Charlotte Stirling-Reed - How to Feed Your Toddler: Everything you need to know to raise happy, independent little eaters

The weaning stage can be tough, with lots of uncertainties, and thats why I loved writing How to Wean Your Baby . However, often the uncertainties with feeding dont just stop when your baby reaches 12 months and, when it comes to the toddler years, parents often wonder What happens next? Thats exactly where this book comes in

How to Feed Your Toddler is all about the next steps on your feeding journey starting at 12 months, right through to preschool age and aims to make this next hurdle fun and fill you with confidence! This book takes the science and evidence on toddler nutrition and breaks it down into digestible, easy-to-understand messages for tired, time-poor parents/carers like myself.

Parental confidence can be key when it comes to knowing what to do about feeding kids. Most of us are somewhat winging it along our parenting journey and you might feel the same when it comes to feeding your little one. This is completely normal and if youre thinking a lot about how to feed your toddler, youre probably already doing much better than you think.

How to Feed Your Toddler aims to take the stress out of toddler mealtimes, stop any feelings of guilt and make the whole experience much more enjoyable. Im not saying that there wont be ups and downs, but hopefully after reading this book youll feel more equipped to deal with those little bumps along the way and be more confident about how to feed your toddler. There is never one single approach to feeding children that works for all; it might take a bit of trial and error, and sometimes you need to find out what works best for you and your family. Also, how your toddler has progressed so far with their food journey is likely to vary from family to family, so everyone will have different starting points. Sometimes just knowing that there will be bumps in the road when it comes to childrens eating can help to reassure us and take the pressure off. I find remembering that its just a phase on a regular basis helps.

Feeding toddlers can be a time of nurturing, engagement and even some hilarious moments, which we can enjoy all the more if we feel relaxed and confident about how to feed them.

In this book youll learn how to:

Cope with the dreaded fussy eating phase and create happy mealtimes

Balance your toddlers diet and get inspiration for meals

Navigate eating out of the home, including at nursery

All of this has been written with the current guidelines on feeding toddlers in mind, drawing on expert guidance and my own experience. Ive also included a delicious recipe section, offering 50 recipes that are suitable for the whole family, as well as a handy troubleshooting section. Ultimately, my hope is that this fully comprehensive book will help you raise children who really love their food.

Note: Throughout this book Ive used parents/carers interchangeably to refer to anyone who is caring for a little one!

The early years are a great time to be thinking about your toddlers diet they are growing so quickly and the food they eat will be laying down the foundations to help them in their future health too. So getting them used to and familiar with a healthy, well-balanced diet may mean they are also more likely to eat well as they get older. Patterns of eating and food behaviours are developed when our kids are young, so if you want to help your child explore and enjoy a wide variety of foods, youve come to the right place!

Additionally, children are incredibly resilient, and even during periods of picky eating where they are selective about their foods, growth and nutrition are not likely to take much of a hit in the long run. Periods of food refusal are part of the journey and this book will show you how to navigate all of this.

Having two children myself, I am currently on the journey of feeding toddlers. My daughter, Adaline, is now two and my son, Raffy, has just turned five, and feeding both of them has really helped to shape and inform the advice I give out to parents. Its not as easy as simply Follow these guidelines and all will be well.