Your Bloom Nutrition

Our biggest sale ever starts now!

•40% off all digital guides
•25% off our online courses (introducing solids & toddler course)
•25% off our hard copy cookbook

Prices as marked.

Discounts run Thursday 6 pm CST - Monday 11:59 pm CST

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! 🎃👻

Does the influx of candy around Halloween give you some anxiety? We are here to help!

The truth is that less nutritious foods are everywhere and your children are going to like them and want them, no matter how much you try to keep them in a bubble! 😅

Instead, we encourage you to understand that children are born with an innate ability to regulate their hunger and appetite. You may have noticed this already with your baby/toddler - some days they seem to be a bottomless pit and the next day, they hardly eat anything!

The same goes for Halloween candy and other similar foods - when children are given ample opportunities to eat and enjoy these foods with shame, guilt, or restriction, they learn that they can trust their bodies to self-regulate.

They learn that these foods taste delicious, but they don’t necessarily fill them up. They learn that these foods can be enjoyed along with other foods. They learn that there does not need to be shame or guilt in eating these foods. They learn that they can trust YOU to keep serving them these foods so that they can enjoy them, and they learn that the novelty really does wear off. If your child seems obsessed with sweets, we encourage you to examine if you are offering these foods enough.

What are your kiddos dressing up as for Halloween? Comment below!👇🏼

toddlermeals

We all know veggies are awesome and packed with lots of nutrition! 🥗
Yet there is this immense pressure or idea that in order to have a “good eater”, your child must be obsessed with veggies.

We are here to tell you that most kids have a hard time loving veggies and it can take years to grow a veggie-lover. A “good eater” isn’t a veggie- lover, it’s one who has a healthy relationship with food. ❤️

And some kids just won’t like veggies, no matter what you do (or don’t do). Fruits are a strong runner-up. You are much better off appreciating the fact that your child loves fruit than forcing him to eat a single bite of broccoli.

This is not to say that if your child doesn’t enjoy veggies now to not serve them and only serve fruit instead.
The key is to keep serving them, over and over, in different ways, shapes, forms, with lots of seasonings, and most importantly- let your child see YOU eat veggies in ways you enjoy.

What veggie has grown on you as you’ve gotten older?! Let us know in the comments!

Let us know if your little one has ever done this! Ours certainly have.

While it can be very frustrating, rest assured - this is very normal! Here’s what we suggest you do when this happens.

When in doubt, always refer back to the Division of Responsibility in feeding.

Your job is deciding the what, when, and where of feeding.

Your child’s job is deciding if and how much they eat out of what you have served!

Want more help? Check out our Raising a Happy, Healthy Eater course. We help take the stress and anxiety out of feeding so you can feel confident!

yourbloomnutrition.com/toddler-course

Do you find it difficult to imagine allowing your kids structured but unlimited access to less nutritious foods? 🧐

We get it! It’s very much opposite of the messaging we have may grown up with or even what is prevalent today.

And it may be even more difficult to grasp if you yourself do not allow yourself unconditional permission to eat.

The truth is - restriction doesn’t work! (For you, or your kids.)

It may be tempting to say, “you can only have one cookie!” - after all, aren’t cookies high in sugar, and lacking in nutrition? Shouldn’t we be limiting the portion of sweets our children have?

We are dietitian moms and we support structured (ie: not a free-for-all all day long!) but unlimited access to sweets on a regular basis! This means offering your child the opportunity to have, say, as many cookies as they would like at a snack time. 🍪

Why? Because this allows these foods to be on an equal playing field to other foods. It teaches children that they can trust their bodies and listen to them. It shows them that yes, they can have as much as they want at that snack time, but hey - I’ll probably get to enjoy more tomorrow so I don’t have to “get it all in” now.

If you want more help with raising your children to have a healthy relationship with food, check out our “Raising a Happy, Healthy Eater course.”

https://yourbloomnutrition.com/toddler-course

We have now officially launched Bloom Boost and have product in stock!

Bloom Boost is an easy to use boost of nutrition for everyone: from babies starting solids to adults!

Bloom Boost’s mild, nutty flavour means it blends well into yogurt, applesauce, smoothies, or baking for an easy to use boost of nutrition!

Just 2 tablespoons provides a significant source of iron, fiber, and protein for you or your little one’s diet!

Order here: www.yourbloomnutrition.com/shop

If you’re going to keep scrolling, you’re missing out.

This post may seem like mumbo jumbo (it’s the “practical” posts that seem to do best) but trust us when we say that 99% of the feeding issues we see with kids is because parents are worried and this worry is reflected in how they feed.

