Last Updated on August 29, 2024

Meal planning is a household chore that I’m constantly trying to make more efficient. And this efficiency extends to planning my toddler’s weekly breakfasts and lunches.

Below are some ways that I make meal planning for my toddler as quick and easy as I can.

Hopefully if you’re at a loss on how to do this in your home, some of these tips will be beneficial for you as well, and if you have a fussy toddler, then here are some tips to help with toddlers who are fussy eaters and 10 dinner ideas for fussy toddlers that you may like to try.

MAKE A TODDLER MEAL PLAN

When planning what I’m going to feed my toddler Ryan over a week, I use a Google Sheet where I’ve listed three weeks worth of breakfasts and lunches that I rotate.

Each week when I’m ordering my groceries, I order whatever is on the meal plan for the next week. Then each morning and afternoon I open up the Google Sheet to see what meals I have to put together for Ryan’s breakfasts and lunches.

An example of one weeks worth of breakfasts is:

• Monday – cereal, toast with peanut butter, banana
• Tuesday – nil as Ryan’s at nursery
• Wednesday – toast with honey, cheese, berries
• Thursday – nil as Ryan’s at nursery
• Friday – cereal, toast with jam, banana
• Saturday – cereal, toast with peanut butter, banana
• Sunday – pancake with berries, cheese

An example of one weeks worth of lunches is:

• Monday – toast with cream cheese, carrots, cucumber, raisins
• Tuesday – nil as Ryan’s at nursery
• Wednesday – toasted cheese sandwich, corn chips, hummus, grapes
• Thursday – nil as Ryan’s at nursery
• Friday – toast with cream cheese, carrots, cucumber, raisins
• Saturday – toasted cheese sandwich, corn chips, hummus, grapes
• Sunday – nil as we’re usually out of the house

For dinners I feed Ryan a smaller version of what Nick and I eat, or I feed him a pre made frozen meal, which is explained in greater detail below.

KEEP FOOD ITEMS ACCESSIBLE

In order to easily access Ryan’s breakfast or lunches, or to see what I need to order more of, I keep Ryan’s cold food items together in a tub in my fridge.

This also allows me to grab something else if he decides that he doesn’t want to eat what I’ve planned for the day, which happens with toddlers a lot.

MAKE MINI DINNER MEALS

To make toddler dinner meal planning easy, whenever I make dinner for Nick and I, I fill up a couple of small containers with the meal for Ryan and freeze them.

This means that I have a pre made dinner that I can heat up and give to Ryan on nights where he doesn’t want to eat what Nick and I are eating, or when I don’t have anything planned for him.

When I’ve run out of these frozen meals, I also have premade meals on hand to use such as:

• Mini quiches
• Pasta bakes
• Fish fingers
• Chicken schnitzel

What toddler meal planning tips do you have?