Dad's Guide to Baby's First Year For Dummies

Author:Sharon Perkins & Scott Lancaster
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781119275817
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2016-07-03T00:00:00+00:00

Limit the number of sweet snacks such as dried fruit, candy, and cookies because of their tooth-damaging sugar content. Additives and high sugar content in “junk” food have been linked to altering children’s moods and making them possibly even more energetic than they typically are anyway, although studies have never proven this. Unfortunately, juice boxes — a staple of many toddler diets — are also very heavy in sugar content and should be limited or saved as a special treat.

Toddlers don’t need to eat as much as they did in their first year of life and often become picky eaters, besides. One way to get your toddler the nutrients he needs is to offer a smorgasbord of foods in a muffin tray or other dish with small compartments. Put a little fruit in one, a little cereal in another, peanut butter on a cracker, a few pieces of cheese, and soft veggies to round out the variety, and let him pick what he wants.

Now that your toddler is able to experience more texture and variety in her meals, she can have toddler versions of your meals and eat with you. This is a good time to teach your child about the social aspects of eating, with all of you around the table talking about your day and about the food in front of you. Make sure the TV is off and just hang out together as a family. Seeing you eat good, healthy meals encourages your child to eat healthily too. The American Academy of Pediatrics supplies some guidelines for healthy eating at www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Childhood-Nutrition.aspx.

The toddler years are often when children start to show signs of food allergies. Rashes, hives, and gastrointestinal upsets are the most common signs of a food allergy; more serious reactions, such as wheezing, shortness of breath, collapsing, or turning blue, require immediate medical help. Six foods — milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, and wheat — cause around 90 percent of all allergic reactions. Introduce these foods one at a time, with several days between each introduction.

Lactose intolerance is not an allergy and rarely affects children under the age of 2. Lactose intolerance — more common in children of Asian, African American, or Hispanic/Latino descent — causes gastrointestinal upset. This usually occurs within 30 minutes to 2 hours after ingesting foods containing lactose, which includes most dairy products.

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