Feeding Guidelines past 12 Months.

Hi L.,

I have the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron and is is great. I have been making my daughter's food ( she is also one) and that book has been great in teaching me healthy eating habits for kids, portion size, and variety in food.

My daughter is tiny for her age, despite my feeding her huge amounts of food all day. I just go with her appetite and feed her until I get her "I'm full" clues.

If she is of healthy weight for her age, I say feed her as much as she seems to want. Hopefully that consits of lots of healthful options!

Good Luck!

The Gerber website has sample menus.
http://www.gerber.com/fpmenus

I have a great book to recommend. it is called Super Babyfood, By Ruth Yaron, and it covers feeding from infancy to 3 years of age. Not only does she offer Guidelines for feeding, she also covers everything from preperation of any kind of fruit, grain, or vegetable to healthy recipes toddlers love, even how to make Halloween costumes, and home made finger paints. As far as guidelines go for now, I think your child will just not eat if she is not hungry. So, I would not worry to much about overfeeding her.

If you are a fan of the "what to Expect" series, they do a Toddler years book,which also included dietary information, as well as a What to Expect dietary guide and planner, which includes some great recipies.

When my daughter was 1yrs.old she had a HUGE appetite and was overweight and not the least bit good at the whole walking bit. I fed her as she needed to be and never held food back. Afterall she knows when's she full or not. Eventually she became a better walker, the food slowed down all on her own part and she thinned out all on her own. I have always let my daughter be in charge of how much she eats. I get to choose what we have in the house so it can be healthy. There are times like at Chuckie Cheese or McDonalds when she says she's not hungry and I KNOW she is she is just distracted and those are the only times I make her eat her typical amount. Otherwise I have always let her decide, she's always been a great hearty little eater and isn't very picky at all. I've never been one to nag at her to eat her veggies or eat more or take food away because she's chubby. She is 5yrs.old and at the 50% for height and weight and completely proportioned well. She loves fruits and veggies and eats as she pleases. Of course I don't let her eat right before dinner or anything like that.

L., I have found these two websites helpful:
www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyfeeding
www.earthsbest.com/toddler_nutrition/articles/how_much.php

Good luck.

B..

L.,

It is actually healthier to eat 5-6 small meals than 3 large meals a day. Doctors actually recommend it. It will keep her at a healthy weight, she will know to only eat when hungry, not from boredom or such things.

My recommendation in your situation is to only change it if it doesn't fit into your schedule. Having the 3 actual meals and 2 or 3 healthy snacks a day is good.

H.

This website is great and if you scroll down on the left side you can go into their new toddler site. Both have great info and guidelines!!

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Good luck!!
J.

I second Barbie's advice for www.babycenter.com they seem to have info on everything there.