Setting a good schedule to feed your little one is a key to a healthy and a happy child. Follow the feeding guide we’ve set for your little one to schedule a perfect meal planner for him.

To ensure that your child gets the perfect amount of nutrition, set a meal every three hours which in turn will give him a chance to try different foods and gives you the chance know what he likes most.

Aim for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two healthy snacks every day. Include at least three food groups at the main meal and two different food groups on the snacks.

Breakfast

Set a daily routine and feed him every day at the same time. This will make him used to the routine rather than demands and orders.

Unlike adults, the breakfast meal doesn’t have to be the biggest meal. Toddlers have small stomachs, so, a small balanced meal is enough to give him enough energy throughout the day.

Give him a ½  ounce of grains, ¼  cup of fruit,  ½  cup of milk. Try something such as wheat with banana slices or diced pear and milk.

Snack 1

Set him a healthy snack and make at least an hour and a half before lunch. When you set a healthy snack and your child eats a good amount of it, it will be okay if doesn’t eat so much at the next meal.

Avoid sweets and processed food. Treat the snack as a complementary to the main meal.

Give him 1 ½ ounce grains with ½ cup of fruit

Try something like 5 whole wheat crackers and ¼ cup of diced peach.

You can also try a combination like a cottage cheese with pineapple, or a slice of meat with bread. 

Lunch

Offer a healthy balanced meal that contains different food groups from the ones he ate in the breakfast. For instance, If he had dairy products with fruits in the morning, give him proteins and vegetables in the afternoon, and so on.

If your child starts to be fussy, think about what he ate before this meal and how his day was going, so that you’ll be able to adjust his schedule, the timing, and duration between meals.

One suggestion may be:

 2 ½   ounces grains

1 ½  cup milk

1-ounce meat

2 teaspoons of fats

½  cup of vegetables

Try a meal that contains bread, cheese, meat, butter, and steamed vegetables.
 

Snack 2

Give him some healthy snacks 3 hours after lunch to give him energy. Snacks should be eaten on the table, rather than giving him something in his hands to play around while eating.

Try serving something like apple slices with cheese, or a hard-boiled egg. Like all the previous meals, offer him the meal at the same time every day.

Dinner

At the end of the day, your little one may feel full. Don’t push him to eat more than he needs.

Give him pasta with tomato sauce, chicken, and steamed vegetables.

Depending on the amount of nutrition your little one has taken during the day, and the duration between dinner and bedtime he might need an evening snack like a half cup of milk or applesauce.

Try giving him a ½  cup of green peppers and carrots for stir fry, 1-ounce chicken breast, ¼  cup of brown rice

teaspoons fats, ¼  cup of watermelon.

If there are less than 2 hours between dinner and bedtime he might not need an evening snack.

What is your little one’s favorite meal?

Resources:

Parents Magazine - Toddler Feeding Schedule: A Guide to Planning Meals

verywellfamily.com - Sample Meal Plan for Toddlers