bit.

[KJK]

12 hours ago, Eileenb526 said:

I have an almost 2 year old (and 4, 5, and 8 year olds as well)...and I'm on Day 30...and we survived! I think on Day 6 or something, my kids said how much nicer I was...I was like, what?! They said I was crabby for a few days...and here I thought I was doing good those days with them (maybe not others). In any case, I didn't have my kids share the journey with me other than trying to have them eat dinners if I thought they would like them (roasted vege's, roast chicken, etc) and I did have them try others....like Pad Thai made with Zucchini noodles and Curried Turkey Meatballs....they stomached the meatballs, but the Pad Thai...oh my gosh, I just about thought they were going to have issues at the table. So needless to say, I did cook some dinners for me and a separate meal for them. My husband always ate my dinners. Then I let them eat whatever during the day. For whatever reason, it didn't bother me to not be eating what they were eating...which I was so grateful for b/c I know I really could have struggled there (have to admit that about 4 days ago, my husband bought a treat for them that I used to binge eat and yeah, that was a little hard, but I survived...- but that craving is why I'm continuing on past day 30). I couldn't taste anything I made for them which was also hard...especially to see if it was done. But again....only 30 days hard....anything is possible.

One of the more difficult things was the sleep. That is hard if your little one gets up at night. Nothing to give advice on with that one. It's 3'ish now and I want a nap...but I don't think it's b/c I'm food crashing anymore.

In any case, good luck!!

Thanks for the encouragement! If you can do it with four kids I can do it with one! Lol. 

My little one still naps in the day so I've been sleeping when he does in the day, which I don't normally. He's an early riser but doesn't usually disturb us in the night. Don't think I'd be able to contemplate doing this if he was still waking regularly. 

[KJK]

15 hours ago, nutmegh said:

I've done it twice with little ones.  3.5 and 2 years old.  They ate 'paleo' versions of food like, banana bread and pancakes. But don't expect them to eat just like you. Unless you have kids that will eat everything. Mine were, and are still, very picky (something I'm still struggling with, but another topic for another day). The hard part was making the right amounts of food for them and not eating their leftovers (I hate wasting food). If I needed to taste something, I would and then spit it out.  As far as the carb flu, just hang in there..it will pass. Just try and sleep as much as your child will allow you to.  Remember it's only 30 days and as bad as you may feel now, will only be a memory in about a week or so.  Best of luck!

Thanks for the tips. 

My son is picky but not super picky. Getting him to eat enough protein is an issue sometimes. He'll fill up on rice or bread given half a chance.

But one reason for doing this is that I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant and my son has been on the heavy side ever since. I can't encourage him to make healthier eating choices until I am able to do so myself. 

[KJK]

15 hours ago, Gaeliceyes said:

I have a toddler, and although I'm giving him the same stuff I'm eating, he still gets off plan stuff too. This morning he had pancakes. We'll have fajitas this week and he and my hubby will get to have tortillas. I'll use lettuce leaves. 

Of course, there are other perils. I'm on day 2 and this morning my 2yo shoved his syrup covered finger into my mouth. I decided it didn't count as breaking plan since it was an insignificant amount. 

Lol. To the syrup fingers. I totally agree it doesn't count. 

My husband wants to join along with me for the meals we eat together. I'm not wanting to make extras but I've decided to let my son have rice when we're out. 

Good luck!

[jmcbn]

40 minutes ago, KJK said:

What is the SWYPO rule?

So SWYPO means Sex With Your Pants On and basically refers to compliant ingredients being used to recreate desserts or baked goods - both of which are off limits to adults as a big part of Whole30 is healing your relationship with food, and obviously recreating these kind of foods won't help with that. Kids obviously haven't developed any kind of a relationship with food at this stage and so the rule doesn't apply so you're free to make muffins, pancakes, wraps, cauliflower based pizza etc for them so long as the ingredients are compliant. All of these foods are still off limits to the adults though.