The most important thing to remember when considering nutrition for your child is that children eat food not calories.  Many parents make their job harder than it should be by forcing their child to eat either the “right” foods or the “right” amount.  A parent’s job is simply to provide appropriate balanced nutrition.  Healthy children eat when they are hungry and they will usually eat the right amounts for their nutritional needs. The requirements for your child are listed below in daily amounts.  I admit this is not fair because no child eats healthy consistently day in and day out.  The good news is that our bodies are designed to accumulate nutrients over a span of one to two weeks not in just one day.  This means that some days your child will eat a few servings of vegetables and other days more servings of vegetables.  So don’t get focused on a daily amount your child HAS TO EAT but get a sense of what a balanced diet consists of so that you can offer appropriate amounts and healthy types of foods.  Remember that there is not ONE particular vegetable or fruit that contains all the necessary nutrients for your child.  So, varying the types of fruits or vegetables is the key to a balanced diet and good nutrition.

The most important source of nutrients for your child will still come from breast milk or iron-fortified formula.  After 6 months your baby needs to increase her intake in certain nutrients.  One important nutrient is iron.  Make sure your baby gets foods rich in iron like iron-fortified cereal and later include meat into her diet.

Introducing Solids Order

(One new food every 3-4 days)

(4-6 Months)     Rice cereal (then others like oatmeal and barley)

(6-8 Months)     Vegetables and fruits

(7-10 Months)   Meats usually combined with vegetables in commercial baby food

(9-11 Months)    Soft table foods that won’t cause choking

(12 Months)      Cow’s Milk (Whole/ Vitamin D milk not skim milk)

Food Allergies

            Because the infant’s intestines are still developing, giving foods that are highly allergenic may cause your child to become allergic to those foods.  Wait until after your child is a year old before introducing egg whites, cow’s milk, citrus, wheat, fish, or shellfish.  Wait until after 2 years of age to introduce products containing peanuts like peanut butter.  Honey is not to be given to infants because they are susceptible to infant botulism from spores in the honey, not because of allergy concerns.

When Does She Need Extra Water or Juice?

Since most  babies get enough water through their breast milk or formula intake children under 6 months of age do not need plain water.  After 6 months most infants if thirsty still should be offered the bottle or breast, but 4-8 ounces of water a day should not be dangerous.  As the child grows older than 1 year of age a significant amount of their milk intake will be replaced with water.  Juice should never be allowed to replace their milk or water intake during childhood.  4 ounces of juice a day is plenty for the child over 6 months of age.  Remember if your child drinks 4 ounces of juice that counts as a fruit serving for the day.  If your child has a adequate solid fruit intake, juice is not necessary. 

 How Much Should I Feed Her?

 Start with 1-2 meals a day then increase to 3 meals a day once she is eating well.  At first offer just cereal and as she begins to tolerate more each feeding then start vegetables.  Many parents choose to give 1 serving of cereal in the morning and 1-2 servings of vegetables later in the day.  After she has shown she will not have an allergic reaction to a variety of foods you can have her appetite and your schedule to determine which foods and when.  Some parents want to offer cereal at dinner and feed 2-3 vegetables at 2 earlier times in the day.  The important thing is the daily number of servings not when they are served during the day.

By the time she is taking 3 meals a day, try to offer daily 1-2 servings of cereal, 2-3 vegetables, 2-3 fruits, and 1-2 meats.  She needs ½ cup of iron-fortified infant cereal daily.  This can be ¼ cup in the morning and another ¼ cup later in the afternoon.  The serving size of baby food depends on how much she weighs.  So let her appetite determine how much of a jar she can eat at one sitting.  The average child may eat a ½ jar or 2 whole jars of baby food per “meal”.  This depends on your child’s growth needs and activity level.  Start with 1-2 “meals” a day then step up to 3 meals as your child’s hunger increases.  As your child’s solid intake increases expect her milk intake to decrease to 20-28 oz a day.

Tips

•  Make it fun, pick a happy time for everyone involved.

•  Feed solids first then follow with a bottle or sippy cup.

•  Try to incorporate your baby’s meal into the family mealtime if possible.

•  If you are having trouble getting your 9-12 month old to transition to solids check out these helpful hints.

For more information the American Academy of Pediatrics has published an excellent resource available at most bookstores called Guide to Your Child’s Nutrition edited by Drs. William Dietz and Loraine Stern. Click to order at aap.org.