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Training Videos

These brief—less than 60-seconds—videos can be used by early childhood nutrition educators to demonstrate several key evidence-based recommendations for what and how to feed infants and toddlers in Family Child Care Homes. The recommendations were developed by child care and nutrition experts. [i] 

The videos [ii] were created for the self-paced, on-demand, one-hour online trainings: Infant and Toddler Feeding Recommendations for Family Child Care Home Providers. There is one training on infant feeding recommendations and another training on toddler feeding recommendations. These trainings are free for providers located in California and for a $15 fee for providers outside of California. They are also available in Spanish. At the end of each training, providers will receive a certificate of completion for 1.0 contact hour (2.0 contact hours if they finish both trainings).

[Download a PDF document of this webpage.]

Infant and Toddler Feeding Recommendations

A full list of infant and toddler feeding recommendations for Family Child Care Home Providers is included below.

Infant Feeding Recommendations

Infants are children ages birth up to 12 months old. 

What to Feed

Breastmilk, Water and Other Beverages

• Offer only breast milk and/or iron-fortified formula for infants birth up to 6 months
• At 6 to 9 months begin providing water in a sippy cup [video]
• Do not offer other milk for infants, unless the caregiver providers a doctor’s note
• Do not serve 100% juice, juice drinks or other beverages

Grains                      

Once solid foods are introduced around 6 months old:

• Offer iron-fortified infant cereals
• Serve whole grains only
• Do not serve refined (or non-whole) grains or refined gain-based desserts

Proteins and Dairy Products

Once solid foods are introduced around 6 months old:

• Offer protein such as soft, cooked egg, beans, meat, poultry, and fish without bones
• Offer natural cheese no more than 1 to 2 times per day
• Offer yogurt that contains no more than 23 grams of total sugar per 6 ounces no more than 1 time per day
• Serve protein with no added salt
• Do not serve processed meats or deep fried or pre-fried meats, poultry or fish
• Do not serve cheese food/spread

Vegetables

Once solid foods are introduced around 6 months old:

• Offer pureed, mashed or whole vegetables
• Vegetables can be fresh, frozen or canned (with no added salt, sugar, or fat)
• Offer dark green, orange, red, or deep yellow vegetables at least 1 time per day
• Do not serve deep fried or pre-fried baked vegetables

Fruits

Once solid foods are introduced around 6 months old:

• Offer unsweetened pureed, mashed or soft/whole fruits
• Fruit can be fresh, frozen or canned (with no added sugars)

Foods with Added Sugars

Once solid foods are introduced around 6 months old:

• Do NOT serve foods with added sugar or sugar equivalents listed as the first or second ingredient
• Do NOT serve foods having a combination of 3 or more kinds of sugar or sugar equivalents
• Do NOT serve low-calorie sweeteners or items containing low-calorie sweeteners like diet foods or diet beverages
• Never offer honey to infants

Foods with Added Salt/Sodium

• Do NOT serve high salt foods - this is less than 200 milligrams of sodium for snacks and 480 milligrams of sodium for entrees
• Do NOT added salt to food

Healthy Food Choices

• Offer a variety of culturally relevant foods
• When food is provided at celebrations or other events offer only healthy items, such as fruit, vegetables and water
• Use only liquid non-tropical vegetable oils (like olive oil and canola oil) instead of solid fats (such as butter, lard, and coconut oil)

How to Feed

Supporting Breastfeeding [video]

• Support and encourage breastfeeding
• Provide adequate space to refrigerate and store breast milk

Introducing Solid Foods [video]

• At about 6 months, feed developmentally appropriate solid foods in age-appropriate portion sizes that have already been introduced by parents with no problems [video]
• Start with iron-fortified infant cereal or pureed meat, then pureed vegetables or fruits, then other protein-rich foods
• Encourage parents to introduce new solid foods at home, one at a time, and to wait for at least 3 to 5 days to watch for allergic reactions.
• At 9 months, begin self-feeding with finger foods, then transition to foods served at the table as developmentally appropriate [video]

Prevent Choking

• Do not serve solid food in a bottle
• Avoid choking hazards, for example, by cutting foods into smaller pieces and avoiding certain foods like nuts
• Use dishware and utensils that are sized appropriately
• Allow enough time to eat

Responsive Feeding

• Feed younger infants on demand by recognizing feeding cues (such as rooting or sucking)
• Ensure that infants are guided by own feelings of hunger and fullness and are not pressured to eat all that is offered

Feeding Environments [video]

• Hold infant in one’s arms or sitting up in one one’s lap while bottle feeding
• Never prop up bottles
• Do not allow infants to carry, sleep, or rest with a bottle
• Include older infants that are eating solid food at family style meals where the provider and children eat together [video]
• Provider models healthy eating and doesn’t consume other items in front of children
• At least one child care provider sits with the children at the table and eats same meals and snacks
• Minimize distractions while eating (for example, no tv, toys, phones, video games, or any screens)

Toddler Feeding Recommendations

Toddlers are children ages 12 months old through 36 months old.