But when we feed from a place of fear and worry, this perpetuates picky eating struggles, and the research backs this up. Not only that, but we are creating an environment of mistrust and overriding our children’s natural and innate abilities to regulate their appetite.

Trust is the foundation of the feeding relationship. In order to raise intuitive eaters and children who love and trust their bodies, we must give them that space from the beginning.

This philosophy is chained throughout our courses - our introducing solids course and toddler course. We want to help parents feel relaxed and confident in feeding their little ones - and trust that their little ones have their own innate feeding abilities.

yourbloomnutrition.com/courses

3 things you may be surprised to hear two dietitian moms say…

1. Feeding kids can be really exhausting and challenging, even if it’s all smooth sailing. The role of feeding families is an endless and often thankless job. We all need a break sometimes!
2. You don’t have to make everything from scratch (please don’t). Convenience foods are not the devil. Variety is key, your sanity is important, food is food.
3. We don’t obsess over our kids’ nutrition, and we don’t want you to either. This isn’t to say it’s not important, but the main goal of feeding kids is to provide variety, create CONNECTION, all the while modelling a healthy relationship with food.

Which one surprised you the most? Let us know below!

Kids asking for snacks all the time can be normal but it’s important to do some reflection and set some boundaries.

Trust is the foundation of the feeding relationship - our kids trust us to provide a variety of food at regular intervals and we can trust our kids to know how much they need to eat. ❤️

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend! We are so grateful you have found our page ❤️!

Don’t miss out on our sale site wide with 20% off all of our products and courses!

Products include:
•Bloom Cookbook (perfect for baby & family!) in both digital and hard copy formats
•Baby 1 month Meal Plan
•Toddler Snack Guide
•Toddler Weaning Guide (the ultimate guide on how to wean your baby off of breastmilk or formula)

Courses:
•Let’s Make A Mess (Introducing Solids Course)
•Raising a Happy, Healthy Eater (Toddler Nutrition Course)

To get your 20% off, use the code “THANKSGIVING20” at checkout!

Sale ends 11:59 pm CST Monday, October 11.

Visit www.yourbloomnutrition.com

We are so excited to share something that’s been in the works for a loooong time:

Bloom Boost is a blend of our favourite fiber mix and nutritious seeds. We love that you can get the benefit of these diverse fibers and seeds in one easy scoop - perfect for the whole family.

Bloom Boost is a source of both insoluble and soluble fiber. A blend of these fibers is important for gut health 🦠 , regularity 💩 , lowering cholesterol, and helping you and your littles stay full and satisfied in between meals. Bloom Boost is also a source of protein and other important micronutrients like iron. For this reason, we love adding Bloom Boost to smoothies, yogurt, applesauce, baking, oatmeal, and much more.

We will be launching this product soon so keep your eyes peeled! (And message us if you would like to pre-order a bag!)

Want to know a secret?
Even though we are dietitians, both of our toddlers have diets that are far from perfect. We often laugh amongst each other about what Liv & Tiago (both 3) ate the past few days. Some days it seems like they hardly eat anything, or survive off of cheese and carbs.
Does that surprise you? We are here to remind you that picky eating in toddlers is 100% expected. But picky eating can go too far:
-When your toddler is the one deciding what you’re serving them, when your little one is noticeably upset at mealtimes, refusal of an entire food group or certain textures (may require an SLP), falling off their growth curve, eating less than 15 foods, etc.

So why are we chill about our toddlers' eating? Because we KNOW that they’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. We know they will not eat lots of veggies, or will probably refuse meats, or eat a whole lot of one type of food.
We often joke that feeding our littles is the easiest part of the parenting experience. We may not have tantrums and sleep down, but when it comes to feeding, we got it. 😇
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What’s our secret?
-Serve variety, lots of variety, even if it feels like they never touch a food.
-We do our job: the what, when, & where of feeding. Our littles do their job: if they eat (from what’s served), and how much they eat at set mealtimes
-We don’t stress about individual meals or days – we look at it from a broader perspective. We know they are listening to their bodies and their bodies know how much they need.
-We know that this too will pass. Kids learn to eat how their parents eat. If they see us enjoying veggies and salads now, they will too some day.
-We "boost" the foods they are eating, which is why we created Bloom Boost, an easy-to-use boost of nutrition for the whole family.

Get your name on our list for preorders for Bloom Boost, set to launch end of the month! 👇🏼

Learn how to introduce solids to your baby the 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 way and prevent picky eating.

