Baby Nutrition

The nutritional food pyramid that is commonly used contains guidelines for adults, not young children. The recommendations for portions and servings are not appropriate for children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) does have a food pyramid for children, but it has recommendations for young children between the ages of two and six. But what about babies? What is recommended for one and two year olds to eat?

Because babies have no food pyramid suitable for them, it is necessary to build one based on what foods and their servings are recommended by pediatricians and parents.

• MEATS
  Babies should have at least two servings of meat each day. These servings can come from eggs, chicken, beef, etc.
• FRUITS
  Babies should have about two to three servings of fruit each day. These servings should come from bananas, apples, pears; try to stay away from acidic fruits in the beginning, they can irritate your baby's bottom.
• DAIRY
  Babies should have about three to four servings of dairy each day. These servings should come from milk, yogurt and cheese. They are easy to digest in most babies.
• VEGETABLES
  Babies should have about three to four servings of vegetables each day. These servings should come from carrots, peas, green beans, yams, etc.
  Stay away from gassy vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower. Babies are not ready to digest them.
• GRAINS
  Babies should have about four to eight servings of grains each day. These servings should come from breads, cereal, pasta and crackers. Try to serve your baby whole-grain products rather than enriched.
• SNACKS
  When serving snacks, make sure that you are serving healthy snacks that are full of essential nutrients.

Source: http://www.essortment.com/all/babynutrition_rzrq.htm