Infants (0-12 months old)
“Infancy is a stage of rapid growth and development. Most babies double their birth weight by six months, and triple it by 12 months,” says Vandana Sheth, RD, a Los Angeles-based spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
Infants can’t consume as many calories as adults, so their diets need to be higher in fat than an older child’s or an adult’s, Sheth says. Fat supplies more than twice the calories of carbohydrate or protein.
Fat also supplies essential fatty acids that foster proper brain development. Breast milk, infant formula, and animal products provide fat and cholesterol, which is necessary for a healthy nervous system.
Babies need vitamin D every day, beginning very early in life to build strong bones and teeth. Keep in mind that breast milk is typically low in vitamin D.
“Babies who drink less than 27 to 32 ounces of infant formula a day or who get a combination of breast milk and infant formula need 400 IU of vitamin D drops daily,” says Alanna Levine, MD, a pediatrician in Tappan, N.Y. Talk with your doctor about your baby’s vitamin D requirements.
Babies are born with nearly all the iron they need for the first six months of life. After that, dietary iron needs increase dramatically.
Iron supports an infant’s rapid growth and development. Serve infants iron-fortified products, including infant formula and infant cereal, and iron-rich foods, such as pureed meats. Children can develop iron deficiency as early as nine months, which is when Levine begins testing for low iron.
Toddlers, Preschoolers, and School-Aged Children (1 to 8 years old)
At about 12 months, a child’s growth slows down, so he won’t eat as much now as he did during infancy. Offer full-fat cow’s milk or fortified soy beverages to ensure adequate calories. Toddlers need about 1,400 calories a day.

At 6 months, your child would be eating soft, mashed food. By the time she is a year old, she is ready to sample and eat food with rougher textures. Here is a list of top 10 foods for your 1 year old child which you can feed without any doubt.
These are roughly the foods that make for a balanced diet: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. If your child takes a mix of various kinds of foods from these groups during the space of a day or even during the week, her requirements of different types of nutrients will be adequately met.
1. Milk and milk products
These are important sources of energy, proteins, calcium and vitamin A. A child must take about half a liter of milk or milk products per day from the age of one year onwards. A child below five years should be given whole milk and not skimmed or semi-skimmed milk. You can give your child either buffalo or cow’s milk, depending on what suits her best. If your child fusses about drinking milk, you can serve it in different forms such as milk-shakes, yoghurt, ice-cream, milk pudding.
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2. Chapatti / Roti
You can start giving her small chapattis made out of whole wheat grain.
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3. Brown / Unpolished Rice
Sometimes you can serve up cooked unpolished rice along with mashed rajma or curd.
rice rajma curd superbaby
4.Lentils, peas, beans, eggs, fish, poultry, meats and nuts
These are important proteins needed for your child’s growth and tissue repair. Make sure that you always supervise your child when he/she is eating nuts and small foods.
lenthils beans eggs nuts superbaby
5. Fats
Fats should be given in moderation. If your child is a small eater, then you can cook her food in vegetable oil, ghee ( both desi and vanaspati).
You can also give her butter, margarine and cream. These make up most of the fats in the diet.
Fats are important sources of energy as well as Vitamins A,D, E and K.
These can be used to improve the energy density of a small eater. Whole milk products, eggs, meat and fish are also good sources of fat.
cream butter margarine vegetable oil superbaby
6.Snacks
Snacks like chips or fried foods should be discouraged between meals.
Instead offer your toddler fresh fruit in the form of a fruit chaat, instead of sweets, cakes and chocolates.
If she insists on sweet snacks, it would be better to give her home-cooked preparations like rice milk pudding (kheer, soojihalwa etc.).
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7. Finger foods
A one-year old with a biscuit in her hand nibbles and nibbles ever so slowly. Her mouth, especially her teeth gets coated with the sweet particle which is not safe. Sugary treats like sweets, chocolates, cakes and biscuits lead to tooth decay because of the length of time they remain in the child’s mouth.
Give your child small pieces of rusk, sticks of carrot, pieces of apple. The practice of chewing on these help to toughen the teeth.
rusk apple carrot superbaby
8. Fruit
Mosambi, malta, lemon and other citrus fruit can be given in moderation.
Red, orange and yellow colored fruits can also be given in moderation; fruits like mango, papaya, peaches and apricot are very good.
mango apricot papaya peach superbaby
9. Vegetables:
Tomatoes, carrots, spinach, cabbage and broccoli have a lot of vitamins.
tomato broccoli spinach cabbage superbaby
10. Water
Drinking a lot of fluids especially water hydrates and cleanses the body.
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