Question
from a patient:
So, my daughter
(16 months) is not the best eater these days. I’ve read a million things on
various websites about toddlers and eating, but I’d like to know what you
think. This is the situation: she doesn’t eat ANY vegetables except some
avocado on occasion; she regularly skips meals (so, on a good day she has
two meals and a bit of a snack); and much of her diet is diary (milk approx. 20
oz. and cheese) and bread (whole grain, but still…). This seems a horrible diet
to me. Though I introduce different things to her, she doesn’t seem to like
much of anything else. How many calories should she have in a day and should I
just give her a multivitamin and not stress about this??
If I had a nickel for every parent who felt
this way . . .
And thus begins the fun of toddler
eating. Even babies who would eat *anything* at 12 months old suddenly
seem to stop eating when they become 14 to 16 months old. But not to
despair! The average toddler only eats 1 good meal every one to two
days. At the other mealtimes, they just pick. With these bird-like
appetites, it seems amazing that they get enough calories to grow! But
somehow they all do.
If you look at the growth chart at this age,
the amount of weight gained over time is much less than in the early months of
life, so don’t expect the same leaps and bounds as you saw from 0-6
months.
Besides the decrease in the volume of food
intake, this is also a time when many babies significantly decrease the number
of foods they eat. Vegetables suddenly seem like poisons and simple carbs
are often the only food to get any enthusiasm at all. Some scientists
posit that this was once an adaptive survival trait: when the cave
dwellers’ children became mobile and could wander out of the cave, they were in
danger of harming themselves by eating poisonous plants. And so, between
the age of walking and the age of “reason” – 4-5 years old in some children,
12-13 years old in others (and some people never become “reasonable” and always
hate their veg) – children evolved to have a very limited palate.
Not eating your veggies, however, is no longer
an adaptive trait. And so, my dears, this is the time to outsmart your
child and turn veggies and complex carbs into forms that are
more acceptable to the toddler palate.
Tips
for parents:
-
Trust your child. It is very rare for a baby to starve
themselves. There is too much interest in self-preservation in our genes. -
Offer your child healthy foods at regular meal times, with a few
snacks along the way. Let your child choose how much they eat. The
less you seem to care, the more they are likely to explore and eat! -
Get sneaky with healthy foods. Toddlers are much more
likely to eat pureed vegetables. Make a chunky tomato sauce for your
pasta with lots of great veg and then blitz it in the blender. Or blend a
chunky soup full of vegetable goodness into a silken puree. Smoothies are
also great places to “hide” vegetables. And some babies will take the
pre-prepared Stage 1 baby foods: these are just fine. -
As for smoothies: freeze some bananas (they’re easier to
manage if they’re peeled first) and then blitz your frozen bananas (for natural
sweetness) with other frozen or fresh fruits, a bit of unsweetened yogurt and
some water or a little juice. Throw in some veggies for good
measure: canned pumpkin (yes, a healthy veg!), beets, carrots, spinach,
and celery all work well. -
Be persistent: nutrition studies show that a child may
reject a food 10-12 times before finally accepting it! -
My advice on vitamins: if your child is eating plenty of
fruits, then she’s getting plenty of vitamins. If not, a daily multi-vitamin is a good idea. -
And finally, again, trust your child. And your
pediatrician: we will see and weigh your child frequently enough during
this period to avoid any health disasters. And if you can’t stand the
suspense, schedule extra appointments with your pediatrician to review the
weight curve.
