“What and how much should I feed my toddler?”, is a question that is often asked. Dietician Dr Ingrid van Heerden gives useful advice to parents.

Rule of thumb
The basic rule of thumb which can be applied to the dietary intake of toddlers from the age of one to three years, is as follows:

1 Tablespoon of each food for every year of life
Thus a one-year-old child would be given one tablespoon at a time of cereal, pureed fruit, cooked meat, cooked vegetable, and one egg, and milk and dairy products in portions of ½ a cup at a time.

A two-year-old child would be given two tablespoons at a time of the different foods.

A three-year-old child would be given three tablespoons at a time of the various foods.

So little food!
No, it is not too little if you keep in mind that toddlers have a very small stomach capacity and that they cannot handle more food at a meal. This is also the reason why you need to give toddlers a number of small meals every day and not expect them to eat large quantities at three main meals like adults.

Many of the eating problems experienced during the first three years of life are due to the unrealistic expectations of caring adults who cannot grasp the fact that their tiny child just cannot eat large amounts of food and cannot thrive on only three meals a day. So do try and keep this fact in mind when planning and preparing food for toddlers. Both the child and the parents will experience less stress and meals will be pleasant, happy times if you offer the child portions that are suitable for the child’s age and let the child eat six or more small meals a day.

Portion sizes and foods for toddlers aged two to three years

Food	Portions size	Number of servings per day
Milk & dairy products	½ cup of milk or yoghurt or 15g cheese	4-5
Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, peanut butter or cooked legumes	30-60g meat, fish or poultry, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons peanut butter or 4 tablespoons cooked legumes like baked beans	2
Fruit & vegetables		4-5
Vegetables, cooked	2-3 tablespoons
Vegetables, raw	A few pieces - only if child can chew well
Fruit, raw	½-1 small fruit
Fruit, canned	2-4 tablespoons
Fruit juice	90-120ml (less than ½ cup)
Bread and cereals		3
Wholewheat or vitamin & mineral fortified bread	½-1 slice
Cooked porridge	1/4-½ cup
Dry breakfast cereal	½-1 cup

Typical menu for toddlers aged two to three years

Breakfast:
40 ml fruit juice
1/4 cup oats porridge with 1 T honey
½ cup full cream milk

Mid-morning snack:
½ cup yoghurt
½ mashed, ripe banana

Lunch:
1 boiled egg
½ - 1 slice wholewheat bread with 1 t polyunsaturated margarine
½ grated apple
½ cup full cream milk

Mid-afternoon snack:
15 g sweetmilk or Gouda cheese
½ slice wholewheat bread with 1 t polyunsaturated margarine
40 ml fruit juice

Supper:
30 g cooked, mince meat
Mashed potato 2 T
Cooked butternut 1 T
1/4 cup custard

Bed-time snack:
1/4 cup full cream milk with Ovaltine

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4
Breakfast	Apricot juice 40 ml Oats porridge 1/4 cup Honey 1 T Milk ½ cup	Orange juice 40 ml Cornflakes, ½ cup Brown sugar 1 T Millk ½ cup	Banana ½ mashed Egg 1 poached Toast ½-1 slice Margarine 1 t Milk ½ cup	Apple ½ grated Creamy meal 1/4 cup Honey 1 T Yoghurt, ½ cup
Mid-morning snack	Yoghurt ½ cup Banana ½ mashed, ripe	Yoghurt ½ cup Oats cookie 1	Cheese 15g Apple juice 40 ml	Milk ½ cup Dried fruit 1 T
Lunch	Egg, 1 boiled Bread ½-1 slice Margarine 1 t Apple ½ grated Milk ½ cup	Peanut butter 2 T Bread ½-1 slice Margarine 1 t Canned peach 1 Milk ½ cup	Baked beans 3 T Bread ½-1 slice Margarine 1 t Carrot sticks Yoghurt 1/4 cup	Fish finger 1 Mashed potato 2 T Canned pear 1 Custard 1/4 cup Milk 1/4 cup
Mid-afternoon snack	Cheese 15g sweetmilk/Gouda Bread ½ slice Margarine 1 t Pear juice 40 ml	Yoghurt ½ cup Provitas 1-2 Margarine 1 t Honey 1 T Canned apricot 2	Cottage cheese 15g Bread ½ slice Margarine 1 t Apricot juice 40ml	Peanut butter 2 T Crackers 2 Cranberry juice 40ml
Supper	Meat 30g cooked mince Potato, mashed 2 T Butternut, cooked 1 T Custard 1/4 cup	Fish cake, 30g Pumpkin, 2 T Tomato, 2 slices Milk pudding 1/4 cup	Meat 30g cooked Carrots, cooked 2 T Naartjie ½-1 Jelly Milk ½ cup	Egg, scrambled 1 Bread ½-1 slice Margarine, 1 t Banana 1 Custard ½ cup
Bedtime snack	Milk 1/4 cup with Ovaltine	Milk 1/4 cup with honey	Milk 1/4 cup with Horlicks	Milk 1/4 cup with Milo

Notes:
The abovementioned menus are examples and can of course be varied according to season. Young children do not need as much variety as older children, so that the menus for four days can be repeated.
Bread - use wholewheat, brown or vitamin and mineral fortified bread.
Margarine - use polyunsaturated, soft or tub margarine.
Milk - use full cream milk (in contrast to adults, toddlers still need the energy supplied by the fat content of full cream milk).
Fruit - use canned, cooked or pureed fruit for younger children.
Vegetables - use cooked or pureed vegetables with bland flavours for younger children, e.g. potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, butternut, squash, carrots.

- (Dr I. van Heerden, registered dietician)

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