Information on Baby Feeding Guide

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Baby Feeding Guide

By her first birthday, your toddler should have a working knowledge of a variety of foods from the well-known groups in addition to her milk. Remember that while cow's milk may be introduced after the first birthday if your child doesn't demonstrate any allergy to it, whole milk—not low-fat or nonfat—should be on the menu. Cholesterol is not an issue at this age, and the fat in whole milk is usefull in building a number of tissues, including the central nervous systenhowever, of allowing a budding milkaholic to push her milk consurni enty-four ounces (one to one and one-half pints) per day. Not only_H her interest in other types of food, but large amounts of milk may with the absorption of iron from other foods, which in turn can lead to anaemia (a deficiency in red blood cells).

During this year you will want to establish a routine with meals and snacks already. Three meals and two small snacks at generally consistent preferable to nonstop grazing, which trains a child to eat for all kinds of reasons other than hunger, scatters food everywhere, and may lead to a choking accident if a toddler stumbles with food in her mouth. This is a good time to establish a routine of sitting down at the table before eating, which actually is beneficial for adults and older children as well.

A fair amount of the food she eats at a meal can consist of small portions of whatever rest of the family is having, as long as it

• isn't too hot in temperature;

• isn't too hot in seasoning, or overly salty, sweet, or swimming in butterease—which isn't so great for the rest of the family either;

• is either mushy or cut into small, easily chewed pieces. Continue to avoid foods that could easily lodge in the airway hot dogs (that aren't cut into-size pieces), nuts, seeds, hard candy, grapes, popcorn, peanut butter,vegetables, dried fruit, etc.

One development on the food front that catches many parents off guard is the erratic appetite of the toddler. She may eat voraciously one day and show little in-food the next, or consume a sizable breakfast and then quit after only aof the clay's other meals. With her nonstop activity during waking hours, this apparent inconsistency in fueling patterns may not make sense, but it is not uncommon. In fact, at this age her intense curiosity and compelling desire to ex- around her will tend to limit her interest in food to two primaryeating it if she's hungry and examining it if she isn't. If either of these ing at the kitchen table, she'll probably want to move on to more in-.7suits. Also remember that growth is not as rapid now as it was during the first year, and that the average toddler needs only about one thousand calories a huge amount of food—to meet her nutritional needs.

Your goal should be to offer her a variety of foods in modest amounts eachturns you down, don't turn your mealtime into a battle zone. Attempting to force a toddler to eat anything is an exercise in futility, and insisting that she can'ttable or have another meal until she has finished every last speck of her vegetables (which might get a few days old while you wait) will lead to miserable, exhausting times around the dinner table.

Don't panic and then offer your toddler something she really likethat she won't get enough to eat. This may turn into a subtle form ctortion and is a surefire way to create long-term food habits that mtionally inadequate. If she doesn't want much now, put the plate back in the fridge and warm it up for the next meal. When she's hungry, she'll eat. If you are worried about her food intake, write down what she has eaten over and run it by her doctor. If she is active, showing developmental progress, and gaining on the growth chart, she's getting enough. Remember No normal child will voluntarily starve herself.

You should discuss with your health-care provider whether or not your toddller should be on vitamin supplements. Some use these routinely, while others feel that well-balanced food intake essentially eliminates the need -Fluoride supplements may be recommended, however, based onyour local water supply. Your child's doctor or local pediatric dentist -this information, or you can obtain it from the agency that supplies.

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