With the fall and winter holidays upon us, Big City Moms is ready to eat, drink and be merry! Although most of us cop to overindulging when it comes to festive fare, when it comes to our kids, we want to make sure we help keep everything in balance, especially when many of our cold weather celebrations involve lots of sweet treats. We asked Jodi Greebel, MS, RD and founder of DinDins, what to keep in mind this season when feeding the most finicky eaters of all: toddlers.

Feeding a toddler is very different from feeding an infant. And, your child’s eating habits can change dramatically from infancy to toddlerhood. Food is one of the few things children can control and most take every opportunity to do so.
Below are some pointers that will hopefully help take you through this sometimes rocky path of feeding your child.

• It’s important to limit milk intake to no more than 16 – 24 oz/day to prevent your toddler from not getting enough other nutrients. Calcium and iron also compete for absorption and too much calcium (especially if consumed with iron-rich foods like meat and chicken), could contribute to anemia in toddlers.
  
• It’s also important to limit juice intake. Juice fills your child up with minimal nutrients; juice does not provide fiber and provides much more sugar than a piece of fruit.
• You decide what to serve your toddler; your toddler decides whether or not to eat it
• Food (and especially dessert) should not be used as a reward or for bribery
• Portion sizes are small for a toddler, but it’s important to know how many servings your child should be getting from each food group
  
  2 – 3 years olds need:
  Grains: 3 – 4 oz/day
  Examples:
  · 1 slice whole wheat bread
  · 1 small waffle
  · 1 cup cereal
  Fruits and Vegetables: 3 vegetable and 2 fruit/day = ½ cup
  Milk/Dairy: 2 cups/day
  Meat/Beans and Nuts: 2 – 3 oz/day
  Examples:
  · 1 oz chicken
  · 1 egg