What your toddler needs
Your active toddler is growing rapidly. To get the right balance of energy and nutrients, your toddler tends to need 3 small balanced meals a day with regular nutritious snacks in-between.
So what kind of small balanced meals should he be eating?
Start the day with a small glass of fruit juice and a bowl of iron fortified cereal. The vitamin C in the fruit juice will help the absorption of the iron in the cereal, which your baby needs to support his rapid mental development. If he is still a little hungry, a slice of wholemeal toast with a little butter or margarine should do the trick.
Include a balanced meal at lunchtime, consisting of something high in carbohydrates such as potato, rice, or pasta, protein rich foods such as meat, fish, poultry or pulses and at least two different vegetables. As a drink, cooled, boiled water or fruit juice in a beaker are best. Finish off lunch with a nutritious fruit or dairy dessert, like Frutapura fruit pots or pouches, yummy rice pudding or fruit yogurts.
If your toddler has eaten everything up until now, including his in-between snacks (lucky you!), don't be surprised if he's not up to eating much at teatime.
Try some beans on toast, a brown cheese sandwich cut into fun shapes, or a little pasta dish. Put a little cooled boiled water or fruit juice in his beaker and if he still seems hungry, finish up with a little fruit or yogurt.
Remember, as your toddler learns a lot by mimicking you, joining the family at mealtimes is a great way to help develop his social skills as well as his appreciation for new foods.
Your toddler's much more likely to eat something if he was involved in its creation -so making feeding fun means making cooking fun too!
Find out more about feeding your baby at this stage »
