How Much Should My Daughter Be Eating? and Other Food Questions.....

Hi R.-

I was a Nanny for many years, and healthy eating was always important. Here are a few answers.

First, watch your child's weight, if she's gaining, she's eating enough. If she starts losing weight, it's time to examine things. As for your daughter's "cubbyness" do not worry about fat/thin children until 3-4. Young children need fat for brain development. Your brain FEEDS on fat, that is why you are to use whole milk from 1-2-2.5 and 2% through preschool. Fat for babies is good. When she is older, if her height & weight do not match well, it may be time to cut down on the fat and increase the park time, but nothing drastic.

Next day care. I always recommend parent so suprise visits at different points of the day to see what your child's day looks like. Yes on the first visit, there was fruit for snack and water colors for art, but is that a normal day or a special event? I had a friend who worked for a day care, and even though they had a meal plan monthly, the day care officials bought Happy Meals 5 days a week instead, not good. So stop by, what's for lunch, is she eating, look & observe.

Lastly meals, at 13 months she can have just about all that you have, (NO PEANUT BUTTER!!!). Be careful of typical allergic foods, (ie seafood & nuts). Kids eat in weird patterns. One day their so hungry, it's like the never ate EVER, then the next day they won't touch anything. Kids have a great way of eating only when they are hungry, and stop when they are not, I wish I did.

Focus on healthy foods. The things that are important should be presented first, protein & fruits/veggies. After those are gone, present carbs, (breads, french fries etc). If you give both at once, it's Bye Bye fries, and then I'm full. If you give foods in segments, you can better control what she eats.

I don't have any books to recommend, but when I was a Nanny making meals, I focused on the food pryamid.

I also used this rule, mostly for older kids choosing their own snacks, they could eat 1 of what ever, muffins, cookies etc, but they had to eat 1 of something that grew on a tree or in the ground, (ie fresh veggies & fruits). For the veggies that are tough, carrots, I would boil them in stick shape, rinse in cold water then give as a semi mushy veggie. Kids loved it!

Lastly, drinks. Milk at meals is great then I believe in water through the day. I think it's important to teach kids to drink water at an early age, it helps teach them to drink water as they get older. If kids think that all drinks should be flavored (milk, juice etc), they will never get the taste for water. I used juice as a treat. Juice has a lot of sugar and real fruit is better. It's full of fiber and juice is not.

Good Luck!

R. Magby

I have a chart that was sent to me by parents magazine that was very helpful.

average daily calories needed
0-6 months 650 calories
6 months-1 year 850 calories
1-3 years 1300 calories
4-6 years 1800 calories
7-10 years 2000 calories
11-14 years girls 2200 calories
11-14 years boys 2500 calories
(these older ones are if they are pretty active and not sitting around like couch potatoes)

for toddler age these are the recommended serving sizes

Breads 1/4-1/2 slice
Rice, pasta, cereal 1/4 cup
cooked or raw veggies/fruit 2 tablespoons
canned fruit 1/4 cup
milk and yogurt 1/2 cup
cheese 1 ounce
meat, poultry, fish 1 oz
eggs 1/2 egg but not recommended for small children due to allergies
beans 2 tablespoons

recommended Daily servings
milk, yogurt, cheese 2-3 servings
fruits and veggies 3-5 servings of veggies 2-4 servings of fruit
meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, 2-3 servings
bread, cereal, rice, pasta 6-11 servings (seem like a lot? remember 1 slice of bread is 2 servings for this age, a few crackers so they can add up quick)

2 sippy cups of milk is plenty a day so you do need to give some water and they don't recommend more than 8 ounces of juice a day but fresh fruits are much better.

there are probably some good websites that can explain things more clear and there is more updated info available.

Your pediatrician probably has a eating plan if you ask for one, I know I used to get info like that when the kids were little at their appointments.

fruits that are easy to chew like bananas and cooked apples, applesauce, are good. canned fruits have more calories because of all the stuff added to preserve them but at this age it is hard to give them many fresh fruits because they are too hard to chew so canned is easier and the fruit coctail probably works well as they are cut up in smaller pieces.

I used to cook a few small baby carrots in the microwave on a small plate with a little water so the carrot doesn't dry out. Cook them until they are soft and they made a great veggie item for them to eat themselves. Have to make sure it is totally soft and not crunchy at all.

We buy the frozen veggies and and the kids ate the peas and corn as they were soft enough after they were steamed. They don't like canned veggies, they are too mushy and salty and never did like canned veggies and frozen are more healthy and just as cheap too as you can get several meals out of one family size bag.

hotdogs aren't recommended until age 4.

It could just be a growth spurt too. My kids eat like crazy when they're about to grow. If the doctor hasn't been concerned in the past and she's active, I really wouldn't worry. That does sound like a big dinner, but she probably doesnt eat that much every night...and if she does she probably isn't eating a ton during the day. I would begin by asking the day care to fill out a sheet about what she eats each day, I don't think it's too much to ask. You may have to print something up yourself and hand it to them each day, but explain your concerns and I can't see why it would be a problem.

Secondly, when she's home consider buying more fresh fruits and veggies than anything else. Canned stuff really isn't so great. If it's packed in water, then that's okay, but fresh is usually best. Dried fruits are also a good option just make sure they don't have ADDED sugar in them. Look at teh ingredient list it should just list the fruit and maybe something to preserve it. Freeze dried fruits are a little harder to find but they are really awesome! Try to look for meats with no nitrates in them, they're better for you, they even make hotdogs like that, Oscar Mayer just came out with ones that are really good, they even have turkey hot dogs.

She should drink about 24 oz of milk/day. If she isn't in to juice, don't force it. She doesn't need it. Fresh fruits and veggies are much much better! I really don't think you even need a book for meals, just give her freshest stuff and she'll be good. Of course the ocassional fruit snack and stuff like that is fine, but yogurt, cheese, lunch meats, breads, crackers, rice (even rice cakes), fresh fruits and veggies and she's set. You can make little meals like mac and cheese, quesadillas, things like that too. My daughter loved cream cheese on crackers at that age (still does!). Don't make it too hard. Just go with it and she'll soemtimes eat a lot and other times she'll barely eat. It's just how toddlers roll!

Hi, My name is A.. I have 3 healthy children of my own. 8 almost 5 and 8 months. I would say at 13 months. there is not to little or two much if she is hungry let her eat. I did buy those gerber LIL graduates for my kids when they were toddlers and they loved them. there were little dinner packs came with like a main dish, veggie and fruit. Came with big enough pieces so great for learning to self feed =) but as far as the daycare goes have you asked them to tell you what she eats. I know my daycare gives me a weekly menu of what mine kids have everyday. as far as my baby they feed her my the schedule i gave them since she is an infant. but dinners at home just give her, her own little plate of whatever your haveing in the portion size you think is suitable then I would wait a little whille to see if it was satisfying before putting more on her plate. If she starts playing I'd say she's done! when a child is hungry they eat...lol

How tall is your daughter? 22 lbs is far from chubby for a 13 month old unless she is SUPER short maybe? My son is 6 months and 22 lbs. I am always assured by my pedi. to feed him when he is hungry and until he is full. My son doesn't eat until he throws up so I know the amount of food he is eating is what he needs. Also how is she eating on the weekends when she is not in daycare? That should give you some sort of clue whether they're feeding her enough during the day. You can also ask the pedi. what her weight percentile is so you can assure your husband she is within normal range since he is concerned.