TWO-YEAR-OLDS: MEALTIME ISSUES
Brenda Zirbel, Parent Educator

Parent Responsibility:  To provide, to prepare, to present a variety of nutritious foods and to decide where and when food will be served in your household.

Child Responsibility:  To decide IF and HOW MUCH to eat at each food service opportunity.

Typically Developing Two-Year-Olds:

• Have periods of slowed growth rates and will intuitively reduce the amount of food they eat while on a growth plateau
• Have small stomachs and need to eat several nutritious mini-meals throughout their day, spaced about 2½ to 3 hours apart (breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, mid-afternoon, dinner, before bedtime)
• Eat with all of their senses including sight.  Keep portion sizes small.  One tablespoon per year of your child’s age per food item serves as a guide.  If portion sizes are too large, a young child sees the food as too much to be worth trying to eat and may choose to reject the whole meal.  Children can learn to listen to their bodies and ask for more if they are still hungry.
• Need MANY opportunities to ‘try’ new foods.  
• May select a few foods as ‘favorites’ and want only these foods for a given period of time (similar to their preference for favorite toys, favorite books, favorite clothing) as they work to master their preferences as part of their learning
• May be sensitive to hot/cold foods or spicy or salty foods
• May eat foods separately, but not when mixed together as an entrée (spaghetti, lasagna, etc.)

• Are messy---expect it to be a process to learn to eat with utensils from a bowl or plate.
• Are working on independence and like to make choices, including food choices.  Consider offering at least two food choices on their plate at a time.
• Need ‘snacks’ that are equally as nutritious as food choices at mealtimes.
• Need adult role models of healthy eating habits.  Two-year-olds mimic all aspects of the adult world around them, including mealtime/eating habits.
• Need mealtime experiences that are pleasant, calm and free of battles.

"Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense", Ellyn Satter, 2000

Additional Resources:

www.MayoClinic.com                                         www.zerotothree.org
www.MyPyramid.gov                                          www.mnparentsknow.info
www.childrenshc.org  (Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota)

Brenda Zirbel, ECFE parent educator, ISD 196