The second year: feeding your one year old at breast and table

WHO and UNICEF recommend that children initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life – meaning no other foods or liquids are provided, including water. 

Infants should be breastfed on demand – that is as often as the child wants, day and night. No bottles, teats or pacifiers should be used. 

From the age of 6 months, children should begin eating safe and adequate complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed for up to two years of age and beyond.

So your baby has smashed their first birthday cake - what happens next?

Breastfed babies do things differently from formula fed babies in the second year of life. While both formula and bottles should be phased out around 12 months, breastfeeding continues in much the same way as before. There is often little difference in frequency of feeds and there are times you will notice an actual increase in how much your toddler goes to the breast!

Then there is food. After all your lovingly prepared meals and snacks in the 6-12 month period of baby-led weaning, it can be disappointing to find your older baby has lost interest in eating or has begun to decline some foods while fixating on others.

Have you done something wrong?

Typical toddler eating

You have probably noticed an awful lot of advertising for so-called “toddler milk” products. Marketing presents these as a solution to fussy eating and even a pathway to early learning excellence! They imply your child is at risk of missing out on essential nutrients and list all kinds of scientific words on packaging and promotional materials.

You might be surprised then to find out your breastmilk is already packed with exactly the nutrition your child needs a every stage. Even though other foods will eventually replace the breastmilk in their diet, nature prepared for several years of transition. Apart from small amounts of some nutrients like iron and zinc, breastmilk is really a multivitamin your child takes everyday.

So if unrestricted access to breastmilk isn’t causing disinterest in some foods and favour of others, why do so many families experience this?

Any time we see common behaviour across cultures, it is a hint to look back to our shared hunter-gatherer ancestors and ask what benefit it would have had to stone age babies.

Imagine a baby carried on their mother’s back for the first year of life as she and the other women went forraging for tubers, fruits, leaves and vegetables. Watching intently, the baby learns we can pick or dig up things to eat. And then they learn to walk! Suddenly they can independently move around and have the dexterity to grasp anything and put it in their mouth - safe or not!

Research has shown that babies have a natural aversion to bitter or sour tastes. There are even natural compounds in some foods which young children find especially unpleasant. Breastmilk is remarkably sweet to taste. It is no coincidence that young children adore sweet treats: they have been primed to do so! The same study found young children need a higher amount of sugar than adults for their sweet tooth. Foods that are naturally high in sugar are usually energy-dense, important for active, growing bodies.

So babies and toddlers are highly attracted to sweet foods and highly averse to bitter foods - including green vegetables! This can partly explain why you can go through punnets of sweet strawberries in a few days but broccoli is refused outright. And the science shows it can even be a genetic trait to prefer sweet over bitter. It might be reassuring to know its not just us either - other species also experience distrust in new foods. In human children, ages 2-6 years are when this peaks although some people will never become adventurous eaters and stick to their favourites throughout life.

However there is more to food than flavour - what celebrity chefs refer to as “mouth feel”. For children with sensory issues, foods can have an unpleasant texture in their mouth.

Children can learn from experience that some foods are “safe foods” which never change in taste or texture. These are often packaged products which can be frustrating for parents who have carefully curated their 6-12 month old’s palate only to have the live on plain pasta, packaged rice crackers and white bread! So much for avoiding a picky eater by baby-led weaning!

(In defense of baby-led weaning being associated with less-fussy eating, a degree of selective eating is typical. Rare is the young child who has no preferences or aversions!)

A word about portion size versus serving size

Quite often, toddlers are not eating very much because their plates are being over-filled! They take a few bites and announce “Done” and adults tut-tut about food waste on the way to the compost bin. Small children have small stomachs and their natural tendency is to graze throughout their waking hours, rather than sitting still for large meals. Parents feel they are being asked for food all day and may even be told snacking is bad. Well, grown adults who sit at a desk all day probably shouldn’t sit on the couch all night consuming bags of snack foods but that is far different from a toddler having several small meals across the day. So think of small amounts often, with regular breastfeeds as well being typical for this age group.

Always keep in mind: your child does not have to eat everything you offer. A recommended serving size is a measuring tool used to indicate the energy and nutrients contained. Your child might be full after eating half a serving size and that is fine. The portion is the amount they take from the serving and it is up to them what that might be. An approach to feeding all children is:

Parents provide, children decide - The Satter Division of Responsibility in Feeding

Remember, it is the food eaten across a period of time which counts. Nobody needs to count the macros and micros when it comes to children! Breastmilk is there to top up any gaps