The Toddler Diet: Flexible Feeding

A toddler's tummy marches to its own drummer so be ready to bend (or break!) your eating rules.

Toddler Eating Basics

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A toddler's eating pattern can be as erratic as his taste buds, causing him to devour everything in sight one day and barely take a bite the next. But children this age need a steady flow of food to keep up their energy, so rather than try to get yours to conform to a strict three-meal-a-day timetable, set a loose schedule and follow his hunger cues. In the long run, it's more realistic to supplement his typical mini-meals with well-timed (healthy) snacks. More smart strategies:

Start the day right. Mom always said that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Turns out she was right! Breakfast-skippers tend to be irritable and restless, and (surprise!) are more likely to become overweight. So make it a habit to begin your toddler's day with a good breakfast.

Timing is everything. After breakfast, try to figure out when your tot is most hungry and set mealtimes for just before his tummy typically starts to growl. This way you can ward off crankiness before it rears its ugly head. On days when your child can't seem to last until dinnertime, try giving him part of his meal to stave off the hungries, then he can finish eating later with the rest of the family.

Don't skip. It's a rare toddler who always eats what you want, when you want him to. But skipping an entire meal is definitely not a smart idea. Not only will it throw off his energy supply, it can wreck his eating schedule for the entire day (and maybe tomorrow!). So do try to get him to eat something — even a couple of bites is better than nothing.

Evaluate the snack schedule. A typical toddler routine — breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner — should keep him fueled throughout the day. But what (and how much) he eats at each of those times can affect the big picture. For example, if he's not eating much at dinner, maybe his afternoon snack is too close to mealtime, or it's simply too big. If he's cranky at ten a.m., consider a snack sooner after breakfast.

Do what works for (both of) you . The goal is to get your toddler to eat well and enjoy mealtime. If that means pancakes for dinner and chicken for breakfast, go for it!