As young children move
into their second year of life, they grow at a slower
pace and sometimes their appetites lessen too. Toddlers
have small stomachs and they only need small portions
of food. You want to ensure that your toddler grows
up with a healthy appetite but for the right foods,
so you as parents are responsible for offering good
food choices. To minimize the chances of any future
eating disorders and weight problems, you should try
to practice normal eating habits yourself and promote
normal eating with the rest of your family. This sets
the stage for a future normal eating pattern.
Daily eating routine
As we have said, toddlers have small stomachs, so
a good routine to follow is to offer breakfast, lunch
and supper with a healthy snack mid morning and another
mid afternoon helping to provide the energy and nutrition
your toddler needs during the day. Drinking milk or
juice at other times can often affect their appetites
so encourage drinking water instead in between times.
In fact juice should be limited to one serving per
day and then only pure natural, unsweetened juice
mixed half and half with water. Fruit and whole grains
are great for those snacks. A smoothie can include
milk, fruit and fiber and your toddler will enjoy
the taste. Everything your toddler eats should count
towards his daily nutritional requirement. Offer a
variety of different foods, flavors and textures for
balance and to help your toddler enjoy new tastes.
Toddlers can balance the amount of food eaten with
exactly how much they need if they are not forced
to overeat or finish all the food on the plate.
Milk intake
If your toddler is still breast feeding then try
to continue this as long as you both wish, as there
are so many health benefits for both of you. If your
toddler is formula fed, he can now change to cow’s
milk and this can be from a cup. He will only need
16 to 24 ounces of milk a day as he is eating foods
from all of the other food groups. The cow’s
milk will need to be whole milk until at least the
age of two.
Avoiding future eating disorders
While you decide what and when to feed, your toddler
will decide whether or not to eat and how much he
will eat. Remember he will eat when he is hungry and
he will not starve himself. Toddlers have a natural
ability to sense when they are hungry and when they
are full, so if you insist on something being finished,
you are actually overriding this natural ability –
even leading to future eating disorders and weight
problems.
Phobias – food jags and food neophobia
Apart from small stomachs and even inconsistent eating
patterns (where the amount toddler eats can vary from
day to day and is perfectly normal) your toddler may
also have one or other of the following:
Food jags – this is where he decides to eat
just one food item meal after meal – for example
he just wants “French toast”. Don’t
make an issue of it and he certainly won’t become
malnourished from eating only French toast for a week.
Continue to offer other foods and his insistence will
pass with time.
Food neophobia – this is actually a fear of
new foods and even previously good eaters can start
to reject any new food. However, you need to avoid
pushing them to try new foods as they will become
more determined to resist. Just remove the food after
a reasonable length of time but continue to offer
the same food regularly and again in time this phase
will pass. Some toddlers may require 5 to 10 exposures
to a new food before they decide to try it.
Tips for establishing a good eating and mealtime
routine
1. A quiet activity or a rest before meals or snacks
is a good idea as a tired or energized toddler may
well not be interested in eating.
2. Meals and snacks should be in a quiet and pleasant
environment without distractions. Try to serve all
meals at the table and not while he is walking around.
3. Toddlers should sit at the table and eat with the
family whenever possible so they can watch and copy
others as well as enjoying the company.
4. Give your toddler adequate time to eat his meals
and snacks so that he is not rushed, to ensure good
digestion.
5. Make sure his foods are easy to handle (he should
be able to explore food by touching but expect some
mess) and always be around even at snack time as choking
can easily occur.
6. To help your toddler drink adequate amounts of
water, always have this on the table at meal and snack
times. A jug of chilled water in the fridge with slices
of lemon or a sprig of mint tastes good while in summer
you can freeze small pieces of chopped fruit in ice
blocks and add to his water. Always take filled water
bottles when you go out with your toddler so you do
not have to resort to buying unsuitable liquids if
he gets thirsty.
7. Keep mealtimes relaxed and chat to your toddler
and not just about food.
It is easier for your child to make good food choices
if you offer him a healthy assortment of food from
an early age. One way to encourage variety, add interest
and expand the range of nutrients in your toddler’s
diet is for your family to try foods from different
cultures and with different ingredients.
Normal eating promotes a healthy mind and body and
even fosters healthy relationships in all areas of
life. Once your toddler has a say in the food he eats,
he will then always be able to make a decision regarding
food in the future and you will have been instrumental
in this process. You will have given him yet another
stepping stone towards independence
