Toddler Nutrition

The toddler years are challenging ones, that’s for sure! Baby is on the go, ready and eager to explore their world, and mothers get to worry…about safety, development, and also nutrition.

Toddler nutrition, really, isn’t much different than adults. Good Nutrition means eating a well-balanced and varied diet of foods in as close to their natural state as possible. If parents are modeling this behavior, then the child will follow suit. The parent’s role is to provide healthy OPTIONS; it is up to the child to determine what type and quantity they want.

Mothers often wonder if their child is really capable of knowing how much to eat. The answer is the child knows when they are full, they do not know the quantity of food they consume. Wouldn’t it be easy if a child had a fuel gauge on their belly, then it would be obvious when they were running low! But the clues and cues that they are hungry are the same as when they were an infant. As an infant, when they were hungry they got cranky and cried; Mommy fed them until baby pulled away from the breast; Mommy was satisfied having provided for the baby and baby was satisfied with a comfortably full belly. As a toddler, when they are hungry, they will get cranky and sometimes cry, or simply ask for food. Mother provides the food; toddler eats, and when he is full, he stops. Mom panics because the toddler didn’t finish what was on the plate. Do not worry! In a society where obesity is an epidemic, we should take cues from our children. They eat to live; not live to eat.

Toddlers eat “on the go,” adopting more of a grazing pattern than an adult’s “3 square meals.” Mothers have found that by offering a muffin tin filled with healthy choices the child is allowed to eat when and how much they want. Adults don’t get hungry at exactly 4-hour intervals, and a growing, developing child doesn’t either.

The worry that a child “eats like a bird” is very common. However, if the child is allowed to graze and if a food journal were kept, it is clear to see that the child is eating smaller quantities more often. Don’t begin to think that milk doesn’t count toward the child’s food consumption. Both breastmilk and cows milk are very nutritionally dense offering healthy fats, proteins and calories. Liquid calories are still calories. Just make sure they are good ones, not just fruit juices which are mostly sugar. It is impossible to measure how many ounces a child gets at the breast, but rest assured that the nutrition received is exactly what the baby needs to grow. Toddlers do not need additional cow’s milk if they are still nursing 3-4 times a day.

Of course, there are those growth “peaks” and “valleys.” When mentioned as “spurts” many parents often forget about the lull after the “spurt” and that is when worry starts. Your toddler may eat everything in sight for a couple of weeks followed by a period of more “picky” eating. These toddlers are listening to their bodies and doing what they need to do. Again, they are eating to live, not living to eat. It all averages out.

If children are allowed to graze, how can parents be sure they’ll make good choices? It is simple: Offer the good choices and don’t let unhealthy ones be in the home. Many mothers explain early that a snack is something nutritious and healthy, a treat is exactly that: a treat. Keeping the line clearly drawn helps eliminate confusion and encourages your toddler to make appropriate choices when you ask “what do you want for snack?”

The bottom line is to trust your toddler. If he is gaining weight, growing, happy, energetic, then don’t worry. Don’t fall into panic. Mealtime should not be a power struggle. Remember, the parent’s role is to provide healthy OPTIONS; it is up to the child to determine what type and quantity they want.