For Toddlers
Your Toddler’s Nutrition
First Year
Your Toddler's New Drink Menu
After 9-12 months, you can introduce your toddler to whole milk. Your toddler needs about 500 mL (16 fl oz) of whole milk a day to help give her the calcium and vitamin D she needs for her growing bones. She can drink that broken into 125 mL (4 fl oz) servings. Your toddler should be eating a variety of nutritious foods in addition to milk, in order to meet her changing dietary needs, as milk is low in iron and other key nutrients needed for healthy growth and development.
In addition to milk, you can expand your toddler's drink repertoire with 100% pasteurized fruit juice. But not too much. Continue to limit her to 120 - 180 mL (4 - 6 fl oz) of juice per day. Of course, water is always a good choice for a thirsty toddler.
You can also include a nutritious supplement, such as Enfagrow®, to your toddler's diet until he is eating a variety of healthy foods to meet his nutritional needs.
What's for Dinner?
At this point, your child is no doubt curious, adventurous and more than willing to put things into her mouth. So, now's the perfect time to introduce her to a whole range of new foods, within reason and safety of course.
Pureed baby foods are nutritious and delicious. And now, the addition of solid foods means learning how to chew and swallow. From ages 1-2, your child should get most of her calories from solid foods. Small portions are a must, starting with one to two tablespoonfuls of each food. Be sure to vary her choices from the different food groups, keeping in mind that toddlers need more fat and less fibre than adults do.
Read How to Avoid Choking Hazards with Solid Foods.
We all love desserts, but at this point it's important not to overemphasize desserts as better than the rest of the meal. If you do serve dessert, try and make it a healthy one, like sharing a juicy sliced pear.
Try Some Tricks for Healthy Eating
2nd Year and Beyond
Low Fat, Please
By age 2, your child's brain growth is just about complete. So the fat she's needed up to now can be reduced. Now, is the time to move to 2% milk. You can do this easily by gradually adding 2% milk to her whole milk over several weeks until she's switched over.
By the way, whole milk doesn't have as much iron as breast milk or formula. Ask your doctor if your toddler would benefit from a nutritional supplement such as Enfagrow®.
Have Fun with Foods
Mealtime at this age can be a fun, rewarding and delightfully messy experience. It can also lay the groundwork for tastes that can last a lifetime. So be a part of it. Offer options, and make them fun. Instill a love for fruits and vegetables. If at first you don't succeed, don't push, but do try, try again later. Research shows that kids may need to be offered a food as often as twelve times before they accept it. Try to associate new foods with old favourites. If she likes mashed sweet potatoes, she may also like mashed potatoes and carrots. And mix things up. You'd get bored eating the same thing day after day too.
