Summer Diet For Children: Tips For Babies And Toddlers

Childcare Tips: The soaring temperatures of summer months make children irritable and averse to food and parents often fret that kids are not getting the required nutrition. Expert shares key diet tips for kids.

Pic: Pixabay (representational purposes)

Summers can be a tough time for health, and more so when it comes to your baby or toddler. The soaring temperatures make them irritable and averse to food and parents often fret that kids are not getting the required nutrition. However, parents should not worry much. Dr Sanket Goyal, Head of Department, Pediatrician and Neonatologist, Marengo Asia Hospital, Gurugram, shares, "Please remember, it’s normal for a kid’s palate to vary from one feed or one meal to the next. There will be times when your child eats well and when they refuse."

Summer Season: Key Health Tips For Kids

Here are some cardinal points Dr Sanket Goyal says parents should remember:

1. It is essential to ensure that your child receives the necessary nutrition and stays hydrated, as these are their growth years. 
2. Create an environment where your child happily relishes the meals they eat. Both these factors are interdependent.
3. A favourable environment makes it easier to feed your child, and the right nutrition ensures they can handle the summers.
4. Make mealtimes enjoyable and not just about eating. Sit down and chat about other things of their interest. Try to appeal to their minds as much as their taste buds; you may draw a smiley face with peanut butter on top of their dish. Some fun-shaped tableware also may help even the pickiest eaters.

How To Create Right Environment Or Choose Right Foods

"Avoid worrying too much if your child hasn’t eaten much in a single meal or even in a day. It is the quantity and quality of the food that they intake over a whole week that is more important. If you offer your kid a varied, healthy diet, you can be sure they’re getting all the nutrition they need," shares Dr Goyal.

Summer heat saps away kids’ vitality and appetite too. Children are generally active and energetic, often expending more energy than what they take in, in the form of food and nutrition. Dr Goyal points out a few things one can do to comfort your child in the summers:

• Cool your home.
• Keep your child engaged in different activities to build an appetite and eat well.
• Bathe and wipe them at regular intervals and make them feel refreshed.
• Make hydration fun. Give different juices and fruits to ensure they receive the necessary water.

Tips To Keep Kids Healthy And Hydrated During Summer

1. Avoid direct sunlight
2. Avoid soft drinks.
3. Avoid spicy, fried food
4. Consume natural and fresh fruits like watermelon, and cucumber, food like curd, and beverages like nimbu pani and coconut water. 

Modify Baby's Diet

Make the following changes to your baby's diet:

Replace snacks with fruits
Avoided spicy foods
Modified dairy products: While milk is a staple for kids, in summer, try to restrict milk consumption in summer. Instead give them curd, milkshakes, thandai, homemade juices, or cold milk with rose sharbat