Feeding Your Toddler

Feeding toddlers can be challenging. They are often picky eaters, are hesitant to try new foods, and in general, don't seem to eat very much.

To begin planning your toddler's diet, it can help to begin with the idea that toddlers need a lot less to eat than you think. Remember that children aren't growing as fast as they were during their first year of life and so have lower energy needs (the amount of calories per kg of their body weight) and smaller appetites. So if your child is active, healthy, and growing and developing normally, then he is likely getting plenty to eat.

It can also help to avoid common mistakes, such as:

• drinking more than 16-24 ounces of milk each day.
• drinking more than 4-6 ounces of juice each day.
• letting your child fill up on sweets and snacks.
• forcing your child to eat when he isn't hungry.
• giving servings that are too big. The average toddler serving is going to be about 1/4 of an adult serving size. Don't go by the serving size listed on nutrition labels, as these are mainly for older children and adults.

by: jil0504 at 14:41 | link | comments

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