High Energy Eating for Infants & Toddlers

This information is for babies and toddlers who have poor appetites and/ or need to gain weight. If you are concerned about your child's growth you should speak to your GP, Paediatrician or Early Childhood Nurse. A dietitian can provide advice on feeding your child.

General Tips:

1. Encourage your child to eat as much food as they can at each meal and snack.
2. Offer nutrient dense foods regularly.
3. Make every mouthful count with added fats into the foods they already eat. See ideas below to increase the energy (calories) into everyday foods.

Breakfast

• High energy toppings for breads
• • Spread hot crumpets, English muffins or toast thickly with margarine (or butter) and allow it to soak in.
  • Other topping ideas include melted cheese, avocado, cream cheese, peanut butter, fruit jam.
• Omelette/Eggs - Scramble eggs with cream and margarine. Then top with grated cheese and ham or bacon if desired.
• High Energy Milk for your cereal - Use milk instead of water when preparing cereal. Make high energy milk by adding 1 of the following to 100-250mls breast milk/full fat milk or infant formula:
• • 1 tablespoon of cream
  • 1 tablespoon of skim milk powder
  • 1-2 tablespoon(s) or 1-2 scoops of carbohydrate supplement
  • 1 scoop of formula powder.

Lunch & Dinner

• Sandwiches
• • Always add a spread to the bread such as cream cheese, cheese spread, avocado, mayonnaise and/or margarine / butter. Use plenty!
  • Include a protein filling such as: mashed egg, cheese, ham, turkey, devon, chicken, sausage, tinned tuna or salmon (remove bones), peanut butter. If your child does not want it in the sandwich try it on the side.
• Puree/mashed baby foods (home cooked or commercial baby foods)
• • Heat the food and stir through 1-2 teaspoons of margarine or oil (canola/olive).
  • Add some sour cream, avocado and /or grated cheese.
  • Add some extra protein such as cooked and mashed egg, tinned fish, chicken or beef
• Vegies - add extra fat to vegetables when cooking or serving. Ideas include adding a cheesy white sauce, melting grated cheese or margarine onto vegies (eg cauliflower & broccoli with cheese sauce, baked beans with melted cheese, melting margarine onto corn cobs). Also mashing potato/sweet potato or pumpkin with some cream and/or margarine/oil.
• Pasta Dishes - Stir cream, sour cream, grated cheese or some oil through hot cooked pasta. Ideas include ravioli filled with meat/cheese and topped with extra cheese and a cream based meat sauce with pasta and topped with cheese.
• Fish - Fry fish in oil rather than grill or bake and serve with mayonnaise, tartare sauce or white sauce.
• Meats - Fry meat (red meat/chicken or mince) in oil rather than dry fry, grill or bake. Chop meat and serve with potato, rice, noodles or pasta.
• Soups - Stir through meat and pasta/rice or vegies to make a nutrition packed soup. Add extra energy by stirring through some oil or milk/plain yoghurt/sour cream/coconut milk or cream.

Finger Foods & Snacks

• High energy biscuits & crackers - Biscuits and crackers can be spread with margarine and/or other toppings (cream cheese, peanut butter, cheese) or used with a dip such as hommous and cheese spread. Biscuits such as Jatz, BBQ / Pizza Shapes, Sao, Country Cheese, Cracker bread, Milk Arrowroot, Tiny Teddies and Scotch Fingers all work well.
• Dried Fruit - sultanas, apricots, apples, peaches, pears or other dried fruit.
• Other ideas
• • Iceblocks (*see recipe ideas)
  • Cheese (sticks, slices, grated or cubed)
  • Pikelets with jam and cream
  • Fruit dipped into full fat yoghurt

Dessert

• Fancy fruits - Dress up fresh, tinned or commercial fruits by adding ice-cream, custard, yoghurt, cream or smooth ricotta.
• Try dairy desserts - Yogo, rice pudding, Fruche or yoghurt with a dessert spoon of cream or condensed milk stirred through.
• Make your own dairy dessert - use high energy milk (see recipe under breakfast) to make desserts such as custard or rice pudding

A note about FAT

Not all fats are the same. There are 4 types of fat that you have probably heard about: Saturated, Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated and Trans fats. Encourage your child to have a mixture of fats that are found in foods such as dairy products & meats. When adding extra fat to their foods use "healthy" fats as these are better for your child's long term health and heart health and will provide a better balance of fat for your child.