As responsible and attentive parents, they see to it that they watch what their baby eats and drinks. As much as possible they want to prepare it personally, for their babies other needs, they also want to have a good hands-on with it. Having routinely doing these stuffs, they tend to become meticulous over things that have something to do with their child. A responsible and attentive parent is also a very wise consumer. These parents tend to check nutritional facts labels in buying processed food for their little ones when they go shopping, however, it seems that many if not much doesn’t really know how to interpret what they are reading. Without understanding these labels, it is still hard to make the right decision that will help towards a healthy diet.
Reading the nutritional level of foods especially baby foods is not enough. These information needs to be decoded correctly. And it is also important for parents to consider that a daily nutritional need of a baby is very different from that of an adult. Baby’s tummies are quite smaller and easily filled up. Therefore, a typical adult’s serving is definitely not the right amount for them. And another important thing for parents to bear in mind is that most of these nutritional facts label is intended on daily recommended nutrients amount and serving sizes for adults and not for babies and toddlers.
Reading the nutritional facts label often confuses many consumers when they try to figure out the nutritional value and purity of ingredients of food. Labels sometimes look different from each other and finding vital information can somehow be challenging. Nutritional facts label of a food is just as important as the food itself. For baby and toddler foods, they usually need only about a thousand of calories per day. In this case, an extra effort won’t hurt if it is for the sole advantage of their little ones. This is so because, babies and toddlers have different nutrient needs for growth and development and requires a lower calorie level.
In order to do this correctly, parents should review the serving size. Adjust it if it is calibrated for adults and older children, say, by starting to offer a quarter of the adult serving. Parents should also be sensitive to their baby’s cues, whether he or she is still hungry or full already. Also, it follows to adjust the nutrition according to baby’s needs. Consider the percentage of the calories, fat, sodium and other nutrients. Be careful with the percentage of the daily recommended value for most of it is not intended for babies and toddlers. Go for foods that have higher daily value for vitamins and minerals. Choose foods with nutrients that are not easily available in toddler and baby diet such as fiber, potassium, omega 3 and vitamin E. Learn to compare and contrast. Watch for high sodium; limit it to 225- 480 milligrams of sodium for meals per toddler serving. Fat can be good for your baby and toddler unless he or she is over-weight. Go for foods that have more polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, not saturated fats. Choose foods that are intended for babies and toddlers, it has appropriate daily recommended nutrient amounts for them.
Once you find the best food brand for your little one, stick to it. There is that well respected baby food company that provides a real good quality of baby food products and sometimes, they throw in contests where babies and toddlers can join and win exciting prizes. Enjoy responsible and happy parenting while learning.