Healthy Food For Your 2-Year-Old baby: Your 2-year-old child should eat at least 3 healthy meals per day and one or two snacks. He or she can consume the same meal as the rest of the house. With his or her enhanced language and social experiences, your child can grow as an active participant at mealtimes if provided the chance to eat with everyone else.
- Do not fixate on amounts.
- Don’t make mealtimes a struggle.
- Do pay consideration to embracing healthy eating practices—including sitting as a family at mealtime.
- Do make healthy food choices as a family.
Read Also: Nutrition from 24 to 36 months: General recommendations
Unsafe Foods for Toddlers
At age two, your toddler should be ready to use a spoon, drink from a mug with just one hand, and feed him or herself a wide type of finger food. Yet, he or she is still discovering to chew and swallow efficiently and may pour food down when in a rush to get on with playing. For that purpose, the chance of choking is high. See the unsafe foods for toddlers below:
Shun the subsequent foods, which could be swallowed whole and obstruct the throat:
- Hot dogs (unless cut in parts lengthwise before being sliced)
- Pieces of peanut butter (Peanut butter may be spread thinly on a cracker or bread, but never give pieces of peanut butter to a baby.)
- Nuts—especially peanuts
- Raw cherries with pits
- Round, hard candies—including jelly beans
- Gum
- Whole grapes
- Marshmallows
- Raw carrots, celery, green beans
- Popcorn
- Seeds—such as processed pumpkin or sunflower seeds
- Whole grapes, cherry tomatoes (cut them in quarters)
- Big chunks of any food such as potatoes, meat, or raw vegetables and fruits [2]
We recommend you to read another article from kidsrush.com which describes briefly Learn which fruits are safe for babies.
Tips for Healthy Food For Your 2-Year-Old baby
Healthy Eating Basics & Picky Eaters
Make certain your kid eats from each of the primary four food groups each day:
- Meat, fish, poultry, eggs
- Milk, cheese, and other dairy products
- Fruits and vegetables
- Cereals, potatoes, rice, flour products
Don’t be scared if your child doesn’t perpetually meet this ideal. Several toddlers oppose eating specific foods—or insist on eating only one or two preferred foods. The more you grapple with your child over his or her eating choices, the more stubborn he or she will be to oppose you.
Allowing a variety of foods and giving the choices up to your child will ultimately allow him or her to eat a well-balanced diet on his or her own. Toddlers also like to feed themselves, so whenever possible, offer your toddler finger foods rather than cooked ones that need a fork or spoon to eat. Here you can learn more about 8 Foods for growing children well.
Supplementation for Some Children
Vitamin supplements are infrequently required for toddlers who eat a different diet. Yet, supplemental iron may be required if your child consumes iron-fortified cereal, very little meat, or vegetables rich in iron. Large amounts of milk (more than 32 ounces [960 mL] per day) also may hinder the proper digestion of iron, thus increasing the risk of iron deficiency anemia.
Your child should absorb 16 ounces (480 mL) of low-fat or nonfat milk per day. This will give most of the calcium he or she requires for bone growth and still not conflict with his or her appetite for other foods—particularly those that produce iron.
Note: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests that infants stay on whole milk until they are two years of age—unless there is a purpose to switch a baby to low-fat milk shortly. Whole milk includes almost 4% milk fat. It may aid to slowly switch your child from whole milk to lower-fat milk. Consequently, many pediatricians suggest that kids get reduced-fat (2%) milk for a few weeks before switching them to low fat (1%) or no fat (skim) milk.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) clinical report, Optimizing Bone Health in Teenagers and Children, kids under 12 months require 400 International Units (IU) of vitamin D throughout the day and older children and youngsters need 600 IU per day. This quantity of vitamin D can limit rickets—an ailment identified by the softening and weakening of bones. If your kid is not normally exposed to sunlight or is using enough vitamin D in his or her diet, discuss to your pediatrician about a vitamin D supplement. [1]
Read Also: Preschool Children Food
Sample Menu for a Two-Year-Old baby
Note: This healthy food menu is prepared for a two-year-old baby who weighs almost 27 pounds (12.5 kg).
- 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons (15 mL)
- 1 tablespoon = 1⁄2 ounce (15 mL)
- One ounce = 30 mL
- 1 cup = 8 ounces (240 mL)
Breakfast
- Nonfat or low- fat milk: ½ cup
- Iron-fortified cereal: ½ cup
- Egg: 1
- Fruits (for example, strawberries, banana, cantaloupe ): 1⁄3 cup (We recommend you to read another article from us which is about 3 easy ways to prepare banana baby food )
- Whole-wheat toast: ½ slice
- Butter or margarine: ½ teaspoon
- Jelly: 1 teaspoon
Snack
- Crackers with hummus or cheese: 4
- Cut-up fruit or berries: ½ cup
- Water: ½ cup
Lunch
- Low- fat or nonfat milk: ½ cup
- ½ sandwich— 1-ounce meat, 1 slice whole-wheat bread, veggie (lettuce, avocado, or tomato), and a slice of cheese
- 2–3 carrot (cut up) or 2 tablespoons additional dark-green or dark- yellow vegetable
- Berries: ½ cup
- or low-fat oatmeal cookie: 1 small (½ ounce)
Snack
- Nonfat or low-fat milk: ½ cup
- ½ apple (sliced), 1⁄3 cup grapes (cut up), 3 prunes, or ½ orange
Dinner
- Nonfat or low-fat milk: ½ cup
- Meat: 2 ounces
- Pasta, potato, or rice: 1⁄3 cup
- Vegetable: 2 tablespoons