Fantastic Finger Foods

Toddlers are a finicky bunch. They insist on wearing their purple pajamas to the supermarket and cry when you cut their sandwiches across, instead of on a diagonal. Not surprisingly, most toddlers are also finicky eaters. They turn up their noses at everything that isn't peanut butter and jelly or macaroni and cheese, and they avoid vegetables like the plague.

Though you want your kids to eat healthy, don't get into food wars with them, advises Joan Carter, a registered dietitian and instructor of pediatrics with the Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. "We know that it's normal and natural for parents to be concerned about their child's nutritional health, but it's really up to the child to decide what and how much they're going to eat," she says.

Keep in mind that your children have much more sensitive taste buds than you do. Even if your child balks the first time you give her carrots or broccoli, keep trying. "New foods can take up to 20 times of exposure before a child will even try them," Carter explains.

You can present nutritious foods in a way that will appeal to even the most finicky eater—if you use a little creativity.