by Raksha
(India)
Hi,
Actually you know, my baby boy is 2 years old please suggest me baby food chart.
Thank you.
Answer
Two year olds can be very fussy eaters, hence feeding them can be a herculean task. I too have gone through that stage not
too long ago. I remember myself surfing the net to get any information to feed my child the best food. I even asked my
daughter's pediatrician to subscribe some vitamin syrup or anything to boost her appetite. My problem was the same as many
other mothers must be facing, i.e "my child doesn’t eat properly". The day my daughter ate nice food, I felt like I had won a battle.
According to the doctor there was no need for any vitamin syrups and so long as the child was actively doing the normal
daily routine, there was no need to worry at all.
It took me a long time to understand that whatever the doctor said was true. Each child is different, never make a mistake of
comparing your child with another. That's what I was doing. I was looking at other children same as my daughter's age, who
use to eat the most nutritious food and in huge quantity.
Your child is unique. If you have more than one child, you would know that even they are so different from one another. As
much important as it may be to feed toddlers and growing children, the best food, we still have to respect their habits and
capacities.
There is not just one way to feed your child healthy food. Experiment with variety, they are bound to like something.
The food pyramid is the same for 2 year olds as is for adults. The size of the portion is obviously smaller when compared to
adults. Two year olds will eat about 1/4 size of the adult portions or less. But if you eat 6 chapatis and your child doesn’t
eat 1 and a 1/2, do not worry. Quality matters more than quantity.
According to the food pyramid, following are the guidelines to feed your child, which I total agree with.
*Concentrate on whole grains (wheat and ragi), rice foods, breads made from whole wheat etc to provide the complex
carbohydrates.
*Next should be vegetables. They provide with fiber, vitamins and minerals, hence are extremely essential. Give them in any
form (raw or boiled, steamed), about 3 servings a day.
*Then at least two servings of the fruits, 2 servings of dairy products and 2 servings from the meat group.
*Sugars, fats and oils should be used sparingly even with toddlers. Try restrict the bad fats and give the good fats.
Concentrate of desi ghee and olive oil. If your child is not allergic, then give lots of nuts and seeds.
Although all this sounds very simple and informative but I am sure not even 30% of the toddlers will be eating as much. Heck, even adults don't. Your child might not want to eat a total of 13-14 servings of food daily. Well, can you blame the child?
So here's what I use to do. I always gave a balance diet but not daily. I planned healthy meals over a period of 7 days. So a
good balanced week instead of day. In a week I tried to give variety of food, definitely following the food pyramid (eg wheat
products, rice products, plenty of variety of vegetables and fruits), but at the same time keeping in mind my child's likings. The benefit of following such a routine is that you never repeat a food item too often. Even toddlers like to taste different food and you must get them into the habit of eating a diverse meal from the beginning, so that they don't grow up to be fussy eaters. You will also have to experiment the taste and texture of food.
Give smaller portions of food at an interval of 2-3 hours. Let your child sit on a high chair or on a dining chair and eat
with the whole family. Let them see what food is there on the table. More often than not, they love to take bites from
parent's plate. Encourage that.
Be very careful of the things that can choke the child. Other than that, let them chew everything. They have to get into
the habit of chewing the food.
My daughter use to love milk and most of her calories used to come from milk. If your child is milk tolerant but not
interested in milk, then give other milk products like - cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese, home made custard, halwa, kheer, ragi
porridge etc. But please remember milk is not the be all end all.
The important thing to remember is
* Give wheat, ragi (finger millet), rice based products but avoid maida (plain flour)
* Fruits and vegetables are very important. Try and give them in your child’s diet somehow.
For instance keep steam carrots and beetroot wedges and ask your child to eat. Hopefully the colors should attract them to
eat it. But if they don't, make a soup and feed them. Similarly some children love to eat fruits, if they don't, make a shake
or dessert containing fruits.
