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Do Kids Need Snacks?
I normally recommend that parents give young children three meals and two snacks a day. This common advice is partly
based on the fact that food refusal is common in young children and that they often eat small amounts. Offering food every
two to three hours helps insure that they eat enough. But every now and then, I see a parent who does not offer snacks. Instead
they have three big meals a day. Even though this is not the typical pattern, as long as a child's growth is normal, there's
no reason to change it.
Handling Milk Refusals
I see many toddlers who, once they stop breast feeding or drinking from a bottle, refuse to drink milk. Even though
kids this age can be adamant in their refusals, if something looks like fun, they may try it. Juice boxes are fun. So if your
child is refusing to drink milk from a cup, look for milk that is packaged in small, juice-box-type containers. Because it
does not require refrigeration until after it is open, you may not find with in the dairy case with other milk and dairy foods.
Look in the juice aisle or in the health food section.
Food-Related Picture Books
This week in our Munch Maker feeding group, we read Avocado Baby by John Birmingham. In this dramatic tale
a baby gains super strength from eating avocados. After listening to the story, the toddlers and preschoolers in our group
happily handled fresh avocados (both whole and cut-up), and helped make Avocado Fluff (see recipe section). When it was time
to eat, most preferred the chunks they could pick up with their fingers.
Transition off the bottle
When it comes to cups, they are not all the same. Lately, many parents I see with kids who are transitioning off the bottle
and onto to a cup have raved about the Nuby cup (available at stores such as Target). It has a soft spout that resembles the
soft feel of a nipple, making it easier to drink from. Continue to offer other cups (open, straw or those with a harder spout).
With practice and time, your child will learn to drink from any type cup.
Crunch and Crumble Foods
Mothers in our food group whose kids are learning how to bite and chew like Baby Mum-Mum rice rusks. These are a great crunch
and crumble food. That is they are hard enough to crunch when biten but they also dissolve into mush when wet from saliva.
For kids on special diets, they are gluten free and made without preservatives, artificial colors or flavors.
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