What to Feed

Milk

• Toddlers one to two years old should drink one serving of unflavored whole milk at least two times per day
• Children over two years should drink one serving of unflavored low-fat milk (also known as 1% milk) or fat-free milk (also known as skim) milk at least two times per day
• Offer only unflavored non-dairy milk substitutions (such as soy milk) that are nutritionally equivalent to milk

Water and Other Beverages

• Ensure that water is easily available for self-serve, indoors and outdoors, and actively offered with meals and snacks and at other times as appropriate [video]
• Rarely or never offer 100% fruit juice - if offered, give no more than 4 to 6 ounces per 24 hours
• Do not serve sugar sweetened beverages

Grains

• Offer whole grains most of the time
• Limit offering white (non-whole) grains
• Avoid offering white grain-based desserts

Proteins and Dairy Products

• Offer lean protein at least two times a day, such as seafood, fish, lean meat, poultry, eggs, beans, peas, soy products, tofu, and unsalted nuts and seeds
• Offer natural cheese up to one to two times per day
• Choose low-fat or reduced-fat cheese whenever possible
• Offer unflavored yogurt or yogurt that contains less than 23 grams of sugar per six ounces up to one time per day
• Do NOT serve cheese food or cheese spread
• Do NOT serve processed meats or deep fried or pre-fried meats, poultry or fish
• Serve protein with no added salt

Vegetables

• Offer toddlers vegetables at least 2 times per day
• Vegetables can be fresh, frozen or canned (with no added salt, fat, or sugar)
• Offer dark green, orange, red, or deep yellow vegetables at least 1 time per day
• Do not serve deep fried or pre-fried baked vegetables or vegetable chips

Fruits

• Offer fruit at least two times per day
• Fruit can be fresh, frozen or canned (with no added sugars)

Foods with Added Sugars

• Do NOT offer foods with added sugar or sugar equivalents listed as the first or second ingredient
• Do NOT offer foods with three or more kinds of sugar or sugar equivalents
• Do NOT offer low-calorie sweeteners or items containing low-calorie sweeteners like diet foods or diet beverages

Foods with Added Salt/Sodium

• Do NOT serve high salt foods - high salt foods have more than 200 milligrams of sodium for snacks and more than 480 milligrams of sodium for entrees
• Do NOT add salt to food

Healthy Food Choices

• Offer a variety of culturally relevant foods
• When food is provided at celebrations or other events offer only healthy items, such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean proteins and water
• Use only liquid non-tropical vegetable oils (like olive oil and canola oil) instead of solid fat (such as butter, lard, and coconut oil)

How to Feed

Prevent Choking

• Use dishware and utensils that are sized appropriately [video]
• Allow enough time to eat
• Avoid choking hazards, for example, by cutting foods into smaller pieces and avoiding certain foods like nuts

Feeding Frequency

• Provide meals and snacks every 2-3 hours at regularly scheduled times
• Offer at least 1 meal and 1 snack each day for care less than 8 hours
• Offer at least 2 meals and 2 snacks each day for care more than 8 hours

Responsive Feeding [video]

• Serve meals family style
• Teach children to serve themselves age-appropriate portion sizes with assistance as needed
• Ask children if they are full before removing plates and ask if they are hungry before serving seconds
• Do not use food or beverages as reward or punishment
• Do not pressure toddlers to eat or clean their plates - mealtime conversations should not focus on the amount of food that is or is not eaten

Feeding Environment [video]

• At least one child care provider sits with the children at the table and eats the same meals and snacks
• Providers model healthy eating and do not consume other items in front of children
• Minimize distractions while eating (for example, no tv, toys, phones, video games)

References: 

[i] (1) Au LE, Hecht K, Vitale EH, Patterson T, Ritchie LD. "Developing Evidence-based and Actionable Nutrition Standards for Family Child Care Settings.” 2016. Nutrition Policy Institute, University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources. Available online: http://npi.ucanr.edu/files/247883.pdf (2) Ritchie LD, Keeton V, Lee DL, Gurzo K, Homel Vitale E, Au LE, Alkon A. Nutrition Standards For Infants and Young Children can be Implemented by Family Child Care Home Providers. Global Pediatric Health, Volume 8, 25 January 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2333794X21989555 (3) Lee D, Alkon A, Strochlic R, Srivastava D, Neelon M, Keeton V, Ritchie L. Online training for child care providers teaches child nutrition in English and Spanish. California Agriculture, volume 76, issue 4, pages 131-140, 9 February 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2022a0015. (4) Ritchie LD, Lee DL, Homel Vitale E, Au LE. Transition from Breastfeeding and Complementary Feeding to Toddler Nutrition in Child Care Settings. Nestle Nutrition Institute Workshop Series, volume 95, pages 1-13. 9 November 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000511517

[ii] Videos were developed by the University of California Nutrition Policy Institute, UCSF California Childcare Health Program, UCSF School of Nursing, and UC Cooperative Extension. They were produced by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources News and Outreach in Spanish. The English narrator is Danielle Lee. The Spanish narrator is Norma de la Vega. This project was funded by a grant from UC ANR.