Goodbye Kiddie Table!
Now that your little one is a toddler and no longer a baby, it’s time for her to join the family meals. She is ready to eat the same soft, easy-to-chew food that the family eats. Meals are important for your toddler. They give her the nourishment she needs, and they also teach her how to feed herself. Get a routine and have meals at regular times. Don’t wait for her to ask to eat. Help her be hungry, but not starved, by providing planned, sit-down snacks between mealtimes.

Choose foods you like for meals, putting four or five foods on the table. Take time to relax and enjoy the other people at the table. It will all add up to good nutrition.

What To Serve:

Protein
Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans and eggs. If you have cereal and milk for breakfast, milk can be the protein. Cheese is a milk product, but it also provides protein.

Two grains or starchy foods
Put bread on the table with every meal. Your bread might be regular sliced bread, tortillas, biscuits, chapatis or bagels. Also offer a second starchy food such as rice or spaghetti. Potatoes aren’t a grain, but they are starchy and easy to like. Children can eat starchy foods if they aren't ready to eat other foods on the table.

Fruits, vegetables or both
Canned, frozen or fresh fruits and vegetables are all OK.

Milk
Use whole milk for children under two years. Only switch to lower-fat milk if everyone likes it.

Butter, margarine, salad dressing, vegetable dip or gravy
These make foods taste better and make meals more appealing. Let children eat as much or as little of these foods as they want.

Mealtime with your child
Don't make your toddler eat some of everything on the table. She is more likely to eat one or two tablespoons of only two or three foods, or she may even just drink milk and eat bread. That is all right. Don't make a fuss. At another meal or snack time, she will eat more or different foods. Children don't eat much at any one time, but small amounts add up.

Source:  Ellyn Satter, Author of Child of Mine; Feeding with Love and Good Sense www.ellynsatter.com