Starting your baby on solids is overwhelming for most. Even with a ton of information online, so many moms are left confused and anxious.

As dietitians turned moms, we made it our goal to delve into the latest research regarding feeding babies and preventing picky eating.

We believe how you feed your child, especially when they start solids, is just as important as what you feed your child so that they can be adventurous eaters and to avoid the dreaded picky eating!

Using our step-by-step framework, we’ve created a 12-week group program beginning June 28 to help moms learn how to start solids the right way. We teach you how to avoid the biggest mistakes we see moms making with solids and guide you through every step of the weaning process - from first bites to preschool.

We will show you exactly how to get your baby the nutrition they need 𝘢𝘯𝘥 how to prevent picky eating.

Spots are limited as we are offering this special pricing for one time only!

We talk a lot about considering fish and seafood in your and your little’s diet. One of the reasons is because many types of seafood are rich sources of Omega 3 fats, which research shows are super important for brain, eye, and heart health!⁠ Another bonus is that oily fish, especially salmon and sardines, are a good source of Vitamin D. 👍🏼⠀(Though we still recommend everyone take a vitamin D supplement).
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It is recommended that babies, kids, and adults eat a portion of low-mercury seafood at least 2 x per week to get these important fats. ⁠⠀
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However, there is concern around the mercury content of some seafood. Here are some great options for low-mercury seafood you can safely offer to baby and your kids without worry!⁠⠀
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*For tuna, just be sure to look for light or skipjack tuna, (not albacore or white tuna), as these can be higher in mercury.⁠ ⠀
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Tag another mama who would want to know this!

Check out our baby pumpkin pancakes! Packed with nutrition your baby needs, like iron, these pancakes are delicious for the whole family!
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These are perfect for baby led weaning and are a great option for teething - read the blog post to find out how!
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yourbloomnutrition.com/baby-pumpkin-pancakes

Baby Led Weaning Pumpkin Pancakes - yourbloomnutrition.com Iron-rich pumpkin pancakes perfect for babies 6 months and up! These baby pumpkin pancakes are packed with the nutrition your baby needs.

Fun fact: both of our toddlers have gone through a phase where they aren’t interested in eating at dinner! (And we aren’t bothered by it!)

If your toddler is resisting coming to the table at dinner time, it’s worth asking yourself some questions to see what may be the culprit.

And remember, even if you’re doing everything “right”, some toddlers may just not be hungry. 🤷🏻‍♀️ The key here is to close the kitchen after dinner until bedtime snack or the next morning (depending on how late you eat dinner). Make sure mealtimes are pleasant and fun, with the focus away from what or how much they’re eating! Many toddlers can only sit for 5-10 minutes at the table so ask them to join with no pressure to eat.

Are you dealing with a toddler who does this?

P.S did you know we have a toddler course? We cover all the ins and outs of feeding littles ones 12 months and up, including weaning off the bottle or breast, nutrient requirements, and how to prevent and deal with picky eating! yourbloomnutrition.com/toddler-course

Have you ever felt like you’re not doing a “good
job” of feeding your littles? Do you ever compare your little ones’ eating to someone else’s kid who eats a bunch of veggies when yours won’t touch them?

Please don’t!

You’re doing a good job. ❤️

You’re doing a good job. ❤️ Really.

Your success as a parent feeding your child is not determined by their fruit or vegetable intake or the number of foods they will eat. Every child is different and every child learns to eat at a different pace. You’re doing a good job if your child is exposed to a variety of foods, enjoys eating and mealtimes, and gets to see YOU eat a varied diet. And p.s. You are still a good parent even if you have a “picky eater.”

(And hey - if mealtimes don’t look happy right now - we can help!❤️ yourbloomnutrition.com/services

Do you struggle with comparing your eater to another? Or do you have one child who is more easy-going with feeding and one who is more challenging? Let us know in the comments!

How you approach feeding your child can have a lasting impact on their relationship with food and their bodies.

This means the words we speak when talking about food, even when first starting solids, can positively (or negatively) affect our child’s relationship with food. This is why as dietitians we believe the food and nutrients you provide your baby are only a piece to the puzzle of your child’s overall physical, mental, and emotional health.

Your words and actions are that important!

Nothing makes us happier than when a client tells us that by working with us, we have transformed meal times, and their approach to feeding! ❤️

We want to raise help raise a generation of kids who love and trust their bodies, don’t fear food, and who value the importance of food for physical, emotional, and mental health. Because food is so much more than nutrients!

