Teaching Healthy Eating Habits

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     Up to 4 months of age, breast milk or formula is the only food that an infant needs. From 4 months on, begin practicing with baby foods, but breast milk or formula is still the main source of nutrition. After 9 months, the infant won’t want to eat baby foods, so begin feeding the infant what the family is eating (as long as it does not have a choking risk).  Allow him to feed himself and give him a lidded cup of milk or water with meals. Up to 1 year of age, baby is still allowed to have a breast milk or formula between meals, but, at mealtime, feed him real food. There is never a reason to give juice. No matter how healthy the juice package makes the juice seem, it is simply sugar water and doesn’t need to be in the baby’s diet. Don’t give apple juice; give an apple. The next step to healthy eating is that, after 1 year, all bottles become water.  Not milk, not juice - just water. The toddler who drinks juice and milk all day long or snacks on “fruit snacks” or crackers between meals learns that he always needs to have something sweet going into his mouth. Instead, feed your toddler three meals a day when the family eats and give him what the family eats.  Allow one glass of milk with meals. If you want to give a snack between meals, stop your activities, go to the kitchen and have a snack of fresh fruit or fresh vegetables and a glass of water. You can give a bottle at nap or night time to help the baby sleep, but only put water in it – not juice or milk. Giving your toddler milk or juice in the bottle after 1 year of age not only teaches the child to keep taking in sweet calories all day, but it also ruins the teeth – especially bottles at or before sleeping.  A healthy diet for a 1-to-2 year old is to eat what the family eats, when the family eats, drink milk with meals and have minimal snacks of fresh fruit or vegetables along with water between meals. If you don’t teach your child to snack (and sip) on sweet foods all day long, you will eliminate one of the major causes of obesity – too many calories.