The importance of making a toddler's meal schedule to be more regular

From the age of one year and over, children can eat with the family menu. He began to enjoy exploring situations, habits, and the environment around him, including about mealtimes. Just like babies, children aged 1-5 years also need to schedule meals to be more regular. In addition, the meal schedule also teaches toddlers about the right time to eat. The following is an explanation of the eating schedule for children aged 1-5 years.

Why is it so important to schedule a toddler's meal?

At the age of 1-5 years, toddlers begin to show rapid social and emotional development. Therefore, this is the right time to make children understand order.

When you create a meal schedule for your toddler, he will understand about regular timing and habits.

If used from childhood, this good habit will carry over to adulthood. That way, the body's metabolic processes can be regular which will affect the development of children under five. In addition, he will also get used to knowing feelings of hunger and fullness.

According to Jodie Shield and Mary Mullen, authors of Healthy Eating, Healthy Weight for Kids and Teens from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, children need to eat every 3 or four hours a day to meet their nutritional needs.

Feeding schedule for toddlers aged 1-5 years

Actually, the eating schedule for toddlers over the age of 1 year is not much different from adults. As an illustration, the following is the feeding schedule, quoting from the Children's Diet Guide book published by the Publishing Agency of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia:

• 08.00: breakfast
• 10:00 a.m.: snack
• 12.00: lunch
• 14.00: UHT milk or formula
• 16.00: snack
• 18.00: dinner

In general, the toddler feeding schedule is three main meals (morning, noon, dinner) and two interludes (between two main meals).

For dinner, a good time is not too close to bedtime. Leave approximately 2 to 3 hours before the child's bedtime. This is because the body needs time to digest the food that enters the body.

If the child's bedtime is at 7 pm, then the toddler should have dinner at 5 in the evening. And so on. Usually a good time period for toddlers to eat dinner is around 5pm to 7pm.

If a toddler is fed late dinner, he can starve. In addition, being late for a toddler's dinner can also make the time lag between dinner and bedtime too close. So that it can make the child's digestive system work harder while sleeping.

In giving food to your little one, it's good to follow a balanced diet which consists of:

Carbohydrate

To support children's activities, an adequate amount of energy is needed, one of the sources is carbohydrates. Another use of carbohydrates is to help the body use protein and fat to build and repair body tissues.

Types of carbohydrates that can be given to toddlers such as:

• Rice
• Mi
• Vermicelli
• Corn
• Potato
• Cassava
• Sweet Potatoes
• Starchy food

Adjust it to your little one's preferences so that he learns to get to know the types of food with a variety of offerings.

Protein

The content in this food acts as a building substance to help the weight and height of toddlers. Protein is divided into two types, animal and vegetable, which can be included in the toddler's diet according to the schedule.

Luckily, there are many choices of food sources that contain vegetable and animal protein. Several types of protein that can be used as ingredients in children's food recipes, namely:

• Fish
• Egg
• Tempe
• Chicken
• Beef
• Milk
• Cheese
• Tofu
• Tempe

Create a food menu according to your little one's tongue.

Vegetable and fruit

These two types of food act as regulatory substances. You can choose vegetables and fruits that are green or yellow to keep your baby's nutritional needs balanced, for example, kale, spinach, carrots, broccoli.

Don't forget to drink enough water so that your little one's daily fluid needs can be met properly. That way, the body's metabolic processes and organ function are not hampered.

Rules for making a toddler meal schedule

Age range 2-3 years, children are happy to explore many things, including eating habits. Starting from cutlery, menus, to the taste of food that you want to suit your little one's taste.

The following are the rules for making a meal schedule according to the nutrition of toddlers based on the Children's Diet Guide book published by the Publishing Agency of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia:

Schedule

For a meal schedule, you should make the following rules:

• Regular meal times
• The meal time should not exceed 30 minutes
• Do not provide anything other than water between meals

You can adjust the schedule above

Environment

Environmental factors when eating are important to pay attention to, such as:

• Without coercion
• Clean
• Not while watching TV and playing
• Don't make food as a gift

Not only the type of food for toddlers, the factors above are also important to note.

Procedures

For eating procedures, the following recommendations need to be done:

• Small portions or small amounts of food.
• Starting from a solid texture, then a liquid one.
• Motivate to finish food (without being pushy).
• Remove food when the child starts playing or throws food away.
• Clean the child's mouth when they are finished eating, not during the eating process.

For further explanation, here are the rules for feeding under five to be more focused, quoting from Healthy Children.

Create a regular toddler eating schedule

Create a regular eating schedule for your toddler so that he understands when to eat and when not. In addition, with a regular schedule, toddlers will begin to learn to recognize hunger and satiety.

So, you as a parent can serve food according to the time and avoid the risk of obesity in children due to unscheduled eating.

Do not force children to finish their food

Not a few parents force their children to finish the food served on the plate. The phrase "the rice will cry later," is often used as a shield so that children finish their food. However, this is not good for your little one psychologically.

Forcing a toddler to finish food can traumatize him and not want to eat at a later date. When the toddler's meal schedule arrives, serve the food according to the little one's portion.

If it's still not finished, let it be leftovers. In this phase, children have started to choose their own portion sizes and learn to recognize satiety.

Maybe there is a condition when the child is bored with the menu that is served, this is the time for you to introduce new types of food by:

• Serve new food when the child is hungry.
• Try new foods one by one.
• Serve in small amounts.
• Create several new types of food so that your little one can choose.

The more food menu choices, your child can adjust and know what appetite and menu he likes.

Avoid watching television or playing devices

When the meal schedule arrives and children are fussy because they don't want to eat, many mothers deal with this by giving gadgets or televisions as "bribes".

However, this is not good for health because it can lead to obesity and makes children not focus on their diet. Limit television and video use to 1-2 hours a day.

Let the child have control over their own food

For some parents, they may feel uncomfortable when they see their little one choosing the food menu for their child to eat. The reason is, children may tend to choose unhealthy foods to eat.

However, parents are still responsible for choosing foods that are good for toddlers, especially when the meal schedule arrives.

Kids Health explained that children aged 4 years should no longer be given food unilaterally, but given a choice by their parents.

Of course, you as a parent must provide nutritious and healthy food choices. In addition, at the age of four, children also understand the feeling of hunger and are full by saying it.

If you don't give your child control over his own food, he will override this system of satiety and hunger. Plus, he didn't follow the little one's meal schedule that had been made.

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