No Kid Stuff – Feeding Infants

Solid foods are usually introduced to kids around the age of twelve months, before that it is usually breast milk or formula milk. Experts recommend that the best replacement for breast milk is cow milk. After about six months the baby needs additional foods, maybe in the paste form, so tastes can be introduced and by the end of twelve months, it is usually time to start on the food that will form their staple diet later on in life. Of course, they still cannot eat adult foods in the adult form.

For a little person, the requirements of food pertain not to their size but what size they will be, after a few years. Energy needs of little kids, especially around the age of two, are phenomenal and anyone who has seen a two year old firing on all fronts will know what I mean. Accordingly, their food should be calorie rich but not fattening. Excessive fats will retard growth over the long run, and add to the risk of obesity, early in life. So in planning for food for a small child, there has to be a clear distinction between fat and calories.

At about twelve months of age, the growth of the child is so rapid that they need a lot of calcium, zinc and ion than anything else. Another point to think of is food allergies, which can be identified at this stage. So it is a good idea to give a child a single food at a time, and then watch for symptoms of discomfort. It is easy on the child and easier on the parent too.

This is also the age when the child will gradually be moving over from infant cereals to more mundane food. Here it is a good idea to add pureed or mashed fruits of vegetables to the fortified cereal, or serve it separately, so the child can get a taste of the real thing. Of course, the advantage of eating nature’s produce over food out of a box can never be over-emphasized. Accordingly, pureed or well blended peas, carrots, peaches or apple sauce, which are nutritious (iron rich) as well as tasty, are a great addition to an infant’s meal. As the child grows, more food stuffs can be added, maybe tenderized meats (preferably white meat), well cooked and mashed beans, cottage cheese could all be on the infant menu. In addition, whole grain breads, yoghurt (maybe with pureed fruits), or even crackers, could all be a great source of nutrition as well as easy to eat.

Always remember, the kid will resist eating if bored with the same menu day after day. So try to introduce variety into her meals, and be patient. After all, what you are inculcating is lifelong eating habits, so let the child take time to accept. Forceful or coercive feeding only sets the child’s mind away from the food offered, making the task at hand more difficult than before.

One easy way of doing this is making a list of foods that the child can be given under each category – for instance, cereals, meats (or poultry), vegetables and fruits, dairy products, sweets etc. Ensure that each food group is represented in the meal EVERYDAY, to have the meal contain all the basic nutrition. Then make a number of combinations, selecting one food from each group at random. Take care not to continue the same combination for too many days in a row. Also make sure the food doesn’t look like something YOU wouldn’t want to eat…dull, unappetizing. Remember, there is serous logic behind making the food attractive…and nowhere does that logic work better than when handling infant meals. A cold, sludgy concoction, however nutritious, is sure to be discarded in favor of a prettily set plate with bright veggies, a well laid out egg and a tastefully displayed slice of whole wheat bread. Taste preferences and nutritional judgment come much later; eye appeal is stronger any day, even to your two year old.

This is the age when strong likes and dislikes develop and even in terms of growth of social skills, asserting independence becomes a very large part of the child’s social behavior. So, If I Don’t Like peas… I WON’T EAT THEM. Screaming or pushing will only make the situation more helpless. Besides, this is also the age for what is called `food jags’, when the child seems to want only one thing for a number of meals. This can be evened out over time.

About the age of two the child needs whole milk in place of formula, so start with about 400 ml a day (almost two cups), but gradually, make sure that whole milk is replaced by lower fat milk over the next one year. Fruit and vegetable juices, while a healthy option, may not always be supportive enough with calcium and some other minerals. However, if the child has milk intolerance, fresh juices can be good, but other forms of calcium will have to be added, maybe cottage cheese, hard cheese or even yoghurt. These also make great snacks if not a part of the meals.

While on snacks, it s a good idea to use snack time as a vehicle for nutrition rather than filler food. Finicky food pickers usually are more relaxed at snack time. So, one may even overlook high sugar or fat content in the snack if it is making up for the vitamins or other nutrients lost at mealtime. Besides, kids need to eat smaller meals, more often than adults. Snacking is a good habit even for adult life ahead of them, provided the snack itself changes with the age. High sugar high calorie snacks are OK for kids with high assimilation levels but an adult snacking on bean bunnies won’ t be such a great idea.

Some good snacks are yoghurt topped with sliced or diced fruits, dry roasted nuts and dry beans, a bowl of sweetened fortified cereal with milk (or yoghurt), a cup of tiny vegetables diced in low fat ranch dressing, waffle sandwiches with peanut butter and sliced fruits (a breakfast waffle, cut into half, and make into a sandwich with fruit jelly, peanut better or fresh fruit fillings). Cookies are, of course, an all time favorite, and can be nutritious according to the combo… peanut with chocolate, honey and walnuts.

A very important thing to remember is that never force your child to eat large helpings. One tablespoonful of each food for one year of age- is the magic formula. Increasing on quantity is not a great idea…nor is making food an incentive for other things. Always remember, the child will retain these eating habits lifelong, so don’t make any mistakes with the toddler, or you will have a maladjusted adult on your hands.