The snacks we turn to and introduce to our children when they are little will set the stage for their future tastes and healthy eating patterns. No pressure right?!
While sugary sweets and candies are fun to explore and taste, the best snacks are nutrient-dense to help optimize their growth, achieve healthy body weight, and give wholesome energy for them to explore.
At one year old, your child will start to require foods from the same basic food groups that you do. When you are adding nutrient-dense snacks into your little one’s routines, the USDA recommends meeting these food group needs:
Further Reading: Best Baby Snacks For 6-Month-Olds
While food allergies are nothing new, their prevalence over the last 15 years has increased significantly. New research and USDA guidelines have found that introducing a diverse mix of common food allergens, like eggs, milk, and peanuts, helped increase the protective antibodies in children, fighting these rising allergy rates.
While the AAP and USDA recommend introducing common food allergens around 6 months of age, you shouldn’t stop there. Maintaining a routine of allergen feeding for one year and beyond will help guide your little one’s immune system by training it to recognize potentially allergenic foods as safe, giving their tummy the best start.
Early and regular exposure to allergens has become more important than ever. And that’s why successful training of your baby’s tummy takes consistent feeding from infancy through early childhood.
Nutrient-dense foods and snacks are also essential in helping your child meet their caloric needs every day.
Calorie needs depend on age, height, weight, and activity of each individual child, however, with most babies eating an average of around 3 snacks a day, up to 27% of their daily calories will come from snacks.
Ensuring they receive the right amount of calories will help them grow and develop at a healthy pace, and that means that the snacks you feed your little one should play a meaningful role.
The Bottom Line:
Baby snacks are a great way to compliment mealtime and pacify hungry babies, but make sure you are not sacrificing nutrition when it comes to snacking. Some of our favorite healthy baby snacks include: