Just like you, your child needs food from all food groups. However, there are some foods-like salad-that seem healthy, but your child will not be able to handle yet. Here are some guidelines for which foods work best at each stage of your toddler's growth.

	6-9 Months	9-12 Months	1-2 Years	2-5 Years
Grains	iron-fortified single grain cereal	dry cereal without nuts or chunks, cooked noodles or rice	Toast, crackers, or cereal	Ready-to-eat cereals, whole grain bread
Fruit	Applesauce or mashed banana	Canned peaches or pears	Orange wedges	Apple wedges, whole banana, mango slices
Veggies	Mashed plain potatoes or mashed cooked peas	Plain diced, cooked carrots or potatoes	Green peas or cooked broccoli	Cooked Broccoli, cooked carrots, sweet potatoes
Milk	Breast milk or formula	Breast milk or formula, yogurt	Milk and yogurt	Low-fat or fat-free milk, low-fat yogurt, chunks of cheese
Meat	None	Scrambled egg yolk, Ground meats	Finely diced cooked meats	Lean meats, chicken,, beans and legumes