Nutrition for Toddlers: Summer Foods Edition!

It's been a long time since I've had a Nutrition for Toddlers post. I've missed doing them (as I don't do the research for myself unless I am doing it for you), and have been making plans to "get down to the dirt", if I may use that highly appropriate pun here, on some of the fun summer produce we have available to us during these wonderful months!

Today I would like to focus on watermelon. Perhaps you are all more educated than I... or simply have more common sense, but My Beloved and I were talking about watermelon a couple weeks ago and pretty much figured it was just a tasty treat, but lacking in anything especially nutritious. What was I thinking??? I don't think there is anything that grows out of the ground that isn't nutritious.

Now, my new question is this, is it possible that people are generally sicker in the winter months because summer has so many fruits RICH in vitamin C??? Seriously! One cup of watermelon has 25% our daily need for vitamin C... and that's for an adult. I'm pretty sure that means that same cup of watermelon just about fulfills the requirement for our 1 year olds!

Some other nutrients you find a lot of in watermelon?

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
• Vitamin B1 (thiamin)
• Potassium
  
• Magnesium

These all range from being excellent sources (at the top of the list) to being good sources (bottom of the list.)

So now when you open up that watermelon and let your kids go wild, you can know that you are "giving in" to a nutritious snack... not to mention all the water they are getting from it!

Your toddler isn't quite sure about watermelon yet??? Don't despair, mine isn't either. Just give him time! Check out the rule of fifteen and some other strategies... just keep it available, let them see you enjoying it and don't force it! Your little one may be gobbling it down before summer is gone!

Find more kitchen tips here!