FEEDING THE TODDLER

Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 42, 29 October 1952, Page 6

FEEDING THE TODDLER

"ONE FOR DADDY, ONE FOR MUMMY AND ONE FOR — 1" 'When your child becomes a todller about the age of two years he vill blossom out from a rather bapeless infant into a small but iecided little individual with definte tastes of his own. And, as you nay have already found, that is one jt the difficulties in feeding toddlers. Of course, it's no good trying to j mrce children to eat something they j Ior't like. . Scolding them into eat- ! ng "something that is good for .hem" merely makes them grow up n the belief that what is good is rather horrid. Fortunately your child's natural appetite is your best ally. Hungei is more 1'kely to persuade him to p.i than punishment or coaxing. So a good working principle is to -put good, well-cooked food before him and behave as if you don't care whether he eats it or not. If he misses one meal he'll make up for | it at the next, or the worst, next I day. •* One of the most difficult things *s to get the toddler to eat vegetables, especially cabbages and •sprouts. So it's worth while cooking vegetables especially carefully and presenting them in an attractive way. Well done they can be served alone and before a meat or a fish course. If they are served with the meat, the child may carefully pick out the meat and leave the vegetables. ,

Your toddler should eat as much raw fruit and salad as he can get and is wilii ig to take. He should be given cod-liver oil daily, as this will help him to build up strong bones and prevent him from getting rickets. 'Liver is a first-class food, when you can get it, and oily fish are better than white fish. Of course, your toddler is a human being with likes and dislikes of his own and you must respect these likes and 4islikes. If a child vvcn't eat a certain dish, don't make a fuss about it. His natural appetite will soon come to his rescue. If he goes off his food altogether, there is probably somethingr wrong and you/ should take him to a doctor, Eating sweets before meals is bad. But of course, children love sweets, so one or two can be given at the end of the meal. Never give a child sweets or biscuits when he is going to bed. Make a point of training your child to clean his teeth after meal times and especially beforr going to bed. [From British Council of Health Education, via the New Zealand Health Bepartmerk]