10 Healthy Travel Foods For Toddlers

1. Cereal With High Fiber And Low Sugar

This nutritious breakfast food can prove to be your best companion while travelling (1). Just carry any ‘O’ shaped cereal puffs with you. Your toddler can wear it on their fingers and eat those off. Your toddler will really enjoy this activity and your task of feeding them would be fulfilled too. Moreover, you can also mix your favorite high fiber low calorie cereal with walnuts, raisins, and other nuts and dry fruits to make it more flavorful and healthier for your toddler.

2. Stuffed Parathas 

Stuffed parathas are an ideal and less messy choice of travel food for toddlers. They are also easy to pack and carry and will not require too much space. Just prepare some stuffed parathas with the vegetables of your toddler’s choice and wrap them in some colorful paper cover. They can easily fit into your handbag as well. Whenever your toddler gets hungry just roll up one paratha and give it to them. Or, you can also tear off small pieces and hand them to your little munchkin to snack on. 

3. Fresh Fruits

Fruits are best companions of toddlers as well as adults, while travelling. They enjoy the reputation of being light and nutritious food items (2). They are ideal while travelling because they can easily replace meals and keep the tummy full. You can keep seasonal fruits which are easy to carry and eat and will not require any cutting etc. Also keep in mind that the fruits you keep with you should not create a mess while eating. Bananas, grapes, oranges, berries, apple slices are some good choices for travel foods for toddlers.  

4. Yogurt

Packed with nutrition and taste, yogurts are easy to carry, light on the stomach, and a store-house of calcium for your toddler (3). Pack travel-friendly jars of yogurt and have fun feeding your toddler on the move. You can also blend some yogurt with your toddler’s favorite fruit and make your own flavored yogurt. 

5. Prepped Vegetables

Your carton of prepped vegetables can include carrot sticks, blanched broccoli, sweet potato fingers, potato sticks, boiled peas, etc. The tight and comfortable packing makes it very easy to be carried. Hence, there is no reason of depriving your child from the goodness of these vitamin and mineral rich veggies while travelling (4).

6. Dry Fruits

Make small packets of various kinds of dry fruits that your toddler can keep munching while travelling. They are power foods that will restore your toddler’s lost energy (5).

7. String Cheese

Cheese, now this one is most tots’ favorite finger food. One can carry string cheese packets while planning for a long travel. String cheese is manufactured in such a way that its protein value remains intact after packaging (6).

8. Cheela or Pancakes

Besan (chickpea flour) (7) or sooji (semolina) cheela or pancake is another easy-to-carry nutritious food for your toddler. Add some vegetables to the batter and you will have a wholesome meal for your little one. If you add purees vegetables, then colored cheela will be sure to attract your toddler to eat it. If your toddler doesn’t like savory cheela, you can make some sweet pancakes by using fruit purees instead of sugar.  

9. Paneer Fingers

Just cut some paneer or cottage cheese into finger shapes, add a little salt and black pepper (only if your toddler like the flavor), and pack them up. Paneer is healthy and loaded with nutrition (8). These paneer fingers will keep your toddler full as well. If they don’t like the raw paneer, you can coat these fingers in some besan and fry them up. These paneer pakoras will surely be a hit with your toddler.  

10. Idli

Idli is a non-messy, easy-to-carry and a very good choice of healthy travel foods for toddlers (9). You can carry some idli in a hot box and feed your toddler whenever they get hungry. If you mix some spinach or beetroot puree in the idli batter, you can make colored idlis for your toddler. They will for sure want to eat those colored idlis. If you want, you can also cut the cooked idli in pieces and fry them with a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, pinch of asafetida, and salt. This snack will also come in handy to satisfy your hunger pangs as well as your toddler’s. 

Foods to Avoid When Travelling With Toddlers

Apart from having the knowledge of permissible foods that are beneficial for your toddlers, it is also important to have a thorough knowledge of foods that must be avoided while travelling (10).

1. Soft drinks
2. Sugary cereals and drinks
3. Oily food items
4. Marshmallows or other sticky food
5. Packed juices
6. Any new food items, which may cause any discomfort to the toddler
7. Foods which are small in size and can pose a choking risk for toddler
8. Packed chips, namkeens etc.
9. Any roadside food or food from any outside vendor

Traveling with a toddler, especially for long distances can be managed well with proper planning. Apart from planning for tickets etc., it is imperative to plan for your little one’s food, water, comfort as well. Remember if your toddler is well fed, has slept well and has some toy etc. to keep them occupied, your journey will go much smoothly. Just, remember that whatever you carry for your child, cut it into bite-sized pieces for easy eating. Always carry homecooked food for your toddler no matter where you are going. Also keep their water with you. Hope these healthy travel foods for toddlers will come in handy the next time you are planning a trip with your little one. 

FAQ’s

1. How do I Feed my Toddler While Traveling?

Whenever you are traveling with a toddler, be sure to pack enough food for them from home. Keep foods which are familiar to them and they like to eat. Always, always carry homecooked food for your toddler wherever you go. Keep foods which are easy to carry, and do not make a mess while eating. 

2. What is The Best Road Trip Food For Toddlers?

Some of the best food options for a road trip are- fruits, boiled eggs, string cheese, cheela, cereals, nuts and dry fruits, roasted makhana etc.

3. Which Indian Food is Good For Travel?

Stuffed parathas, pooris, cheela, thepla, potato fries, idli, dosa, etc. are some of the Indian foods which are good for travel. Key is to prepare and pack foods which will not create a mess while eating. Foods which will not stain or drip. So avoid anything with gravy. Keep dry and easy to eat foods.

4. How do You Pack Kids Snacks For Travel?

Half of your struggle is resolved if you pack the foods for traveling efficiently. Make use of easy to open and store jars, pouches, Ziplock bags, hot tiffins, steel boxes and containers etc. It is important to pack food for travel in a way that it won’t leak or spill or create a mess. Avoid carrying food with gravy or syrup or any such liquid. When packing for kids, make sure that food is packed in a container or pouch which is easy to open and operate.  

References

1. The impact of breakfast especially ready-to-eat cereals on nutrient intake and health of children – [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0271531795800034]
2. Nutritional and Healthy Benefits of Fruits – [https://shorturl.at/dsxzL]
3. Health benefits of yogurt among infants and toddlers aged 4 to 24 months: a systematic review – [https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/77/7/478/5482064?login=false]
4. Fruits and Vegetables and its Nutritional Benefits – [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-42319-3_14]
5. Dried Fruits: Bioactives, Effects on Gut Microbiota, and Possible Health Benefits—An Update – [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10097306/]
6. String Cheese – [https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/532509/nutrients]
7. Nutritional constituent and health benefits of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.): A review – [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996921006906]
8. Cheese, cottage, lowfat, 1% milkfat – [https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173417/nutrients]
9. Nutritional and Health Benefits of Idli and Dosa – [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337992599_Nutritional_and_Health_Benefits_of_Idli_and_Dosa]
10. Feeding your baby: 1–2 years – [https://www.unicef.org/parenting/food-nutrition/feeding-your-baby-1-2-years]