Toddlers are very mischievous and this is the time when they skip food and become notorious. They try to grasp as much things as possible in shorter time and put all their energy in hopping around and learning things. This is the initial phase where they grow rapidly by gaining abundant strength for proper growth of their muscles and bones. Therefore, it becomes very crucial to give them enough nutrition for the day so that they grow faster and stronger. Apart from buying products from the market, you can learn some recipes which are very nutritious as well as healthy for your child to gulp down easily.
Complexity level: Moderate
Process
- Toddlerâs meals are not just the same like elder people. So you have to take extra care for whatever they do and eat. The Government offers proper foods with proper quantity for different aged children. You can buy them or can follow the schedule or process. A two year old toddler basically remains engaged in 30-60 minutes of physical activity in a day and therefore should eat/drink 2 cups of milk, 1 cup of vegetables, 3 ounces of whole grains, 1 cup of fruit and 2 ounces of meat.
- As chicken, especially its breast is rich in protein; you can bake and cut it into strips for your toddler to eat. To make your toddler gobble down the proteins that a chicken breast possesses, you can offer a cup of low-sugar barbecue sauce or pureed vegetables on which the strips can be dipped. Your toddlers can have fun dipping the chicken strips and can eat them enthusiastically. You can also cut the vegetables into strips and offer to your toddlers who love dipping foods and eating them since this seems new to them.
- Potatoes are rich in carbohydrates and toddlers should get accustomed to this. If your child does not like potatoes and other vegetables that you can come up with creative ideas to impress your toddler. For instance, you can create a vegetable snowman through a mashed potato for meal. Best is to keep three mashed potato balls on your toddlerâs plate and add two peas on them which will represent eyes of the snowman. Prepare a carrot stick for nose and a red pepper slice for mouth. Your snowman will be ready to serve your toddler who will ultimately eat all the pieces while playing. This way, you and your toddler both will be satisfied.
- When you prepare rice and vegetables as dinner for your toddler, add grated cheese to make them more appetizing. Cheese possesses high calcium and helps to strengthen the bones by letting them to grow properly.
- Prepare a healthy and full of vegetables turkey meatloaf recipe. Prepare it in a muffin pan in place of a traditional loaf pan. This will give you insight of proper proportion for the dinner of your toddler.
- You should meet the whole grain requirement for each day and this can be done by serving brown rice, slice of whole wheat bread or whole wheat pasta. These are readily available in the market, so you do not have to spare more time in preparing your toddlerâs dinner.
- If your toddler easily finishes the rest of his dinner, then offer him a small and healthy dessert. This will not only motivate him to eat food properly, but will also increase his digestion power. In fact, for more nutritious benefits, offer your toddler with a chunk of fruit, low-fat yogurt or low-sugar pudding.
Tips
Remember, that toddlers are on learning phase and you should do all creative stuff to keep your toddler active. This way, your toddler will eat food while learning and enjoying your company. You can offer colorful dishes each day by thinking of the rainbows, but that should be natural without preservatives. For example, when you plan for the color red – tomato, apple and peaches are the best options. Likewise, grapes and bananas can be offered on green day. Toddlers will not eat all the food at a time, so you can offer repeatedly after a time gap to keep his stomach filled and not heavily filled.
Things to watch out for
Your toddler should consume 85% of nutrition every day. So make sure that whatever food you provide should have some nutritional values. Also ensure that the food which you serve is apt for his eating abilities. For example, some toddlers may swallow the whole grape easily, but others might need the grape to be cut into pieces. Similarly, your toddler is not yet ready to eat all kind of food and beverages which can affect his health. So, your prime focus should be on vegetables and fruits.
