Life becomes much simpler when children start eating a chopped, mashed-up version of what the rest of the family eats. For most children, this is around the 12-month mark. As well as waving goodbye to the liquidiser and masher, this is a great opportunity to reassess your family’s meals and ask yourself: are they balanced, varied and nutritious?

Top 10 Tips

1. To grow healthy and strong, toddlers need to eat from the following food groups: fruit and vegetables, bread, cereals, legumes, meat, fish and dairy products.

2. Toddlers need a high fat diet because they’re burning off lots of energy and they need the calories for growth. Healthy sources of fat include avocado or smooth peanut butter, and milk.

3. Opt for blue-top homogenised milk for toddlers, rather than trim milk.

4. Wait to introduce wholegrain bread until after your child turns one when their digestive system can deal with it and it’s less of a choking hazard. A high-fibre diet can move nutrients through a young child’s body too quickly.

5. Offer your toddler small amounts of a variety of food and let them choose.

6. It pays to stay fairly relaxed. Bribery, forcing your child to eat and nagging aren’t helpful.

7. Keep offering your child food they dislike. A food may need to be offered up to 15 times before a child likes it.

8. Toddlers need 500-600ml of milk a day. This includes what is in their food.

9. Drinking milk with or between meals can reduce the amount of food a child will eat. It’s better to give milk at the end of meals, and water in between meals.

10. Don’t give children tea, coffee or cola as these reduce the iron absorbed from food and can lead to anaemia.