Generally, toddlers, who are aged, more than 15 months tend to have a reduced appetite! There will be a further drop in the appetite for the toddlers who are nearing 2 years! Moreover, the baby does not drink the formula drink or breast milk during the stage. So, it is essential to feed the baby with nutritious food.
Many moms tend to worry about the changes in the kid’s eating habits when they turn 2 years old! Moreover, you will be in confusion about feeding nutrition foods! Don’t panic.
Understand the reason behind the changes in the toddlers
Until 15 – 18 months, your sweet little daughter or son eat almost everything you feed. Rather, the toddlers tend to explore and enjoy eating different foods. Yet you will notice a dramatic change in the eating habits of your kid! The kid suddenly becomes too choosy about the foods, spit the food, eat a couple of a bites and throw it away, resist hardly to open the mouth, run away when it sees you preparing the food! These are very common in toddlers aged between 18 – 24 months.
You may think that your kid is very active and so there is a need for more energy. You obviously end up feeding more quantity of food! However, it doesn’t help your kid! The increased activeness and reduced appetite is normal in almost all kids as the growth rate is reduced! So, there is no need for the more quantity of food!
18 – 24 months – ‘Transition phase’
This is the phase where your toddler almost gained a comfort level to eat solid foods with ease and you can let your baby feed on the normal foods and skip over the baby foods! Baby foods won’t be sufficient for the 2 years old baby and you have to train your baby with normal foods!
The toddler who is less than 2 years old needs a well-balanced diet with nutritious food. You can almost feed anything that is healthy and nutritious. However, don’t just indulge in a particular group of food, say carbs or proteins. When it comes to normal foods, just go with various mixes of carbohydrates, pulses, vegetables and fruits, nuts, eggs and meat.
As said earlier, due to reduced appetite, the quantity of food or frequency of feeding is almost reduced. So make sure that you feed a wholesome nutritious food!
What makes a well balanced, highly notorious diet for toddlers?
You have spent most of the time with your baby from the day one in planning, preparing and feeding food your kid! So, being an important phase, your toddler, who will reach 2 years soon need all essential nutrients, which includes even fat and high carb foods! Don’t cut fat foods, in fact fat is an essential nutrient for kids!
Be cautious about feeding the healthy and nutritious foods for the toddlers, as the eating habits they develop during this phase, until they reach 2 and a half years, will stay with them even in their older years! So feed your toddler with healthy foods so that you teach them to follow the diet with nutritious food for the rest of their life.
Unfortunately, less than 10 percent of the toddlers are fed with nutritious and health promoting foods. More than 30 percent of toddlers munch on French fries, burgers, fried chicken, etc.,.
While you are not really sure about giving the nutritious foods, don’t panic. Just avoid the processed foods which have chemicals and preservatives, packed and canned foods, sweetened beverages, carbonated drinks, fried foods, candies, etc.
Simply avoid any foods that are heavily advertised! Home cooked foods are always nutritious for everyone not just your baby. Yet make sure that you include foods from different sources. Don’t forget to include at one serving of vegetable and one fruit a day in your baby’s diet!
Also Read: TODDLER’S BEHAVIOURS AND CONFLICTS
What to watch for:
There are certain nutrients that you should never skip feeding your child, even if your kids dislike it.
- Ensure to provide the daily dose of iron to your kid. Iron deficiency causes innumerable problems and impacts the growth!
- Similar to iron, your baby should get enough calcium every day. Make your child drink at least two glasses of milk every day to get sufficient calcium.
- Don’t feed sea foods to the toddlers until they are 3 years old.
