Among the most important things in parenting is making sure that your child’s nutrition is not compromised.  Encouraging a good eating habit in your baby or toddler ensures that they get the right nutrition by eating properly.  However, this can be hard to do if you don’t know what needs to be done.  

Feeding babies are somewhat simple until they reach the age of eight months.  This is the time when they need to leave behind the “pureed” food they’ve been used to, and slowly move to table or family food.  It’s important for this transition to start at the right age, as it’s a vital point in every baby’s life to welcome and accept the challenge of learning how to eat.  If the lumpier and thicker foods are introduced too late, like after age one, you may have difficulty in having them accept these types of food.  

During the toddler stage, the baby may discover a favorite food, and trying to get them to eat anything else will become challenging.  Teach the child to feed themselves by allowing them to do it on their own.  This can be messy, but with lots of patience it can be done.  Sooner or later, your child will even be more bothered with the mess than you do.  Here are some helpful guidelines to build proper eating habits in babies and toddlers:

Limit snacks
The best and oldest rule for good eating habits in children is limiting the snacks during daytime.  This is especially true with sweet snacks, as it’s a great contributor for loss of appetite.  Encourage vegetables, fresh fruit, and water.

Correct proportion
It is important to give the baby or toddler the right portion of meals.  Take for instance, a toddler’s meal must have one tablespoon of every food served for each year of age.  Thus, a one-year-old will get one tablespoon of chicken, carrots, and applesauce, while a two-year-old will need to have two tablespoons of every type of food.

Alternate foods
If your baby or toddler has expressed his like for a favorite food every day, then they might be telling you that they prefer food with that kind of temperature and/or texture.  Look for alternate foods having the same qualities.  Take for instance mashed potatoes; you can substitute the food with oatmeal, rice, custards, warmed applesauce, thick soups, or macaroni and cheese –they might like these foods too.

Comfort food
Do be surprised if the child becomes attached to a particular food and always prefers to eat it for some time.  As long as it is a healthy and decent choice, consider it as a comfort food for your child.  They’ll drop it eventually when they’re ready.  

Make fun food
A good way to encourage your child to eat your healthy cooking is through preparing it in a fun way that they’d enjoy.  Use those cookie cutters for cutting small shapes for breads and other food, or add some colored sugar on top of every sandwich to give real excitement.  Remember, babies and toddlers are attracted to new and fun things –make your food fun too.

Eating by example
Be aware that if you have older children, your baby or toddler will learn to eat by example through them.  Feed the baby separately, if the older child has “don’ts” when it comes to the food you serve them.  Additionally, you can be a good example to your child - show them how yummy their food is by eating some of it as well.

Encouraging proper eating habits in babies and toddlers can be quite challenging.  Be ready with the challenge by knowing the things that you can do to instill the right habits, as well as eat the right kinds of food.  Healthy eating habits means healthy babies and toddlers.