Which of these slides stands out to you the most and why? Let us know in the comments! 🥰

I'm worried if I give my baby fruit, he will have a sweet tooth and won't eat veggies. Is this true?"⁠⠀
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Have you heard this or thought this? Fruit has gotten a bad rap in the past few years with words like "sugar" flying around in relation to fruit.⁠⠀
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Yes, fruit has naturally-occurring sugar. But so do many other foods that we eat. Like lactose (a simple sugar) in breastmilk or dairy products! Or starch in grains or potatoes (a starch is just a long chain of glucose molecules linked together!)⠀
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We all have a natural preference for sweet foods. This is an evolutionary adaptation to drive us to eat energy-dense foods (so we can grow and thrive) and to protect us from eating toxins. ⠀
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So the short answer is no, your baby won’t develop a sweet tooth if you serve them fruit. We all prefer sweet things! Avoiding fruit won’t prevent your baby from liking sweet things. Remember that fruit has many of the same vitamins, minerals, fibre, and antioxidants that veggies provide!⠀

So what to do? To offer the best variety...
Offer your baby fruits AND vegetables with meals. ⠀
•Have some meals where you offer both fruits and vegetables. ⠀
•Have some meals where you offer just vegetables. ⠀
•And have some meals where you offer just fruits. ⠀
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If you want more in-depth info about feeding your baby, our online introducing solids course is perfect for you! yourbloomnutrition.com/foods-and-solids

Did you know that iron deficiency is the most common nutrient deficiency in the world?

Babies needs from 7-12 months are higher than an adult male’s! As you can see from this example day, it can be difficult to meet baby’s high iron needs without a little help. (And this is an example day using iron-rich foods!)

While it’s certainly possible for some babies to meet these high iron needs with food alone, many babies need a little help with an iron fortified infant cereal. We recommend using an oat or wheat based infant cereal alone or in cooking/baking. See our Bloom Babies recipe book for iron-rich recipes perfect for baby!

Note: many infant formulas are iron fortified, but that doesn’t mean iron isn’t also important for your formula-fed baby, as the iron in formula is not very bio-available, and baby’s needs are still high once weaned!

Check out our $60 unlimited access introducing solids course yourbloomnutrition.com/foods-and-solids

Would you or did you give sardines to your baby? 😍 or 🤢? Let us know!

You will feed your child approximately 40,000 times before they go to college. 🤯

That is 40,000 opportunities to impact your child’s health, to connect with your child, and to make a lasting impact on their relationship with food.

😮 It’s pretty clear that feeding kids is a huge responsibility! But wait. Before you let this number and responsibility overwhelm you, hear us out:👂

Since we are both dietitians AND moms, we have a unique perspective on teaching nutrition for littles.❤️

This is because we view nutrition for kids from two lenses:

1. The Science Lens 👩🏻‍🏫👩🏻‍💻The expertise, knowledge, and evidence we have in regards to nutrition and its impact on your child’s development, health, and behaviour.
2. The Real Life Lens 🤪 🏃🏽‍♀️ Our experience we have as moms, knowing that feeding kids is not black and white, and involves a whole lot of grace.❤️

You can Google almost everything these days but the problem is often not in finding information, it’s in knowing what’s true and what’s not. Nutrition is often nuanced and not black and white - we help you find the middle ground for what works for your family!

Follow along for a balanced perspective - where science meets real life and there’s no such thing as perfect.

What do you find most challenging about feeding your kids? Most rewarding? We want to know! Comment below 👇🏼

Many moms wonder what baby’s first meals should be. There isn’t a “right” answer, but
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We suggest focusing on iron and other than that - it doesn’t really matter! Just don’t serve two allergens for the first in the same day. (eg: egg and peanut butter for the first time on the same day). This is so you can watch for an allergic reaction if one was to occur!⠀You can learn all about allergens in our introducing solids course. 📖
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We like to encourage mamas to focus on iron for their babies with most meals right from the start since this is the time when baby’s iron stores are starting to deplete. Their tummies are tiny and they may eat next to nothing or only a few tablespoons (at the most) for the first little bit. So we want those bites to be iron-rich! ⠀
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➕If you want to serve another food alongside the iron rich food, try a Vitamin C rich food to help the body absorb non-heme iron!
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➕Adding in a source of fat is another way to expand the plate. (Eg: the chia seeds in the cereal, the oil used to cook the egg in, or the h**p hearts on the kiwi slice). ⠀
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➕ Once baby is eating more, you can add on an additional fruit, vegetable, or starch to complete baby’s plate.
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⭐️ Other examples of iron rich starter foods would be:⠀
-meat, poultry, fish (puréed or cooked and served in a soft meatball or stick form for BLW)⠀
-other iron fortified baby cereal⠀
-lentils, beans, chickpeas (puréed or formed into patties or sticks)⠀
-lentil/bean sliders
-pancake or waffle made with oats or whole wheat flour and iron fortified cereal.⠀
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There’s a lot of info out there about starting solids. We want to make it as easy and stress free as possible by weeding out the nonsense and providing the most up to date information! We offer a virtual introducing solids course with handouts for easy reference. Enroll here! yourbloomnutrition.com/foods-and-solids

