Nutrition for 0 - 2 year olds

This is quite informative. I wish I got some guidance like this when I became a mother for the first time nearly 13 years ago. But, I am sure these easy-peasy recipes will help lot of new mothers.

Hi, usually babies /toddlers like fruits because fruits are usually sweet. Your baby enjoys veggies, which is good. I think he will slowly develop a liking towards fruits also because most fruits, especially fruits like mangoes, sweet strawberries, watermelon and other juicy fruits are hard to resist.
Try to make smoothies or natural fruit juice at home with food processor and offer him.

Have you tried mixing fruits with cereal and his regular food? Try to mix fruits like bananas and berries in pancakes and other food. Present it in a fun way sometimes. He might like ripe avacados. You can mash it too. You can use pineapples, bananas, and jackfruit in sooji/Kesaribhath, banana bread and other home made food. Boiling and cooking fruits this way may result in some percentage loss of some vitamins but try to feed him little sometimes to help him enjoy different flavours and healthy desserts. As he grows older, you can come up with more creative ways of introducing different kind of fruits in the form of carved fruits or fruit salad with or without custard. Hope this helps. All the Best :)

Hi Rihana! My little one too was quite a fussy eater, but do not lose hope. I tried giving him fruits in different forms - mixed with milk and cornflakes, with custard and even with curd. Gradually, he started liking certain fruits and now that he is almost 2.4 years old he asks for fruits voluntarily. There are certain fruits that he will start liking. Moreover, at this age try to give the fruit with something, just fruits alone might not be tempting enough for your son.

For the first 6 months of life, a baby needs to be exclusively breastfed to gain optimal weight and boost immunity. Weaning foods like ragi can be introduced after 6 months. Be sure to consult your paediatrician before you introduce any new foods in your child's diet.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when you introduce ragi:
- Sieve ragi flour in a muslin cloth to get the fine powder.
- Use only water to make the porridge instead of milk.
- Ragi can cause constipation. So make sure you include ripe banana in the diet.

Once they start solid food, we usually notice that they show interest in sweet fruits/foods like mashed bananas, mashed carrots etc., but with food like mashed /ground beans, peas etc., they may show disinterest to some extent.
During her meal time, when she is hungry, first try to feed her veggies mixed up with little mashed rice and lentils and then, only feed her fruits and her favourite food as dessert.
Try mixing a variety of veggies, which are cooked and mashed or ground with rice if she doesn't like the taste of veggies on their own. Rice mixed with little ghee gives a different taste to the veggies and greens and she might enjoy her food. Hope this helps:-) All the Best.

Dear parent, isn't it frustrating to see a toddler refusing food that has been so lovingly prepared? We have all been through this. The defiance of a toddler, barely able to speak, but oh so set in her ways- so adamant in her refusing to eat by pursing her lips, or playing with her food without eating a single morsel, or throwing the food about. Take heart in the fact that all toddlers do this at some point. Following are some ways you can try to help your child eat better (and you not stressing even if she doesn't):
1. At every meal offer her 2-3 different family foods (whatever is cooked for other family members that day). It could be a portion of rice, or dal, and any vegetable. Don't cook for her separately.
2. Involve her in family meals, by either making her sit on your lap and allowing her to eat from your plate or giving her own booster or high chair and her own separate bowl.
3. Allow her to eat whichever way she wants- don't mind the mess. The mess is the child learning to become familiar with the smell, texture, and taste of food. The mess is a part of learning, just like the way a child learns to walk.
4. Don't compare your child's appetite with what it was in the first year of her birth. The first year, a child grows almost three times their size. Hence why they breastfeed so much! But in the second year, they grow only about a kilo or two. They don't feel hungry any more because their body knows that growth is slower this year.
5. Focus on what's working - What you will find is that the child is growing taller. Slowly, but surely. They're meeting milestones. A starving child isn't active because the body does begin to conserve energy.

6. Don't undo the good you've accomplished - It is at this age that a lot of children are forced to eat. Or when parents introduce poor habits like watching a screen and eating. This undoes so much good. For instance, your child loves eating cake. It would be easy for you to offer cake for every meal. But it undoes the months of healthy eating that you have established. Don't start mashing food if child is already used to normal food.

7. Do to yourself what you are tempted to do to your child - Sit and eat a bowl of greens. Then eat another. And another. And then force yourself to eat another. Do you feel ill? That's how your child feels when you force them. You won't be able to eat greens properly for weeks because your brain associates it with a negative emotion. When you force a child to eat, you are creating a negative reinforcement. It actually makes them lose appetite even more.

All the best!

Please share more such easy-to-make recipes and food hacks. My little one is very young and I am a working mother. Sometimes I am just so clueless about what I should make for her so that it is nutritious and tasty!

Hi Ram,

I so can relate. My daughter is 2.10-months-old. We tried to make meal-time a ritual, just like bed-time. We did not want to associate any other activity during meal-time except for sitting together because of the same reasons you've mentioned. It got over bearing on us. The first few days, she refused to eat the first time we offered her something. We took it easy. She came around, since she was hungry and also because I made something interesting enough for her tastes. I received a lot of advice that children usually don't starve themselves, so I quit thinking about the quantity and in stead focused on establishing meal time rules. Our experience with her has taught us we can introduce any new pattern and can succeed in it if we are consistent in it. We had to be very calm from within so her tantrums and whining wouldn't get to us. We were empathetic but stood our ground. Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience and we are sure it may be of help to @Ram.

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