Contents:
- Medical Video: Mealtime Song For Kids | Time To Eat | English Nursery Rhymes For Toddlers
- What time should a toddler have dinner?
- The importance of dinner for toddlers
- Tips for giving dinner to toddlers
Medical Video: Mealtime Song For Kids | Time To Eat | English Nursery Rhymes For Toddlers
It is recommended that since childhood children are accustomed to eating regularly. Having a regular eating schedule can maximize good nutritional intake for toddlers. Not only breakfast or lunch, dinner is also important for toddlers. Usually toddlers need 3 large meals and 2-3 times snack food in a day. Then when should toddlers have dinner?
What time should a toddler have dinner?
Actually a good time for toddlers to eat is that 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 your child sleeps at 7pm, then it's best for toddlers to eat dinner at 5pm. And so on. Usually a good time period for toddlers to eat dinner around 5 p.m. to 7 p.m..
If a toddler is given a late dinner, he can starve. In addition, late toddler dinner can also make a lag time between dinner and hours of sleep too close. So that it can make the digestive system of children work harder during sleep.
The importance of dinner for toddlers
Actually not only dinner is important for toddlers. However, eating regularly, both breakfast, lunch, and night is important to supplement the nutritional needs of children in a day.
Toddlers generally need around 1,000 to 1,400 calories per day. These calories can be obtained from food sources of carbohydrates (rice, noodles, bread, pasta, potatoes), animal protein (fish, chicken, meat), vegetable protein (tofu, tempeh, beans), vegetables, and fruits. The five types of food should always be on the child's plate every meal.
That is why all meal times are important and you should not miss anything. If a toddler often does not eat dinner, the nutrients obtained will decrease so that his weight does not increase. Even the worst can also experience malnutrition.
In addition, dinner can help toddlers sleep better, because their stomachs are full. When sleeping soundly, the body experiences repair and renewal of cells, as well as the growth process, which takes place faster when the child is sleeping than when he is awake.
Tips for giving dinner to toddlers
Toddlers have a changing appetite. Changes in activity levels during the day can result in a large appetite for a while, followed by snacks or snacks and picking food later. Dinner is the meal time that most often causes concern, because maybe the children are tired or not hungry.
Don't panic if this happens. You don't need to force, because most children are able to balance food intake with activities when they are told to eat. You can help by providing a variety of healthy and nutritious foods, then let your child choose. Offer children the same food with other family members, with various textures and flavors for balanced nutrition.