Winter favourites for little tummies

Judy More, Paediatric Dietitian and Registered Nutritionist

When it’s dark and cold outside, sometimes nothing quite hits the spot like a lovely hot meal in winter! They can also be a great way to ensure your toddler has a well-balanced diet, eating food from all five food groups each day:

Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods
Fruit and vegetables
Milk, cheese and yogurt
Meat, fish, eggs, nuts and pulses
Oils, butter and fat spread

Winter favourites such as shepherd’s pie with a vegetable on the side can quite easily contain foods from all five of these groups, as well as keeping the whole family happy! Warming winter puddings can also be a good opportunity for toddlers to explore new foods. Toddlers can also become bored with the first savoury course at a meal, but still be interested in eating a second course of different foods. By offering two courses of different foods at meals, toddlers will be eating a wider variety of nutrients.

These winter warmers also provide a great opportunity to eat together, an important social time in family life and a great learning opportunity! Toddlers learn to eat different foods and improve their self-feeding skills, by watching what, and how, other members in the family or social group eat. When eating in a group, toddlers also learn that foods they may be reluctant at first to eat are eaten and enjoyed by other people – an important part of their feeding development.

However, when serving up child and adult portions from the same meal, make sure that you remember to think Toddler Sized, the Infant & Toddler Forum has compiled a list of toddler portion sizes for all your family favourites. There is a range in the portion sizes as some toddlers eat more than other toddlers and most toddlers eat more at one meal each day than at other meals