Table food is introduced, and because it has much less liquid in it than baby food, the volume of food eaten becomes even less. So we now have this toddler or slightly older child who is intent on feeding himself who wants to get out of his chair after two bites to do something else. And if that's not enough to make a parent crazy, since he's no longer your starving infant, he's become a picky eater. He won't eat meat and he throws the vegetables at the wall. The first thing you do is take a deep breath and relax.
Most parents worry needlessly about their child's nutrition.
One of the most important things your pediatrician does as part of his assessment of your child's health is to measure your child and plot his growth for height and weight on a growth chart. If your pediatrician has found your child's growth to be normal, then he must be getting enough nutrients to grow. Here are the facts you need to know about nutrition so that you can relax. Nutrition doesn't have to happen at every meal. It has to happen over the long haul.