Food: A Typical Toddler Diet

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A Typical Toddler Diet
Monday, February 27, 2006

Because I now have a toddler, I find that I am discovering all of the interesting ways to get him to eat the way he should. While my husband and I tend to eat pretty well, we are especially concerned about the diet our son is developing. I have found that planning out his meals and snacks is essential to making sure that he is getting a delicious and well-balanced meal.

For starters, breakfast should include a little carbohydrate as well as some protein. That way your toddler will get a boost of energy to get him or her moving (as if toddlers need more energy!) but will have enough to sustain that level until snack time. Try a pancake with a little scrambled egg and a bit of fruit. You can cook the fruit into the pancake to make it easier, or you can simply give him or her a little applesauce or a couple of blueberries sliced. You should stick to a small amount of egg and a fairly small pancake. Remember that your toddler has a tiny stomach, so you do not have to provide a lot of food at once.

A tasty mid-morning snack can be a little bit of fruit yogurt. My son will eat about 1/2 cup of yogurt at a time. We do not purchase the already-mixed variety because of the sugar content. Instead we blend up some of the fruit in the food processor and mix it into the yogurt. This snack can go with a cup of water, which your toddler needs, or a nice glass of vegetable juice.

Lunch typically consists of one vegetable, such as broccoli or squash, and a protein. We try to vary the proteins, and lunch is a good time to do that. Instead of always providing meat, we try a little tofu or some beans that have been cooked until they are very tender. He can feed himself small pieces of the vegetables chopped. Fruit juice usually accompanies lunch. Remember that a toddler only needs four to eight ounces of fruit juice everyday. We may add part of a pita loaf because he loves to eat that on his own.

The afternoon snack consists of something a little more fun. He loves wheat or butter crackers, and we spread a thin layer of peanut butter over them. Added to a couple of raisins, this snack is tasty! With a toddler, you should cut the raisins in halves or even quarters because they are tough to bite. He only eat three to four raisins, but that is enough for him.

For supper, he has some version of whatever we are eating. We typically have chicken or ground turkey or perhaps some fish. Although some experts say to avoid all seafood until the age of three, we find that advice impractical since we love seafood. We give him a bit of fish and know that he likely will not develop an allergy to it. We also make sure that we provide him with two vegetables at dinner. We go for an additional green vegetable and then an orange, such as carrots, or purple, such as eggplant.

Our son does not eat as much as a typical toddler according to all of the information he has read. He is more active and sleeps less as well, so we give him a snack just before bed. If we do not do the bedtime snack, then we have discovered that he wakes much more easily. We usually opt for mashed potatoes or another heavy night-time snack so that it will help him get through the night. We try to add a bit of cheese or a couple of bites of meat because the body holds on to the protein longer. These are not full servings, just enough to allow him to go to bed full.

This typical toddler diet will allow him to grow big and strong and get the nutrients he needs. We are hoping that by having a tasty and varied diet early in life, he will grow up to appreciate the tastes of healthy food. And every time he smiles and claps when he sees broccoli, we know that we have done a good job.
By Julia Mercer

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