Frequently Asked Questions about feeding your toddler

• Fuel for growth - What foods, how often and how much?
• Going organic?
• Take care - What to avoid and what's good?
• How do I get the balance right?

• Quick, nourishing toddler meals/snacks Scrambled egg Pasta with cheese or tomato sauce Jacket potato in the microwave (sweet potatoes are popular) with a cheese topping Fish fingers/fish cakes with carrots Bits and pieces of finger foods with a hummus dip Banana Yogurt Dried fruit/stewed fruit Blueberries/raspberries

  Toddlers are growing fast and are usually very active, so they need nourishing foods to fuel their healthy development.
• At the same time they are becoming more independent (and sometimes too ‘busy’ to eat) and often develop food likes and dislikes. Relax and don’t worry about it; just try your best to provide a wide variety of good things to eat - and avoid filling them up with unhealthy, ‘empty’, high-sugar foods such as biscuits and cake

Meals and snacks too

• Toddlers can eat many of the same foods as adults (although you should watch the salt levels), but because of their small stomachs are limited in the amounts of food they can eat at one time. That’s why foods rich in nutrients are important and why you should give your toddler 5-6 small, nourishing meals/snacks per day. Don’t worry about high-fibre food - little tummies can’t cope with its bulkiness.
• Mealtimes together with the family are good, since your little one will often be prepared to try new foods that other members of the family are eating. Often, though, you’ll be wanting to prepare a toddler meal in a hurry and are looking for quick, simple, nourishing choices.

• Modern mums agree organic is best! Organic food for babies is top of the shopping list today. A full 84 per cent of modern mums thought it was important to feed their babies organically. This compares with just 26 per cent of mums who weaned their babies organically 12-15 years ago The main reasons mums buy organic are: - less risk of chemical pesticides (87 per cent) - no GM (84 per cent) - no additives (80 per cent)

  When you have a young baby, it is a good time to be thinking about the benefits of feeding organic foods. Permitted pesticide residues found in non-organic vegetables and fruits are based on ‘acceptable’ amounts for adults, not babies or toddlers. By choosing organic foods at this important stage, you’ll be limiting your baby’s exposure to these potentially harmful chemicals.

Organic foods are everywhere now

• You can easily find organic fruit and vegetables - and meat and eggs and other foods too - in the supermarket and they taste really good. There’s an added bonus that farming organically helps to make the world a happy and healthy place for our children to grow up in.

Ready meals

• Time is always short for busy mums and dads, so it’s comforting to know, when you are looking for a quick and easy meal, that organic ready meals are actually a good, wholesome choice for babies and toddlers. There are ready-made toddler varieties in the HiPP Organic Growing up Range, for example, and they are not only tasty, but have been formulated to contain just the right level of nutrients, with carefully controlled sodium levels. Organic ready meals are strictly controlled and do not contain artificial additives or genetically modified ingredients. So you can use organic ‘convenience’ meals with an easy conscience!

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• Despite the high importance given to nutrition by the government, research has shown that pre-school children are eating more salt and sugar than is recommended and not enough fruit, vegetables and iron-rich foods. This has led to concerns being raised about anaemia, obesity and tooth decay in young children. So start good habits young!

• Many toddlers and young children don’t get enough iron. Foods or drinks high in vitamin C (eg oranges, red peppers, fruit juice) at mealtimes help the body to absorb the iron in other foods eaten at the same time.

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You should aim to include these sorts of food in your toddler’s diet every day:

• Milk and dairy foods such as cheese, milk and yogurt
• Lean meat, chicken, fish, eggs, beans and lentils
• Carbohydrate rich foods such as bread, rice, pasta, potatoes and breakfast cereals
• Plenty of fruit and vegetables

Some from each group

• Try to balance meals out, with foods from each of the above groups every day.
• If your baby has had cereals for breakfast, for example, and pasta with vegetables for lunch, try to include a protein-rich food such as meat, fish, eggs or beans for tea, with fruit and yogurt to follow.

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