Your child not liking vegetables is normal. Your child eating mostly fruit and few vegetables is normal. In fact, if your child eats up every vegetable you serve them once they enter toddlerhood, your child is an anomaly!
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Too often, we have a ton of pressure on us to get our kids to eat veggies. While we certainly know veggies are nutritious for our kids, we struggle with the pressure of wanting them to eat these (so they get the nutrition they need) when meanwhile they just won't touch them. It's not a pleasant tug-of-war.
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So what's the answer? The resounding thing we know from research is NOT the examples on the left (pressure).For the majority, these tactics don't work and can actually exacerbate picky eating and lead to negative associations with food.
We know from many people that foods they were forced to eat as a child are now foods that they dislike.

Similarly, we know that placing veggies on a pedestal that makes us "good" for eating them can impact our relationship with food as adults. (We have probably all dealt with the feeling of being "good" or "bad" depending on what we ate). Instead, the answer is likely not the quick fix you wanted to hear, but the principles are strongly true:

1) The most important way you can impact your child's food choices is by what YOU eat. This has been shown again and again in research. When they see you enjoying veggies day after day, they think "one day, I will eat veggies, too."
2 & 3) You must offer veggies consistently, without pressure, and in a variety of ways. Just because we say it's normal for your child not to like veggies doesn't mean not to serve them. It can take children 100s of exposures to a food before they like them!
4) Most us of grew to like veggies as we got older. This is the most important thing to remember: Time.
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⭐️ Learn how to feed your toddler with confidence with our toddler course! yourbloomnutrition.com/toddler-course

Here are our top 5 tips for setting up your baby for an ideal eating environment:

1) Distraction-free. While not always possible to be completely free from distractions (hello, older siblings!), when feeding a baby solids, it can really help to keep the focus on eating. This means turning the tv off, putting the puppy in another room, putting your phone away, and enjoying the moment with your little one. Babies are easily distracted, and learning to eat is a complex skill that requires their full focus. They will get the most out of mealtimes if there are few or no distractions.

2) Unhurried: If you know, you know. When you’re trying to rush your child, it almost inevitably goes slower. 😅 Not only does rushing eating increase the risk of a choking incident, but rushing eating means baby is not getting the full experience of eating. Eating should be mindful and enjoyable, not rushed and hurried.

3) Face-to-Face: Eat face to face with your little one (most of the time!) so that you can ensure their safety.

4) Relaxed 😎: This is arguably the toughest one to implement because starting solids can be an anxious time. But remember - many babies are very slow to start, and this is completely normal! Relax and enjoy the process. Just as babies don’t learn to walk overnight, they also need to learn how to eat.

5) Modelling: This is the most underrated way to get your baby to eat and eat well. Modelling means you eat with them and show them the ropes. They learn how to bite, chew, pause, use utensils, etc from watching YOU! You are the most vital part of the process. 🥰

⭐️ Want a comprehensive, move-at-your-own-pace online course for starting solids? www.yourbloomnutrition.com/foods-and-solids

One of the hardest things to relearn is how to listen to our bodies. ❤️
At one point, we all knew how to listen to them but unfortunately, over time and through years of being told what and when to eat, we often lose this inherent ability.
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This is because many of us grew up with family members and the media constantly talking about diets.
Do these sound familiar? 👇🏼
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“I never eat ____”
“I can only have one square of chocolate”
“I wish I could eat that but I’m on a diet.”
“I’m so hungry but I’m on a diet.”
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Hearing a dietitian say, “listen to your body and eat when you’re hungry” as part of nutrition counselling is shockingly revolutionary because it is so against the barrage of messages we have been taught and still are taught on much of mainstream media.
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So if it feels hard when we say to trust your child’s appetite (like when they literally won’t touch their dinner OR when they eat so much that you think it’s too much), this could be why.
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Kids are born with the ability to regulate their appetite. Some days, they may eat more than you, and other days, they may seemingly survive on air.
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When we watch our kids self-regulate with food, they are reminding us that we have the power to do the same.