An 18-month-old child can eat the same foods as the rest of the family, except for the few foods that are choking hazards, such as popcorn and nuts. Offer a child of this age three meals and two snacks per day, but don't force her to eat if she is not hungry. Cut the food into small pieces to make it easier to eat, and serve your child smaller portions to suit her smaller size. Offer her a variety of different foods throughout the day to help meet the recommended intake of nutrients for her age group.
Serve an 18-month-old child at least the equivalent of 2 cups of dairy per day. However, children this age should not consume more than 24 ounces of milk in a day. Consuming too much milk will fill your child up so he doesn't consume enough other foods to get the nutrients he needs. Iron is of particular concern, since milk is low in iron. Two ounces of processed cheese, 1 1/2 ounces of natural cheese and 8 ounces of yogurt are equivalent to 1 cup of milk. Children under 2 years of age should drink whole milk.
Fruits and Vegetables
Children this age should consume the equivalent of 1 cup of fruit and 1 cup of vegetables each day. Give children no more than 4 to 6 ounces of 100 percent fruit juice per day, as juice is not as nutritious as whole fruit. Cut hard fruits and grapes into small pieces to limit the risk of choking, and either cut up hard uncooked vegetables or cook them until they are soft.
Give your child at least 3 ounces of grains per day, making at least half of these grains whole grains. One ounce of grain is equal to one slice of bread, one-half cup of grains like pasta or rice or between one-third cup and 1 cup of cold cereal, depending on the type of cereal. Choose cereals that are low in sugar and high in fiber.
An 18-month-old child should consume 2 ounces of protein per day. One ounce of protein equals approximately one-third of a chicken breast half, one slice of lunch meat, one egg, one-fourth cup of beans, one-fourth can of tuna or 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.
Unless your child or someone in your family has a history of allergies, you can serve your 18-month-old foods like peanut butter, eggs, soy and seafood. Just keep an eye out for signs of allergies, such as a rash. Some children are picky eaters at this age. Keep offering a mix of healthy alternatives at meals and snacks for your child to choose from. Regularly introduce your child to new foods, and keep offering these foods even if she doesn't like them the first time she tries them. Sometimes it takes up to 20 tries before a child will accept a new food.
Articles For Your Diet
- Container of milk. Plastic milk bottle image by L. Shat from Fotolia.com