Weight Gain Foods For Your Toddler
Created by Puja Sharma Vasisht Updated on Dec 16, 2020
For a toddler, who is on the verge of being an independent child from a baby, food often becomes a reason to assert her independence. It so happens that the toddler may refuse to eat or even try food. So, low weight is an important watch out for in this age group. As a parent, one is worried for one’s child’s growth and development, especially regarding her weight. Is he gaining enough weight, what can I do to improve my child’s weight, what foods could I try to help my child gain a healthy weight —are some questions a mom is battling with. Read on to find out more about foods that help your toddler gain weight.
Healthy Foods For Weight Gain In Your Toddler
Here are tips on how to increase your toddler’s weight in a healthy way:
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Cereals
Now is the time to start with finger foods or foods which the child can handle herself- So now besides the usual mashed rice/chapatti or porridge you can give small bite size of chapatti/parantha or even rice with vegetable/egg/dal/chicken
- Add extra spoon of ghee or butter to the chapatti or rice. Paranthas/dosa can be stuffed with potato, paneer, cheese etc.
- Children in this age group start enjoying pasta, so apart from chopped/pureed vegetables, cheese/shredded chicken add butter/olive oil to make the dish calories rich. Read: Home Made Cerelac for 6 months baby
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Fruits
Banana, cheeku, mango, and custard apple can be given as fruits or in milk shake, custard or ice cream. These fruits can also be used to make smoothie with honey, powdered nuts and curds -
Vegetables
Use more of potato, sweet potato, colocassia, yam besides other vegetables. You may add these to their roti/sandwich, parantha, dosa, khichri, soups or to other vegetables -
Eggs
You can offer eggs as hard-boiled, sliced into small bite sized pieces or omelets. It can also be used to make custard, pancakes or as filling for kathi rolls, parantha or dosa -
Fish/poultry/meat
Stews and well-cooked meat, poultry, fish can be given as it or added to sandwich, parantha, dosa, pasta -
Home-made paneer:
Whole milk can be used to make home-made paneer. It can be cut to bite size portion or grilled tikka- Offer this as finger foods or a quick snack to the child
- Cheese can be given as small cubes or as it is to practically all types of dishes the child eats like sandwich, rolls, macaroni, pizza, parantha or any others
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Nuts and dried fruits:
Nuts like walnuts, peanuts, almonds and dried fruits like raisins, currants and dried apricots can now be given to children- These can be given to snack or rolled together with oats to make granola bars
- Instead of regular chocolates and candies, such bars are a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals besides being dense in calories and proteins. These would certainly give a boost to their weight
Also Read: 7 Foods For weight Gain in Toddlers
Additional Points to remember
- Additional ghee/butter/oil can be used if the child is really underweight. In case the child’s weight is normal, please use these in moderation
- Whole cream milk can be used to further enhance the energy intake and weight. Once the child is on normal weight, use toned milk
- While giving above foods, give only little amounts first, to check for any allergy. If there is no allergic reaction only then continue with those foods
Please note that the suggestions given here are dependent on the health condition of the child. In such cases, where the child has any illness or disorder, you should consult your doctor and a dietician for a personalized plan for your child.
Did you find this blog on weight gain foods, useful? Please share your feedback with is in the comments section!
This content has been checked & validated by Doctors and Experts of the parentune Expert panel. Our panel consists of Neonatologist, Gynecologist, Peadiatrician, Nutritionist, Child Counselor, Education & Learning Expert, Physiotherapist, Learning disability Expert and Developmental Pead.
| Oct 04, 2016
hi, my daughter is now 14 months bt still she is on breastfeed and she doesn't eat properly and her hemoglobin is also on border tht is nly 10. I am trying all my best possible ways to gve her healthy food bt she refuses everything. plz gve me sme advice wht shld I do..
| Oct 10, 2017
actually my baby who is 13months old is a premature baby and his weight is 10kg+.. he dont khow how to chew.... here it is said to give parantha or dosa.. bt if i ll feed him with it he ll puke.. as it stuck in the throat..... and please suggest is broiler chicken is good for children or the desi one..
| Apr 27, 2018
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| Mar 28, 2019
thanks