* Fruit juices should be limited to 4-5 glasses a week, at least in my opinion. I feel eating the whole fruit even if it is
pureed, is better for the stomach than just drinking the juice. After all even toddlers need fiber.
* Milk can be given in any form. Sweet yogurt, pudding, kheer, shakes or just plain milk. Although bottle feeding is discouraged by everyone, yet I had to give at least 2 feeds in bottle. Slowly I got my daughter out of bottle feeding. Use your discretion.
* Say 'NO' to aerated drinks. Somehow, even small children get hooked on to the taste. So be careful, don't bring fizzy
drinks home. Also avoid giving them bottles squashes.
* Avoid packed and junk food, including potato crisps. Make wafer thin potato crisps at home if u like.
* All vegetables especially spinach, carrots, pumpkin, bottle gourd, potatoes and beetroot, should be given at least once a
week.
* Healthy snacking can comprise of dry fruits (raising, apricots, dry apples, figs, prunes etc) or a baked or boiled sweet
potato.
* Make sure your child drinks ample water in between meals.
* The day your child doesn’t show interest in eating at all, don't force. Try make something that he/she may like which has not been given before.
* Always prepare fresh food for your child. Canned and bottled food are for emergencies only. Don't let your child start
their life by eating bottled food.
Suggestions
Breakfast - Toast with butter, special ragi porridge (given below), french toast, idli, dosa, paratha, puri, omlette.
Lunch and dinner - A healthy balance of wheat and rice products. Vegetables and yogurt.
Snacks - fresh fruits, dry fruits, shakes, baked sweet potato, steamed kerela banana (nethra), homemade desserts.
Recipe for special khichdi for toddlers
Ingredients
* 1/2 carrot (peeled and diced)
* 1/2 beetroot (peeled and diced)
* 1 small piece of bottle gourd
* 1 Tomato (chopped)
* 1 small onion (chopped)
* 1 clove garlic (chopped)
* a few coriander leaves
* a few leaves of spinach (roughly chopped)
* 1 Tbsp moong dal (washed and soaked for 5 minutes)
* 1 wedge of potato (peeled, of course)
* 2 Tbsp of wheat porridge (dalia, washed)
* 1 cup water
* salt to taste
* Black pepper to taste
* Ginger a very small piece.
Method
Pressure cook the above ingredients till the first whistle blows and then simmer for another 10 minutes. Blend in a mixer and
pass through a strainer. Make sure everything gets collected in a bowl except tomato skin and seeds. Add a teaspoon of desi
ghee and feed your child.
Optional - In case you want some meat in the khichdi, then add 2 small pieces chicken on the bone as well, while boiling.
Before blending just remove the flesh from the bone and discard the bone. Keep replacing a few vegetables so that even the
khichdi tastes different for the child.
Recipe for special Ragi porridge for toddlers
* 500 g Ragi seeds (cleaned, washed and sprouted)
* 50 g roasted chana (used for coconut chutney)
* 100 g mixed nuts (cashew nuts and almonds)
* 50 g moong dal (yellow, split)
* 10 g sunflower seeds
* 10 g pumpkin seeds
* 10 g melon seeds
Soak the ragi (finger millet) and let it sprout. When it sprouts about 2 mm -3 mm (yes only that much long). Strain it and
allow to dry. Dry roast it in a pan on a low heat till a nice roasted aroma comes out. Keep to cool.
Dry roast the dal as well. Keep to cool.
Grind together the ragi and dal into a fine powder. Store in a air tight jar.
Similarly, grind together the nuts, chana and seeds, separately and store in a air tight jar.
In hotter places, I would suggest to keep both these inside the refrigerator.
Take a table spoon or two of ragi powder and mix in 1/2 cup cold milk. Now boil and simmer till it thickens. If too think add
more milk. Sweeten it with sugar, honey, jaggery or date syrup. Mix a teaspoon of the dry nuts powder to it. This is a
healthy breakfast or meal.
The nuts mixture can be used in milks, shakes, halwa, kheers etc.
Hope this helps a little.
Manila.