You may realize your child's appetite decreases when he is 1 year old. Your child begins to pick food that he wants to eat, starts rejecting food after a few bites, or refuses to sit together at the dinner table at mealtime. You might think he should eat more because he is so active, but there are actually other reasons why the little one is suddenly unwilling to eat. The growth rate of children at this age is slowing down, and children do not need a lot of food at this time.
Your toddler needs around 1,000 calories per day to meet his needs for growth, energy, and good nutrition. If you've been on a 1,000-calorie diet, you'll know this diet doesn't need a lot of food. This is not a problem for your child, food can be divided into three small meals and two snacks per day. However, don't expect your child to always eat with this pattern, because toddlers' eating habits are erratic and unpredictable from day to day.
Your child may eat a lot at breakfast but hardly eat anything at night. In addition, he may only eat his favorite food for three consecutive days, and then reject it. In addition, he can eat 1,000 calories a day, but then feel this portion is excess or less in the next one or two days. Your child's needs vary depending on activity, growth rate, and metabolism.
No need to force your child to eat a balanced meal. He doesn't hate you when he refuses the food you provide, so don't worry. In addition, the harder you tell him to eat, the less the child's willingness to obey you. Instead, offer him a variety of nutritious food choices at mealtime, and let him choose what he wants. Vary the food menu as much as you can.
If your child refuses food, you can try storing the food to be provided again when he is hungry. However, don't give him a cake or candy after he rejects the food, because food like this will only give him high calories without nutrients, and reduce appetite for other nutritious foods.
It's hard to believe, but your child's dietary needs will be balanced for several days if you routinely provide a variety of healthy foods that are available and do not force children to eat one type of food. Your job as a parent is to offer nutritious food, provide it at the right time, and your child decides how much he will eat. When parents try to control how much children have to eat under duress, your little one will not be able to learn to regulate themselves. This can lead to compulsive eating habits and signs of satiety that can be overlooked, leading to obesity. This can also cause toddlers to refuse to eat more food and cause weight gain that is not good for children's health.
Your toddler needs food from the four basic nutrition groups that you need:
- Meat, fish, poultry, eggs
- Dairy products
- Fruits and vegetables
- Wheat cereal, bread, and pasta, potatoes and rice
Along with his first birthday, your child must be able to eat most of the food that you also provide to the whole family, but carefully. First, make sure the food is not too hot so it won't burn its mouth. Taste the food before eating, because it will eat without considering the heat of food. Also, don't give him food with lots of seasoning, salty, butter or sweet. The addition of these spices prevents your child from feeling the natural taste of food, and can endanger their health in the long run. Younger children are more sensitive than adults in their sense of taste and may reject foods that are heavily flavored.
Your child can still choke a large enough piece of food for his airway. Keep in mind that children cannot learn to chew until they are around four years old. Make sure whatever you give your toddler is in the form of soft porridge, the team, the side dish has been cut into small pieces, or chunks that are easy to chew. Don't give him whole beans, whole grapes (except half or a quarter cut), cherry tomatoes (except cut into small pieces), carrots, popcorn, seeds (for example, processed pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds), whole hotdogs, steaks meat, foods that are difficult to swallow (including jelly candy), or peanut butter (it's okay to give a little peanut butter to crackers or bread).